Spitzkoppe to Swakopmund, Namibia

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Spitzkoppe to Swakopmund, Namibia

Today our route was down to the South Atlantic coast from Spitzkoppe at an elevation of 1000 metres mostly on gravel. As we gradually made our way to the coast, the land got more and more barren, from scattered bush and grassland, to completely barren sand. The coast road (north - south) looked paved but is actually gravel mixed with locally mined rock salt to reduce dust and harden the surface - aptly named 'salt road'. There were no markings, just a hard surface.

From Henties Bay, we diverted a bit north to visit Cape Cross, where Portuguese explorers came ashore in 1486. They must have wanted meat because there is no water or vegetation, just sand and thousands of seals basking on the rocks and making lots of noise and smell. This was a short stop. Kayla started to react to the smell and needed her asthma inhaler, and others just couldn't stand the smell any longer. Even Richard started to smell a little something, despite losing all his sense of smell some time ago.

Next stop was Swakopmund, an oasis of modern German style buildings, fast (wireless!) Internet and good restaurants. Some say that Swakopmund is more German than Germany, and we certainly heard a lot of German being spoken. Our supper was fish and chips at the Ocean Basket - excellent. 

We stayed in the Swakopmund Municipal Bungalows, with two bedrooms and four people per bungalow, shared shower and toilet. After several days in tents, we thought this was luxury. 

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