Swakopmund, Skeleton Coast, Namibia, 2 & 3 September, 2012


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October 5th 2012
Published: October 5th 2012
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Swakopmund, Skeleton Coast, Namibia, 2 & 3 September



After a slightly bumpy trip on a graded, unsealed road, we arrived in Swakopmund at about 11.30pm. Despite the bumps, 5 of us still managed to play a game of Yeuka and Cheat card games in the bus as we drove along.







On the way, as we travelled we saw a mountain range which included the highest mountain in Namibia – Brandberg Mountain (Burnt Mountain in English). We also came across a ship wreck on the beach. All along this western coast of Africa is where the desert meats the Atlantic Ocean. Every now and then, we saw small seaside towns made up of very nice homes. This is from the financial influence of the diamond mining which Namibia is known for.







When we arrived in the new looking Swakopmund, (again money from diamond, but more recently, uranium (incl Rio Tinto) mining expanded the town), we had lunch. 6 of us were upgrading because the tour option was shared dormitories which Tom and I were not keen on. There were no spare rooms for the 2 nights where the dorms were so we went to another place nearby – the Pebble Stone House, Terra-Africa. It was lovely. The owners had expanded the original house 4x, to the extent that everything was very new. They had completed the works in June this year. Tom & I had a lovely upstairs room with an onsuite bathroom.







We all went to a tourist office where they showed us a video of all the activities we could do – sky diving, quad bike riding, town cultural tour, hot air ballooning, dolphin and penguin tour and much, more. Tom decided to do the 1 ½ hour quad biking out in the desert over the sand dunes. I decided to do the hot air ballooning over the Namib Desert at sunrise.







A bit about Swakopmund - Swakopmund (German for "Mouth of the Swakop") is a city on the coast of northwestern Namibia, 280 km west of Windhoek, Namibia's capital. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. As a seaside resort, the weather is cooler here in December to January (Namibia's summer months) so the territorial administration moves to Swakopmund for these months. The town has 42,000 inhabitants and covers 193 square kilometres of land. Most of the expansion has occurred over the last 2 years.













Swakopmund is a beach resort and an example of German colonial architecture. It was founded in 1892 as the main harbour for German South-West Africa, and a sizable part of its population is still German-speaking today.







Buildings in the city include the Altes Gefangnis prison, designed by Heinrich Bause in 1909. The Woermannhaus, built in 1906 with a prominent tower, is now a public library.







Attractions in Swakopmund include a Swakopmund Museum, the National Marine Aquarium, a crystal gallery and spectacular sand dunes near Langstrand south of the Swakop River. Outside of the city, the Rossund Desert Golf Course is one of only 5 all-grass desert golf courses in the world. The city is known for extreme sports. Nearby lies a camel farm and the Martin Luther steam locomotive, dating from 1896 and abandoned in the desert.







Trading and shipping companies founded branches in Swakopmund. A number of these buildings still exist today. After German South-West Africa was taken over by the Union of South Africa in 1915, all harbour activities were transferred from Swakopmund to Walvis Bay. Many of the Central Government services ceased. Businesses closed down, the number of inhabitants diminished, and the town became less prosperous. However, the natural potential of Swakopmund as a holiday resort was recognised, and this potential has subsequently been developed. Today tourism-related services form an important part of the town's economy.







The discovery of uranium at Rossing, 70 km outside the town, led to the development of the world's largest opencast uranium mine. This had an enormous impact on all facets of life in Swakopmund which necessitated expansion of the infrastructure of the town to make it into one of the most modern in Namibia.







In October 2000 an agreement was signed between the Namibian and China governments to build a satellite tracking station at Swakopmund. Construction was completed in July 2001 at a site north of Swakopmund to the east of the Henties Bay-Swakopmund road and opposite the Swakopmund Salt Works. The site was chosen as it was on the orbital track of a manned spacecraft during its reentry phase. Costing N$12 million ($1.00US = N$1.00), the complex covers 150m by 85m. It is equipped with five meter and nine meter satellite dishes.













In August 2008 filming commenced in Swakopmund on the AMC television series The Prisoner starring Jim Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen. Swakopmund was used as the film location for The Village.













Tom had a fantastic time on the quad bike. He went out into the sand dunes south of the town about 3 kms. He roared around the dunes for 2 hours. His bike was a manual and therefore more powerful than the rest of the group (6 people) so he was able to go faster and handle the dunes better. He roared up, around, down and slid aqnd one of the people (another Tom from Austria) tipped his bike over but fortunately only tore his pants and was not hurt. They stopped 3 times to enjoy the views and take photos. He came back a very fatisfied person.













Re my hot air ballooning, the 3 of us were picked up at 6.30am by the pilot and his wife. We drove 45 kms south of the town as we had to drive until we got out of the low cloud which covers this coastal town. The pilot stopped and did his wind test by blowing up a party balloon filled with heiliam, watching it with his binoculars. We drove a little further and then stopped to unload the basket and balloon. He had 4 Namibian locals to help him. They were a well oiled machine getting things ready. In no time we were in the basket and up in the air. The sun was rising – spectacular....again!! The scenery was amazing. We were up in the air for 1 ½ hours. Our landing was pretty smooth with only the basket dragging on its side for 3 meters. We were squatting down inside the basket and when we landed we were therefore on our backs. The pilot took our photo before we hopped out.













We then had a most enjoyable Champaign breakfast in the middle of the Namib Desert. The pilot told us that there were 1000 kms of the Namib Desert to the north from where we were and another 1000 kms to the south. Massive!! We had driven away from where the Namib guys were packing up the balloon so we had to drive back and pick them up. The 3 of us sat on the back of the trailer where the basket was to be transported – something we are not allowed to do in Aust. It was a bit of fun – we were only going about 10 km per hour.













I got back at 11.30am on a big high. I have said it before, we are so lucky on all the experiences we are having.

















Tom and I then decided to go into the small town centre where we had a springbok pie for lunch – yummy. We walked around the town, went to the Standard Bank ATM – no luck – then went to the Museum. In this building by the beach were many stiffed animals we had seen in Namibia, old carts that were used and pulled by horses, local rocks, plants, jewellery and animal skulls. It was really interesting. We then went to the Kristal Museum (that’s not a typo) were there was am amazing display of crystals, including the largest crystal in the world – 14,000 kgs standing about 2 metres high x 3 metr4es wide – incredible. There were a lot of large ‘thunder eggs’. The whole display was over 2 floors with a jewellery shop on the ground floor. We also were allowed to collect a small back of small gems which included over a dozen different gems.

















Back at the hotel we skyped Kerrie, Adam and Dad because it was Dad’s 87th birthday and Tom hadn’t been able to speak to Kerrie and Adam for his birthday until today. It was lovely to catch up with them.













That night I was determined to get this blog going again because the internet availability and speed was apparently good. After awhile, I had uploaded 2 blogs which was some of our Uganda trip which was only day 11 of this tour!! I was pleased but it ended up being 7.45 pm so we missed going to an Italian restaurant with the group. It turned out really well as Tom and I went to this beautiful Deutches Haus Hotel Restaurant. We sat down and was given a sherry to start, a wonderful palate enhancer. Tom had a kingfish for his meal and I had ostrich both of which were wonderful. We went back to our hotel very satisfied.









Next day was a 9.00am departure however one of the girls from Germany had to go to the counter of the bank – which took 2 ¼ hours!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, sit back and down-load photos and prepare my blog. I always have something to do if I have to wait.


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