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Published: December 20th 2020
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After leaving Palmwag, we continued our journey. We saw a couple of mama and baby giraffes early on, but after that, the roadside wildlife was non-existent until much later in the day. The new car had more trouble as the battery then died too! very exciting for their driver, but we fixed it and moved on.
We arrived at the Skeleton Coast National Park pretty much on time, used the facilities, and took some photos at the entrance. We saw a few other tourists hanging around too. Our first stop inside was a short hike up a small hill to see Namibia's national plant: Welwitschia mirabilis. Generally the plant can be 1,000 to 2,000 years old and only has two leaves. There are male and female plants. It is considered a "living fossil". We also saw the "dollar plant" which is a perennial and if squeezed, can give out quite a bit of water for the wandering thirsty fauna. We drove for quite a while through a very barren landscape. We remarked often about how the landscape changed constantly during our trip. Only this morning, we were seeing animals on the side of the road, munching on greenery. And here....
nothing. Absolutely nothing.
We continued on through the desert and then soon came upon a mist, or marine layer, where small whitish dunes started - again, a change of landscape! We got out to climb the dunes, but it was so very windy and cold! We got some good photos and I think many of us briefly relished the reprieve from the heat, but it was cold. Cold. We made a couple of stops to see some shipwrecks along this infamous stretch of coastline. Interesting, but maybe overhyped...? Still, definitely worth seeing.
Then we stopped for another 2 hour lunch at Cape Cross, where I again got a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. God, I am boring. I am just not that hungry at lunch time. It was a nice little spot though, with a hotel, great views, and a museum about the history of Cape Cross. After lunch, we went to the nearby seal colony, which is amongst the largest in the world. Sadly, there seemed to be many baby seals that were dead and being... eaten. Gross. We read an article later that this was happening further down the coast and was attributed to a disease.
This meant we actually saw a couple of brown backed jackals, who were generally feeding off the baby seals. Gross. We went on the walkway but the smell was over powering. Me and another guy attempted to exit the walkway but were accosted by a large seal who barked at us and aggressively charged. One of our guides tried to scare him off, but it took a couple of attempts to do so. I was over it. After living in California for ten years, I was not overly excited about this stop even in the beginning. I will say, they are quite photogenic and the baby seals are adorable.
We continued on down the coast, seeing another shipwreck or two, before arriving in sleepy, cloudy, cold Swakopmund. I have friends who swear by this town, always giving me good tips about things to do and such. Maybe... you just have to be there...? It was sleepy, cloudy, cold (yes, repeated on purpose). But it looked nice and clean. After an annoying mix up with the reservations with the receptionist, we got our rooms. We had a nice big room with incredible views of the ocean. I think most of
us were tired and therefore, I don't think anybody went out for dinner. I had a granola bar, took a hot shower, and my roomie and I passed out fairly early. As usual, the next morning, we were amongst the first ready to leave on time - bag packed, key returned, and a nice breakfast (with a great view) finished. On to the next adventure!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Exploring
We are enjoying your word pictures. Thanks for taking us along. Sorry to hear about the car trouble.