Namibia - Day 7, Walvis Bay, Dune Bashing, Solitaire

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My typical car mates were back together at this point, with the.... quieter driver. We were heading from Swakopmund to Walvis Bay (another town recommended by friends). Most of us opted at lunch the day before to skip the kayaking with the seals after having spent enough time with them at Cape Cross. Instead, we decided to take a tour of the dunes in Sandwich Harbor, you know the iconic photo of Namibia with the giant golden dunes meeting the clear blue water of the Atlantic. It was even better than expected!

Sandwich Harbor

We arrived on time to the pier / boardwalk area, which was super nice! I believe it was 9 of us who joined the dune bashing and we got to ride with two guides, Eckhard and Rene, (I got to ride in the very back of the Defender). They were very knowledgable and seemed happy to have tourists for like the first time since March. First we drove to a local area to see some, well, a lot, of flamingos. Ugh. Seals and now flamingos. Like my two least favorite animals. Seals because they are mean and stinky. And flamingos because... I mean come on - they are creepy! Pink! I mean, they are pink - that's like an alien. And red eyes. And tall, skinny legs... Just weird. And then people plant them in their yards, wear shirts with their images, paper their walls.... Weird. Sorry, about the rant. Yes, other than that, I guess it was pretty cool to see so many.

We drove then by a salt mine area - it was pretty interesting to see how they gather the salt from the ocean, separate it, and distribute it - 60 tons seawater to 1 ton salt. It was a fairly long drive through, but Eckhard gave us useful info the whole time, like the Namib is the 10th largest national park in Africa. He mentioned that the Portuguese were actually the first Europeans to settle in Namibia, but then you also had the English in the south and Germans in the north, followed by the South Africans. Then we drove very very fast along the wet sand on the coast since it was low tide, the "Highway to Heaven", seeing some more seals and seal carcasses along the way. Then we turned into the dunes area; Rene said he liked to "make the tourists scream" - and he did as we saw his SUV in front of us tip up with one wheel fully in the air before heading down the dune. Eckhard went a different way down. They showed us some of the springbok, and jackal tracks, and some of the plants, including one, the Nara, which had an actual fruit growing on it - they said it was similar growing-wise as a cucumber, but was very bitter.

Of course, the best part was riding through the golden sand dunes at Sandwich Harbor, taking photos, and having fun. As Eckhard promised, the overcast skies burned away to a sunny one as we travelled into the dunes. Then we finally arrived to an area where you hike to the top of a dune and see the beautiful blue ocean below. The contrast in colors was breathtaking, so we all enjoyed taking lots of photos. In the meantime, our guides set up a champagne breakfast (we did not realize that was part of the tour!). They set out a few different types of typical foods - some jerky (onyx I think), deviled eggs, brownies, something with cheese on it (I forget!), and chips/crisps, of course. We each got a flute of rose sparkling wine, plus they had drinks in their coolers. So, me and a couple of others enjoyed the experience extra well. Really, it was a just a perfect day and all of us said it was our favorite experience of the trip so far. And to think, it was not initially part of our itinerary.

We went back to meet up with the rest of our group. A few did not do either excursion and just enjoyed being along the boardwalk. The 6 who went kayaking also had a fantastic time and said their guide was great! They got lots of great photos with kayaking among the seals and said it was totally worth it. So, it seems like either activity was great and if you go, you should probably do both!

While waiting for the kayaking group to return, my car-mates and I went to a little restaurant on the boardwalk, with an outdoor table, got a couple ciders and calamari. So perfect. That, right there, is a perfect lunch for me! And we were able to order, eat, and pay within about 40 minutes. The view was also great, as we watched catamarans returning from their own trips. Saw giant pelicans. And just enjoyed this beautiful location.

Namib-Naukluft National Park

After leaving Walvis Bay, we headed east to our next stop. Again, the landscape quickly changed. We had a rest stop on top of a hill, which had what looked like shale with lots of mica - it was beautiful and sparkly, and had some terrific views. George said it was schist, which yeah, is possible. We continued on. I was enjoying reading my kindle in the back seat when I looked out my window and started geeking out about the geology! We were going along a twisty, mountainous road, and through some riverbeds, where the rocks appeared perfectly tilted up at an angle. We finally stopped at a lookout point along the Kuiseb pass, where you just had these perfectly tiled beds of shale as far as the eye could see, with some nice quartz seams located throughout. I was such a dork and had to describe some of the reasons for the landscape to part of our group. Hope I got it right!

Solitaire

Our next stop was at the well-known tourist hotspot, Solitaire, which is essentially an old outpost in the middle of nowhere, in the junction of roads going to Walvis Bay, Sossousvlei, and Windhoek. It has a huge general store we got some snacks, a cafe, nice restrooms, and lots of photo op locations (old cars, cool buildings, etc). So, we spent a bit of time here. I really enjoyed seeing a local filling up at the petrol station with a really cool truck - looked like he was about to go to safari.

Namib-Naukluft Lodge

It was not much further until we reached our lodge for the next two nights. Namib-Naukluft Lodge was so nice and was a family run set up. It was set out in the middle of nowhere, with very nice rooms, and so peaceful. We watched the beautiful sunset between two giant rocky hills, and took lots of fun photos. Dinner... oh man. By far, far!, the best we had on this trip. It was outdoor seating surrounded by 6-foot stone walls. And was what you would typically think of as a real African braai. Huge stone oven in the middle of the dining area, with various meat dishes, baked beans, and squash (yay!), as well as salad off to the side. Again, even the vegetarians were happy with their food and options. It was a great night. The sky was so black until the full moon rise, so you just see countless stars... Amazing.

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Photos

Namib-Naukluft National Park
well, actually, just outside it...

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Iconic sights
Nice photo. Ah, I love flamingos. Sorry you don't share that. I'll bet they were thrilled to see someone traveling.