Walvis Bay, Namibia

April 9, 2008

After we left Togo we had four very relaxing and needed days at sea. Our visit to the Western Coast of Africa was a good one...but it was very tiring and the time to rest and relax was welcome! One exciting event did occur on Saturday April 5 at 1:50 in the afternoon...we crossed the 0-0 line!!!! 0° longitude and 0° latitude! It was a memorable moment for even the most well-cruised passengers. Few, if any, had ever done it before. Even the captain quipped that “there went his bonus” as he had to go more than 80 miles out of his way to make this happen....just one of those special moments!

When we docked this morning and I looked out over the harbor I sensed something was different.....and then I realized that it was the sailboats I was seeing bobbing in the distance. Not large expensive yachts...but simple single-mast sailing boats....pleasure boats! PLEASURE boats! The first of anything like this we have seen in a long long time. The rest of Western Africa is struggling to simply make ends meet and any vessel you see is either a large freighter or a small fishing vessel. Certainly there is no time or money for a sail boat. So, I thought...mmmmm maybe we are back to more “normalcy” or, at least, what we thing of normalcy....and those sail boats were the symbol. When I looked over the railing off the promenade deck I say white faces...and again, I knew that we were in a different part of Africa than we have been for the past few weeks.

Walvis Bay is a fairly small, but busy industrial port. Most of the 50,000 residents work in the port area, but there is also a sizeable fishing fleet and a local operation extracts salt from seawater. In fact, there were huge “mountains” of salt just in site of the ship awaiting loading onto the waiting freighters for ports unknown.

Swakopmund, just 20 miles north of Walvis Bay, is an attractive German colonial town that is home to some 80,000 to 100,000 people. Prior to WW1, Swakopmund was a main transshipment point for Windhoek, capital of German South West Africa. Never a very functional harbor – it is too shallow to accommodate most commercial ships. Some import and export goods still pass through town, but Walvis Bay is the main port.

Swakopmund is also center of the popular Namib coastal resort. There are plenty of pleasant secluded beaches in and around town. Depending on wind conditions, air temperatures can range from hot to outright cold, but the water is always cool. Currents flowing northward from the Antarctic Ocean are responsible. On favorable days, area beaches fill, but there is never a real “crowd”. Swakopmund is probably best known as the spot that Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie came for their baby’s birth!

I elected to take a 4x4 Desert Adventure....a decision that ranks way high as one of the best ones I have made this trip. What a memorable day!

We drove along the coast from Walvis Bay toward Swakopmund eventually making our way into the Moon Mountains. I was expecting large “wavy” sand dunes desert...and that came later in the day....but for the most of the day we were in this unbelievable landscape aptly named “moon” mountains because it must surely be what the moon is like. Low rocky sandy mountains with huge open big sky....so dramatic! And so very colorful in its own special way.

In a very nice Toyota 4x4 (with air-conditioning!!!!) we drove over rough roads making our way to the Musical Rocks which are vital part of the Moon Mountains. Imagine an ancient geological giant strewing millions of large blackened lava stones (some the size of my VW Bug...but most the size of a large suit case) across the mountain stop....like leaving a black trail of where he walked. Oh to know more about geology. Here, in this sandy rocky area....as you look across the landscape... here, are these black trails of these huge boulders. Once we stopped and climbed over the rocks we were surprised to “hear” the rocks as our guide went from boulder to boulder tapping them to release tone after tone of “music”. It was enchanting.

Our safari continued in the Moon Valley, driving on the dry Swakop River. How eerie was that! Here was this wide...like the width of a football field wide – DRY river bed. It was obvious that water in some distant past had indeed passed over this land because there was a spotting of green plants here and there....and....the most memorable part was how the earth had dried and cracked. The only thing I could think of was that it resembled how very thick birch bark looks as it peels away from the trunk. It made me itch to get to a ceramic studio and create some simple shaped platters irregularly shape and slightly curved. Our guide explained that the last time he had seen water in the river was about four years ago...and then about a half meter high....amazing!

Perhaps the most fascinating part of this desert experience was to see how so many plants have adapted to these harsh conditions. For instance, we stopped to gather around a pile of what appeared to look like ordinary rocks along side the road. The guide slowly poured a small amount of water on the pile of rocks...and poof!!! before our eyes the rocks came to life. They were covered with lichen...as many as three or four different kinds of lichen and with this small amount of water they came to life. It was an amazing thing to see....nothing at first to this total “bouquet” of color and texture.

Another interesting plant, new to me, was the Nara, plant. An extremely thorny green bush that grows in thick clumps about three to four feet high and produces fruit (about the size of a small grapefruit) that is apparently full of a water-like liquid that animals and the notorious bush-men use for water in the desert. Very interesting.

Another stop was equally impressive. This time the center of attraction was the famous Welsitschia plant. These fascinating plants were discovered in 1859 – a “modified” tree, producing a single, turnip-like stem that can be more than three feet thick and five feet tall. This strange plant produces its first flower after about 20 years and has a lifespan of at least 1,000 to 1,500 years! (My friend Louise is skeptical that they are indeed this old...Who, she asks....and rightfully so....can PROVE that these plants are that old! I for one BELIEVE....I believe!...I believe!....so it is so!). The plants we saw must need some water, because although about 10 -12 wide they were spread across the desert floor with one “bloom” in the center of the two leaves that had long since been shredded. Hard to describe...but an unusual plant

We proceeded to the Goanikontes Oasis, where lunch awaited us under a setting of palm and blue gum trees. A variety of meats, breads, and salads were served as we sat and enjoyed the relaxing desert surroundings. With no “official” washrooms, it was great fun seeing so many running off into the bushes to take care of business. Little did they know that just around the corner, at an impressive overlook, the tour company had trucked in two or three porta-toilets that were pulled behind a large pick-up. What a sight. Come to think of it, why didn’t they bring that truck to the lunch stop?

After lunch we drove to the famous Namib Desert sand dunes. Now this is was what I had expected....large dunes, like large waves in the open desert. Once there we were treated to something special indeed...Dune 7: The tallest sand dune in Namibia and maybe in the world. Youngsters were being taken to the top on quad mobiles and then sand-boarding down. A couple of our more fit passengers dared to struggle up the face of this slippery slope to reach the top to cheers of all. It was great fun to enjoy the warm breezes of the desert and watch so many enjoying this “snow” of the desert.

So my first day in Namibia was great fun....very educational...and very different from most days ever! I look forward to seeing Lüderitz Namibia tomorrow where I am scheduled to visit a “ghost” town that the sand has re-claimed....stay tuned!