I’ve officially left the malaria zone of Africa and don’t think I’ve caught it (fingers crossed at the moment). But with the lack of malaria mosquitoes there’s a massive increase in the amount of sand I’ve had to wade, climb, jump and fall through.
Seal Colony
After the night under the stars at Spitzkoppe we added to our now fantastic smells (no water/showers at all at the camp) by visiting a huge colony of seals. Thankfully there was a strong breeze so most of the smell drifted off to sea but can’t imagine what it would be like without the wind. Got some better photos of the seals later but again took tons of pretty much the same shot.
Back to Civilisation
Another holiday within a holiday with beds, hot showers and restaurant meals. I ate so well and getting dessert was (pardon the pun) the icing on the cake. I’m finding the further south we travel the better the amenities are overall. Namibia has been pretty good and Swakopmund just felt like German Europe built on sand. Swakopmund (don’t know how many different ways I pronounced the name of the place incorrectly) is a great place to do some fantastic activities and the group split up and enjoyed the excitements on offer. Was extremely surprised by how cold it got at night – even during the day I had a jacket with me and then at night-time actually wore jeans (a 1st I think for this trip).
Sand Boarding
After surviving one of the most painful experiences of my life (trying to learn to snowboard) hoped sandboarding would be an easier endeavour. I have - since the torture of snowboarding - learnt to wakeboard and thought that would help me with stand-up boarding on sand. Unfortunately I really struggled – either due to my lack of physical activity so far on this trip or I was lost without having a rope to lean against. Was able to stand up and do a couple of turns so wasn’t a complete disaster but unfortunately it was so quick going down and so much slipping and sliding trying to get back to the top of the dune I didn’t do too many runs. And walking in snowboard boots in the sand didn’t make life easier. Had to wax the board each time but it was actually a blessing in disguise in that it gave you time to rest after the sand-slog up the dune. Still something fun to do!
Half of the group that went chose just to do lie down boarding. Certainly got more speed doing that and luckily we got to join them for the longest and steepest run called Dizzy. Lots of fun and also got to see an epic wipe-out when two girls struggled to steer while tandem boarding. Worst part was that the videographer missed the excitement of the crash. The whole trip was pretty good value in that it also included a DVD and lunch (however it was exactly the same lunch we’ve been having the last 8 weeks).
Dolphin Cruise
The next day joined a few of our group and 16 other German tourists on a dolphin cruise down in Walvis Bay. We had somehow booked on the fastest catamaran which was great as we passed all the other boats in the harbour on the race out to where some whales that had been spotted. Had to head around a point and entered the true Atlantic Ocean with quite a decent swell. Finally saw the whales (a mum and calf I was told) and tried to take some photos while staying dry from the waves crashing onto the deck. Managed to get a decent video but lots of photos of clear sky or empty water as the boat rocked or the whales submerged…
(best photo of whale – video was better)
We were very lucky to see the whales since it’s a bit out of season for them to be travelling past – but also got to see a dolphin racing the boat as we headed back to the calmer waters of the bay.
(dolphin)
Another cool part the cruise included was them feeding semi-trained pelicans. The pelicans would fly behind and then beside the boat and either take the fish out of the hands of the guide or catch a thrown piece.
Much like the fake lion sightings of game drives, there were plenty fake dolphin and whale sightings that turned out to be the numerous seals in the area. There are no predators (besides humans) of the seals in the surrounding ocean so there were quite a few of them (with their own unique smell again). We did see a jackal on the sand that would eat any unprotected babies and dead seals but there were still a massive number of them.
There were also some trained seals who would jump onto the boat and be patted (amazing fur they’ve got) while they were fed fish. The 2nd seal who jumped on board knew exactly where the fish was stored and kept going for the ice-cooler. Unfortunately he got a bit confused and went for the drinks one, managing to tip it over and not liking the cans and bottles he found.
(seal looking for fish and finding drinks)
Sesriem
Unfortunately the great food, entertainment (including watching my first movie this trip at a cinema) and relaxation of Swakopmund had to come to an end and we headed south towards South Africa and spent the night at Sesirem. Wasn’t a very exciting day compared to the previous ones but we did cross the Tropic of Capricorn. Need to see where that crosses the Australian east coast to get an idea of what temperature I can expect.
The next day (after surviving the relative shock of returning to our tents) we had a very early start to get to the creatively named Dune 45 to climb and see the sunrise. Started to race up the sand but realised very quickly it was a huge mistake being near the front and not being able to use the compacted sand footprints of other people. Didn’t feel too well so slowed down (lack of food and intense physical activity in the early morning not a good recipe for my body) and eventually got to the top to unfortunately see a disappointing sunrise blocked by the clouds. Still was an amazing view from the top and lots of fun running back down in the sand.
We then headed further into the desert to what is known as the soussusvlei. Couldn’t go with our truck so transferred into 4x4 vehicles. Had a bit of a race between the two cars until one of our group desperately needed to STOP the vehicle to get a photo of a sand dune that wasn’t going anywhere… Have to laugh sometimes or you might go crazy after 55+ days. Also saw a deadvlei which was even cooler with the Big Daddy sand dune (largest dune in the National Park) in the background. Tried another jumping shot and it finally worked! The tradition lives on.
(Jumping on the deadvlei)
Our long day continued but we reached our destination during sunlight hours which was the first time our leader had achieved that – usually he arrived during night time – maybe the longer sunlight hours helped us. Heading tomorrow to Fish River Canyon via a stop at something called Giant’s Playground.
Week Ahead
Sat, 5th of Nov Fish River Canyon
Sun, 6th of Nov Orange River, Noordoewer
Mon, 7th of Nov Citrusdal, South Africa
Tues, 8th of Nov Cape Town
Wed, 9th of Nov Cape Town
Thurs, 10th of Nov Cape Town
Fri, 11th of Nov Leave Cape Town (late) for London
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