THURSDAY 31ST - ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Travelling day today with very little to report. We covered 600 kilometres which, at Beast speed, took all day. Fortunately the roads, while mostly dirt, weren't too bad.

We are now comfortably settled at the Gondwana Canyon Village at Fish River Canyon, apparently the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon which we will be exploring tomorrow.

The countdown has begun. This time next week, we will be heading for home.

WEDNESDAY 30TH - SAND, SAND AND MORE SAND

What a day. When we arrived yesterday and saw all the camps and lodges in the area, we wondered what the attraction was. This morning we found out in a most exciting way.

We got up early for a sunrise scenic flight. It was more of an adventure flight than a scenic flight although the scenery was spectacular.

We were a party of eight in two Cessna 210's piloted by a pair of top gun crazy pilots who enjoyed close formation flying in the valleys looking up at the tops of the dunes not far from our wingtips.

Their low flying and close formation flying could not possibly be legal in Australia but great fun, for them and for us.

 

The reason that this place is so popular is the sand dunes and they are very impressive, rising from a flat valley to great heights.

We are located at Sesriem, on the eastern edge of the Namib Naukluft Park which stretches from here to the coast and virtually all of the area between here and the coast is covered by a dune system.

The Swakomund dunes were impressive but are almost insignificant by comparison with those located here.

After our flight, we drove 60 kilometres almost to the end of the road where Sossusvlei (a clay pan) is the main attraction.

We didn't quite get there because you need four wheel drive for the last bit and we had seen it from the air.

As you might expect, the pilots did a low pass over our accommodation before landing.

 

We finished the day by visiting Sesriem Canyon, notable because , until you reach the edge of the canyon, you don't realize that it is there. It looks as flat as the surrounding land.

 

On the road again tomorrow.

 

 

TUESDAY 29TH - HEADING SOUTH

Today was once again a travelling day but what a day of contrasts. We left behind the cool gloomy coastal desert dunes of Swakopmund and headed into sunny and warm flat featureless desert.

That soon gave way to spectacular desert mountain scenery.

This is a photo of me with the two Trish's, the other being our very capable tour organizer.

After which we returned to the flat country with large rocky mountains always in the distance.

And we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.

 

We had our usual out of the truck lunch at a delightful little isolated town appropriately called Solitaire in the middle of nowhere.

 

We are now at the Desert Quiver Camp in a very quaint little lodge with all the mod cons. I am told that wifi is available over by the pool so, if you are reading this, it works.

 

Tomorrow morning, we are booked to do a sunrise scenic flight. Apparently the flight is well worth doing so it will be very interesting to see what the area has to offer. The planes just flew over, very low, so it should be fun.

I only included this photo because I think that the rock formation looks like a turtle.

MONDAY 28TH - MORE FUN AT SWAKOMUND

 As I am typing this at 12 noon, the sun has come out so today is much brighter and warmer than yesterday – predicted maximum of 19 degrees today.

Last night we were told that we were to have dinner on the beach but nothing prepared us for what unfolded. We did have dinner on the beach but it was no basic affair. It was a five star experience the entree being oysters and the main course being crayfish, mussels, kalamari etc. We are being very well looked after.

This morning, Trish had a quiet morning doing some shopping while a couple of us went quad bike riding in the dunes.

When we approached the coast on Saturday, we passed through about 100 kilometres of flat sandy desert country. To the south of Swakomund, it is still sandy desert country but it is certainly not flat. There is a very extensive system of very high dunes. Quad bikes are definitely the best method of exploring them. In this part of the world, the desert meets the sea. There is no greenery.

Our tour guide had an artistic bent in that the discolouration in the dunes is iron. With a magnet, he was able to collect a bottle full and do a drawing on the sand. Very clever.

 

 

 Tomorrow we are on the road again Who knows what future adventures await. I tried to post a video last night but I can't make it work so I guess that it doesn't. Sorry about that.

SUNDAY 27TH - SWAKOPMUND

When I checked my emails last night, there was one from a client asking me to take care of some matters while she went away, to Africa! When I told her we were already here and asked her where she was coming to, she told that she will be in Swakopmund tomorrow. I don't know whether our paths will cross but what an extraordinary coincidence.

 

We spent this morning on a champagne and oyster cruise at Walvis Bay about 35 kilometres south of here. We rugged up as much as we could and they had blankets available for use on the boat so that gives some indication of the temperature but there was very little breeze so it was tolerable.

As I am typing this at 2:00 pm, it is still very gloomy and cool. We saw glimpses of the sun on the way back from Walvis Bay. I checked the weather forecast. It is presently 13 degrees with a predicted maximum of 14.

Walvis Bay is the local port and has substantial oyster growing industry, hence the promotion of the local product. It also supports the second most productive fishing industry after the west coast of South America. Apparently both countries have very cold currents which result in a very healthy fish population.

The point of the cruise was to check out the local wildlife being seagulls, pelicans, seals, dolphins, the occasional penguin and a young humpback whale which made a brief appearance.

 

After we finished the cruise, we went and checked out the local flamingo community for which the area is known We have changed the nature of the animals we are looking at but are still finding new ones.

Tonight we had a stunning fully catered beach barbeque with local oysters for entrée and crayfish calamari and mussels for main course. A stunning experience.

 

SATURDAY 26TH - ATLANTIC OCEAN

We are now comfortably settled at Alte Brucke, an accommodation complex in Swakopmund on the Atlantic coast. Surprisingly it is very cold here. There is apparently a very cold current which sweeps along the coast causing cool and foggy weather to prevail. We didn't see the sun at all yesterday once we got within 5 kilometres of the coast.

We started the day with a visit to Burnt Mountain a discoloured mountain with a burnt appearance.

From there, we went to the feature known as Organ Pipes. Not bad but they are obviously hard up for features to drag people over the atrocious roads to the area.

Along the way we stopped to negotiate the purchase of some firewood from the locals. We have done that twice now. The villagers collect it and leave it in piles by the side of the road for the passing campers to purchase. We aren't camping but do have open fires when dinner is prepared from The Beast as it will be tonight at our beach barbeque. We will be dressed for the snow to attend the beach barbeque.

 

We also stopped at a roadside stall operated by the local himba and herero women. The herero women are the ones with the impressive costumes on, a contrast to the himba.

 

Once we got to the coast, the roads became salt roads, very smooth and a welcome relief. 

Our final activity for the day was a visit to a seal colony. The local fur sea colony is very healthy and very entertaining to watch, but very smelly.

The coastline here is apparently quite well known for the number of ships wrecked on it. We passed one of the wrecks, a large fishing boat which has apparently been there for 10 years. It is now a great bird rookery.

 

Dinner last night was at a local restaurant. Great oyster farming area here.