Thursday 27th April
In a curious blend of ocean and desert, Walvis Bay in Namibia, is the gateway to the town of Swakopmund, a German colonial town on the desert coast. Walvis Bay is one of Africa's hidden jewels, set between the golden dunes of the Namib Desert and the cold currents of the Atlantic Ocean.
Namibia is sparsely populated, there being just 1.7 persons per square kilometre compared with 241 in the UK and 745 in Bangladesh.
In 1990 South West Africa gained independence becoming Namibia, however Walvis Bay remained under South African sovereignty until 1994.
Today berthed in Walvis Bay, Namibia. An interesting view from the ship, all along the coast just one big commercial port, immediately inland the town, all low rise and fairly indistinct with desert and sand-dunes behind.
Lovely sunny day, no trip today so a chance for a nice easy start.
Set off ashore to catch the shuttle bus. Long drive through the port, then a short drive through the town. The town appears to be made up of mostly pleasant homes and wide roads, all well spread out.
Bus drop off at the newly built Dunes Mall, right on the edge of town, a less than interesting place, just a shopping mall that could be anywhere in the world. So a short visit, then back on the shuttle. Assisted in a minor passenger revolt and managed to convince the driver to make an unscheduled stop at the lagoon so we could get off to view the wildlife.
A wonderful spot, much more interesting than the rest of the town, a pleasant walk along the esplanade nicely laid out with some very nice homes with views across to the sea and lagoon.
Enjoyed the Flamingos, a bit pale but some pink showing, maybe not the huge flocks we had hoped for but plenty and close in to the shore. Also lots of White Pelicans with the bonus of Bottle-nosed Dolphins swimming in the deeper water just beyond the shallows where the birds were, all very close in.
After a while enjoying the spectacle walked back to the ship, the whole town very quiet and all felt very safe with no sign of any dodgy characters hanging around. Longish walk but not too bad.
The docks seemed decidedly lacking in any serious security, so wandered through going past all sorts of cargo, containers and some huge blocks of white marble destined for somewhere in the world.
Enjoyed the ship for the afternoon, getting rather windy, the dunes now obscured with blown sand. The wind delayed our departure for a couple of hours, the ship just couldn’t get away from the dock, eventually we left and the ship then had to deal with a very narrow passage out to the sea through the sandbanks.
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