Salt, sand and Swakopmund

We booked an independent tour today and met our driver at the gate to the port. First stop in Walvis Bay was the lagoon to view the flamingos, but being breeding season, there was only a handful present. We continued along the coast to the salt works and evaporation ponds.

Heading out of town, we stopped at Dune 7 - at 383m, the highest sand dune in Namibia and 5th highest in the world. It is part of the coastal dune belt that runs 30km from Walvis Bay to Swakopmund. We climbed to the top the long way, but came down the quick way, straight down the face... with boots full of sand.

Our journey took us to Swakopmund via an area known as the Moonscape, and to view the Welwitschia plant. It has been called one of the ugliest plants in the world and grows only in the deserts of Namibia and Angola. It is unusual because the entire plant has just two leaves. The leaves rest on the ground, and as they grow, their ends get split into multiple ribbons, which gives the impression that there are multiple leaves. Many of these plants are over 1,000 years old.
Since rainfall in this area is erratic, the plant absorbs moisture from fog that regularly develops at night over the desert. This is achieved by the leaves by keeping their spores open at night and closing when the fog lifts. Because of the dependence on fog, the plant is seldom found more than 100 km from the coast.

Last stop was Swakopmund ("mouth of the Swakop") , a popular beach resort town characterised by 19th century German colonial architecture. We had a quick city tour before returning to Walvis Bay via the coast road.

The ship departed Walvis Bay at 5pm, heading north to Angola. Czytaj więcej