Journey to Swakopmund

I slept reasonably well until 5am but woke up feeling tired after my late night star watching. I got up and walked out to a nearby rock to take photos of the pre-dawn mountains that had a deep red hue. I packed up my tent and had some light breakfast before climbing the rock formation behind the camp to take photos of a beautiful sunrise which turned the granite rock from deep red, to orange and then to yellow.
All too soon it was time to get on the truck and.leave for our next destination. We headed towards the Namibian coast past dramatic and desolate, flat, sandy plains. The weather grew dramatically colder as we approached the coast with its cold seas welling up from the Antarctic and creating Namibia's unusual climate. We drove into the mists created by the cold sea air meeting thr hot desert air. We all began to put jackets and warm layers on as the cold wind blew through the trucks open sides.
We reached the coast with sand stretching for hundreds of miles and big rolling waves crashing onto the shore. We drove to where there is a huge Cape fur seal colony called the Cape Cross seal colony. We walked out to get very close to the thousands of seals with many young pups. A wooden walkway allowed you to walk along the top of this enormous colony. It was special to watch the behaviour of all these seals, fighting for space, calling loudly, walking to and from the sea and suckling their young. There was a very pungent, fishy smell coming from the colony which took a while to get used to. It was humbling to witness such a mass of mammal life in one place. My only disappointment was that we didn't have more time to spend with this remarkable scene of nature in all its abundance.
We drove on to eat some fresh fish and chips at a restaurant in a nearby town which was very tasty and enjoyable which sated my hunger well. Next we drove along the coastline and stopped to see one of the many shipwrecks along this notoriously dangerous coast for shipping.
We then passed miles of unbroken sandy coastline with big rolling waves, and stretching inland to miles of desert sands. We arrived at a more industrial mining area which led to the modern looking town of Swakopmund to our destination hostel/hotel, Amanpuri. We unpacked in a very nice dorm room and decided on our activities for the next couple of days from the debrief we received at the hostel. Everyone on the trip went for a nice meal at a local restaurant with some enjoyable local music from a male group at the end of the meal. I retired early to bed to hopefully catch up on my sleep on a comfortable bed.Read more