Walvis Bay, Namibia

New-to-us Port #28 … with an overnight.

After a rockin’ and rollin’ kind of night, this morning at 10:00a we arrived at our first port of call in Namibia. And immediately pulled out sweaters and jackets as it was quite cool at 60F. The temperature would warm up when we left the coast for the desert, but at that moment the crisp air was like a breath of fresh air.

Before we could get off the ship, we had to go through a face-to-face immigration process with the Namibian authorities. A fairly simple formality — in through one door of the Insignia Lounge, pick up passports, have said passports stamped by the authorities, return passports to Insignia staff, get a stamp to prove that we’ve gone through immigration, and head to the gangway.

What can complicate the process is the time assigned, usually by deck, to complete the formalities and any private tour arrangements one might have. In this case, we were joining Pat & Tom’s tour, so they coordinated with the concierge to get us cleared as a group. It worked like a charm. By 10:45a, we were off the ship … by 11:00a, we were meeting the tour operator.

Today’s excursion was a 4x4 adventure that took us out into the nearly 300-mile long dune belt. The tour description said that we would be going to Dune 7, but we ended up going to a quieter section of the dunes within Dorob National Park. Here, we had free time to climb the dunes and just enjoy the majestic scenery. That we had the whole place entirely to ourselves was simply fantastic.

Next, we really put the 4WD capabilities of the vehicles to good use. Our destination was a barren area that is part of the Namib Naukluft National Park. Millennia of erosion has worked its magic here to create a landscape that is compared to the moon … hence it is often referred to as simply the Moon Landscape. We stopped at an overlook to take in the scenery … then it was off to have lunch.

We had our midday meal at Goanikontes Oasis in the national park. It is a resort/camp area in the middle of nowhere …. not far from the Swakop River. Everywhere we looked there was something interesting to see … from planters made out of denim pants, to wind chimes made out of rusty old pots and pans, to old vehicles converted into seating in the restaurant. There was also a “zoo” that some of us managed to check out. The food, ordered off the menu, was tasty and plentiful … the draft Hansa beer the perfect accompaniment.

After lunch, we headed further into the national park on a quest to see the Welwitschia … an ugly, but unique plant that is only found in the Namib Desert. These plants are quite long-lived. While the one our guides took us to see is estimated as being a mere 500 years old, others have been carbon-dated to 1,500-2,000 years old. They are quite large … some growing to widths of 6 feet. Our guide drew a circle around the plant he took us to, asking us to stay outside the circle to ensure that we didn’t damage the roots.

Continuing bumpity, bump, bump through the park, we eventually re-connected to the paved highway that took us to the coastal city of Swakopmund. The city is more or less a beach resort today, but it was founded in 1892 as the main harbour for German West Africa.

I expected that we’d have a wander in town, but when our arrival in Walvis Bay was changed from 8:00a to 10:00a, some jiggling of the itinerary must have taken place. In any event, we drove through town and stopped on the coast for a few minutes before heading back to Walvis Bay … this time via the coastal highway.

Our last stop was at the flamingo lagoon where we saw both the Greater and the Lesser Flamingos … the latter being more colorful than the former.

At one point, Mui and I had talked about having dinner in town, but by the time we returned to Insignia, we were ready for some down time. So … no dinner ashore.

Tomorrow, we have another 4x4 adventure to look forward to … back to the dunes we shall go.Läs mer