Dolphin and seal cruise

We were up at 7am this morning to have breakfast before being picked up for our tours at 8 (Trisha and John were doing the Living Desert Tour, an exploration of all the small creatures that make their homes in the sand). We were joined on our tour by Heidi and Kris.

Our pick up was on time. After collecting more guests from other hotels around town, we set off for Wavis Bay, 20 kilometres away. It was very foggy, so we could see little as we drove along. When we got there, we had to wait a short time for our boat to arrive. There were lots of people going out on different boats. Ours was a catamaran called Mlandra owned and skippered by South African Eduard du Toit. As we waited to board, there was a pelican on a post, which caused us all to stop and take photos despite the foggy conditions.

On board the boat, we had a quick briefing from Eduard before setting off. One of the crew was throwing fish from the back of the boat, so we were joined on board by Peekaboo, a young male seal who regularly rides on the Mlandra. There is some controversy about the ethics of feeding the seals, but all I can say is that they don’t seem to suffer because of it, and there is strictly no touching of the animals allowed.

As we headed out to sea to visit the seal colony on the sandbank, the crew served us a cup of South African sherry each! It certainly got rid of the morning chill! There was also a cooler on board where we could help ourselves to water, soft drinks, or beer. We heard the seals in the colony before we could see them through the fog! There were hundreds, both on the sand bank and playing in the water. I’m not sure how good the photos will be.

Eduard explained to us all about the oyster farms we could see and about fishing in the area. We were joined on the boat at different times by pelicans and seagulls. As we motored around the area, the fog lifted, and the sun shone. We were searching for dolphins, but despite Eduard’s best efforts, we didn’t find any. He was in touch with all the other boats in the bay, and nobody saw dolphins this morning. That’s just the way it goes!

Inside the boat, I watched as one of the crew shucked a whole tray of oysters and prepared our buffet lunch. We had this with a South African sparkling wine, which was really good. Sherry, beer, and fizz – all before 11 o’clock in the morning! Not everybody wanted oysters, so Mark had half a dozen with a splash of Tabasco and a drop of lemon juice. He thoroughly enjoyed them.

After ‘lunch’, we returned to the harbour and got transported back to Swakopmund. At least this time we could see the scenery next to the road!Read more