Walvis Bay

Walvis Bay ,Namibia.

After being unable to enter/tender, into our Port of Lüderitz ,we continued onwards ,in a good gale, towards Walvis Bay, a large following sea ,that made for steady sailing, in our lovely ship… and slowly died away as the day progressed.
So many lovely things to do each day, the choices of food ,ever changing ,places to be, lectures, and entertainment, second to none, ever pleasing ,relaxing and restful ,and we never grow tired or take it for granted, our crew are a delight..
This morning in Walvis Bay ,was actually cold, can you imagine Africa as cold, this is such a place, it is positioned on the edge of the huge Namib Desert ,and you wonder how and why would it exist. The Port is the mainstay ,being enlarged greatly, to be employing 700 ,of which 70% will be women ?. It provides a route through to South Africa, without ships going right around the continent. Fishing has always been part of this community ,and set to become much more so. Many trucks to take fish to the inner regions .Salt is harvested by the evaporation process, most for industrial use, though plans for table salt as well. Agriculture mentioned, so much I need to research. The country ,inland, will look vastly different to this unique part of it, quite fascinating to see this landscape., harsh to the extreme.
Mines, for Uranium, most mothballed ,or bought by China, for their own needs , no flow on to the country really, also Uranium for nuclear purposes, dwindling at the present time. Mines for Granite and Marble , inland, but trucked here to be processed or polished and cut ,also a Chinese market.
Tourism, well, only 5 ships a year ,so other avenues must exist. Our trip to see a huge Lagoon ,with many birds, mainly Flamingos , elegant ,and looking slightly unreal ,as they flock in the shallows ,also large White Pelicans ,faintly pink ,as well,[ what they eat ,is responsible ] special, also there are thousands of seals.
Desert journey ,to huge Sand Dunes ,which people like to climb to the top of. Our crew was on hand , at Dune 7,with drinks, dressed in the national costume ,there is a hat that represents Cow Horns, worn all the time by married indigenous women, and others. Palms grow around the base , sparse vegetation, but sand as far as the eye can see, paler near the Ocean, but reddish further inland. Very cold indeed, a bitter wind in the desert. There is an amazing ancient plant that survives here to be thousands of years old. Welwitschia Mirabilis, intriguing .
The town of 62,000,are in the dead flat, sand filled strip ,it blows a lot, as in really blows, so the sand is a huge issue, and everything has to be sand proof, temperatures ,are in the 20’s, at the highest, today to get to 17o, little rainfall,13mm,a year , that comes in as mainly damp fog, as it was this morning .Out of 365 days they said ,maybe 100, see the sun shine.. .The solid concrete homes are all walled, to keep out wind and sand, have chimneys ,we thought for heating, but no that is for Indoor BBQ’s, because of inclement weather. They are not security fenced or electrified ,here, but petty crime is an issue, well that’s everywhere, violent crime not so much .
Road accidents are their main cause of death, huge straight stretches, we saw some of the maniacs at large, Mini Buses, travelling long distances to take workers home ,often kill many at once. Highest accident rate in the world, we were told…a sad statistic… Lagoon side, here were quite a few, very lovely homes ,with, lawns and gardens. Mainly anything else was well bunkered against the climate, not poorly kept ,most tidy homes.
Water is a huge problem , dwindling rivers ,that top up a de salination plant. About to cost a lot more for water ,and really rain is their only hope.
A lot of Power comes from South Africa, under a treaty, [it is sold to them of course] which expires in September, but because Sth Africa has not enough for their own needs ,it makes sense that they terminate this contract. Their lives still depend a lot on who rules after the Sth African election in May ,apparently.
This country is in recession,36 % unemployment, and that will be way higher .Education is not a priority, for the masses, [sad mistake] and Health care ,unless you have insurance ,very poor..not a lot that was positive really, another country in tatters for most of its population, still connected to Sth Africa in a lot of ways. There are cities ,of course, where there will be an affluent minority ,or maybe even more than a minority ,but at the grass roots level, its tough .Nomadic tribes, several still exist, very different looking people, tall and stately.
Unfortunately there was coal or manganese dust on the wharf, an attempt made to hose it off, which resulted in a black soup ,that was tracked everywhere, on to our beautiful ship, they made a path of old towels, and cardboard, and troughs of carpet in water, to dip the shoes, but still it came on board, blackened the carpet at the entrance, and we wonder if it can ever come off, then tracked down all the tiles ,disaster .! Sand from the dune climbers will combine… Tonight the cleaners, who work a night shift, to clean from top to bottom, will be very busy…!
Its so strange to look out over the strip of the city, to see the Desert so close.! Quite a fascinating place to see ,in spite of lots of non positive information ,in this very different part of the world .To experience it a privilege .We can all be extremely grateful for our land of birth…!
We sailed still in daylight ,to see more of the lengthy fishing Port, also many research ships of amazing scale, which I need to research.6 days at sea now until we reach Dakar in Senegal .Our special journey moving at a rapid rate, we so enjoy every day.
Hope Mum has enjoyed Easter ,and some special visitors, Jacinda sent a little video of Ayla dancing for her, so lovely to see.
Bye from us in the Gulf of Guinea.Read more