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| Streaks of dolomite run through the rocks in dry bed of Swakop River on Namib Desert near Walvis Bay, Namibia |
It seems like just yesterday that we arrived in Mozambique
as our first port on continental Africa and now we are leaving Namibia, our
last African port. And it seems like
just the day before yesterday that we sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale on January
5. Now we are down to under 20 days on
our wonderful voyage and set to cut northwest up the Atlantic Ocean.
Namibia is another of those countries that filled in that
map of Africa with names of places that we had a difficult time locating. Traveling gives on a much better sense of
where places are and what life is like there.
The first European visitors to the land that is now Namibia, located
just north of South Africa on the Atlantic coast, were the Portuguese trying to
find an efficient route to India during the 15th century. By the end of the 19th century
Germany had annexed Namibia except for Walvis Bay itself, which Britain had
established as a port for its Cape Colony (South Africa). In the early 20th century,
diamonds were discovered in Namibia, so Germany became even more protective of
Namibia. However, the end of World War I
brought an end to German rule there. It
was to have been a mandate under the old League of Nations and later the United
Nations, but the pre-1994 Union of South Africa and South-West Africa (now
Namibia) argued over control of the area. Finally though, after 1994, Namibia
gained independence though the Namibian dollar is valued exactly with the South
African rand and the rand is used freely there.
Namibia’s population today is somewhat over two million people spread
out over about 300,000 square miles and is 80% Christian.
After celebrating Barb’s birthday in the Pinnacle Tuesday
with friends Sally and Ange and then being surprised at breakfast in the dining
room on her birthday on Wednesday with candles on her pancakes(!) and a rousing
“Happy Birthday” in Indonesian, and later a cake and another Indonesian “Happy
Birthday” at dinner, she felt her birthday was fully remembered. Having her birthday on a sea day gave more
opportunity for the rather official celebrations!
Despite the fact that we anticipated a rather warm day even
though South Africa had been cool, we were surprised at how cloudy and cool the
temps were when we arrived in Walvis Bay.
Since we had an afternoon shore excursion by boat, we had to change our
wardrobe to something that would be a bit warmer. Like South Africa, there
seemed to be a great deal of bureaucracy related to our arrival in the country. In nearly all other countries we visited
other than Australia and South Africa where a face to face meeting with
immigration officials with our passports in hand as well as Singapore which
required presentation of passports every single time we got off and reboarded the
ship, all other countries accepted the ship’s manifest of passengers. Namibia expected us to report personally
onboard to stamp our passports. So we
were summoned in groups to get our passports stamped before we could get off
the ship which did consume some valuable time in port.
Since we had such full days of tours, we decided the only
opportunity to go into Walvis Bay by shuttle bus would be as soon as the ship
was cleared. We were among the first off
and got on the first shuttle but had to wait for the 60 seat bus to fill before
we were on our way. Then we had to wait
for a short but slow train to cross in front of us in the port area before we
went into the small city. We were amazed
that the streets were more like wide American boulevards and that the homes
were much more American than what we consider to be African style homes. The short ride dropped us off in the downtown
area. Quickly we realized that downtown
Walvis Bay catered to local needs rather than tourist interests. Walvis Bay gets some, but not many, cruise
ships so it really should not have come as a surprise. After browsing stores, we were ready to head
back for a quick lunch before our shore excursion. As we waited, we were offered the opportunity
to hire taxi drivers wanting to earn some tourist money. While we understand the competition for
business, we were glad for the bus to arrive so we didn’t have to explain why
we didn’t need a taxi more than twice.
Our shore excursion Dolphin
and Seal Safari was just a short van ride from the pier so we boarded the
same boat with friends Bob and Nancy. As
we headed out, we had great views of the ms Amsterdam in port and nearly
immediately spotted a few seals lounging on a platform close to shore. A few of us climbed to the covered roof of
the small boat to get a better and more unobstructed view of the waters. Soon a few seals were following the ship and
a couple of friendly and trained seals were lured on the boat by the opportunity
to get some fish; those on the lower part of the boat could feed the seals and
even touch one of them. Barb found the
fur slimy and sticky but she did enjoy continuing her attempt to be
photographed with as many animals as possible.
Boat captain Johan indicated that that seal had been “domesticated” and
allowed people to touch. The other seal
that jumped on the deck was younger and still being trained so he preferred
people not touch that one. As the seals
slipped back into the water, Johan threw fish at the most domesticated seal who
kept up with the fast-moving boat quite well.
We continued toward a flat, sandy island with a lighthouse
as the only building. We noticed some
black spots which we realized were huge numbers of seals on the island and
romping and jumping in the nearby waters.
The approximately 30,000 seals in the area put on quite a show as we
cruised the waters watching the lively animals.
We were told that we would probably see dolphins but they seemed quite
elusive. Finally a few Heaviside
dolphins were spotted by their fins to distinguish them from the many
seals. The dolphins were fairly far from
the boat so pictures were difficult, however on sports setting we were able to
get a few quick pictures. For some
reason, on this year’s cruise, we have seen many fewer dolphins in the world’s
waters than last year. But these
dolphins we observed were rare, as they are found only in the Atlantic Ocean
between Cape Town and northern Namibia. We felt fortunate to have been able to
see these dolphins, which are rather small by dolphin standards, and are about
the height of an adult woman. Passing
the seals again and continuing to watch for dolphins, we had a light snack on
board which included some raw oysters for those inclined to like that delicacy
as we sailed back to the boat pier to take our short ride back to the ship.
In the evening we enjoyed a German buffet on the lido deck
in recognition of the German influence in Namibia’s history.
Our second day in Namibia told us why Namibia was so
named. We took a short seven-hour shore
excursion, Namib Desert 4x4 Adventure. Barb and I had agreed to do this excursion
with friends and ship neighbors, Paul and Brenda from San Francisco. Our cousin Gayle may remember Brenda as the
person that was born in St. Albans, England where Gayle and Dave lived for
about three years. We knew we would be
in small vehicles and we were told to try to form groups of five or six people
ahead of time. Unfortunately Brenda
wasn’t feeling well on Friday morning and didn’t think she was up to such a
long and possibly “bouncy” excursion.
Our excursion was called early since most tours were going out in small
groups rather than in large buses. Paul
wasn’t around yet and we were concerned that we would either be split up or be
assigned a vehicle, so I gave Paul a quick call from a shipboard public phone
urging him to get down ASAP. Once he was
there, we were given a vehicle and driver, Armin. Another couple (from Phoenix) who has been on
the ship since Ft. Lauderdale was assigned to our small group of three. They were a pleasant and interesting couple
with whom to spend the day.
Armin, a Caucasian, said he had been born and raised in
Namibia and that he was third generation Namibian. His grandfather, a German, had immigrated to
Namibia after World War II. There is a
strong German influence and culture in Namibia, particularly in the small
nearby city of Swakopmund. There the
German influence was especially strong and some friends did a shore excursion
to visit that city. We spent most of the day in the Namib-Naukluft Park in the
Namib Desert. Armin explained that
“namib” means “empty” which certainly was the case for the most part in the
desert, but it was an interesting and fascinating “empty”, so much so that we
would love to come back to this country!
Once we piled into our vehicle, we were on our way out of
Walvis Bay, a town with a population of about 25,000 and a natural harbor. Like the previous day, we were intrigued by
the modern architecture and the lovely homes as well as the home construction
that we noticed. We drove out along the
beautiful coast and through the city of Swakopmund which has become Namibia’s
holiday resort area along the coast.
Like Walvis Bay, we were impressed with the architecture and upscale
nature of Swakopmund. As soon as we left
Swakopmund, everything changed. We
turned inland and entered the Dorob National Park. The larger Namib-Naukluft Park encompassed it
and Dorob National Park. From time to
time we weaved in and out of Dorob so some of what we saw was within that park.
We passed pipelines which linked uranium
mines to the coast. Namib-Naukluft runs
about 3,000 kilometers north/south and from 50 to 100 kilometers inland. Although desert, Namibia grows olives, dates,
and green asparagus within the confines of the park.
As we began driving through the park, we were
struck by the beautiful and colorful dolomite rocks that dominated the
landscape. The dramatic rock formations
are the result of the collision of tectonic plates millions of years ago. The reds, browns, blacks, and yellows
streaked through the rocks making every turn of the road show a different
sight. A brief stop allowed us to walk
out on some of the rocks to take in the view and compose pictures. The “Moon Mountains” where we saw the wide
panorama of rocks was very aptly named!
What surprised us was the amount of flora and
even fauna that exists on the desert. While
there are no cacti in the Namib Desert, there is a wide diversity of plant
life. From the low, scrubby plant life,
to scrubby bushes, to larger trees like the acacia, green plant life was
abundant. Rainfall is minimal to
non-existent but the guides explained that in that area, clouds and fog are a
nearly daily early morning event. We can
attest to that as we were surprised to see the fog and clouds both mornings in
an area where rainfall is so rare until we learned this phenomenon was quite
typical. Thus the desert gets most of
its moisture from the frequent fog. By later in the day, the clouds and fog
nearly always burn off. Rainfall in some
areas is so minimal, some rain is called a “weather event”. However, recently some rain was recorded and
it creates some muddy patches in the desert which, because of the kind of soil,
does not sink in and dry up. It also
tends to bring out more foliage. We were
shown what is called “!nara” plant grows a melon that has a multi-use which
animals eat and humans are able to consume. Another advantage is that it can remain
fresh for up to a year without refrigeration.
We drove through the dry riverbed of the Swakop River and noticed that
there was much more green plant life there than in other areas because the area
on rare occasions when there is rain does fill and allows certain types of
trees and brush to grow.
During one stop, the guides showed several types of lichen
which responds to water and is eaten by animals for food. One guide poured a small amount of water on
one plant while leaving the others.
Quickly, the one with water, became green and seemed to grow before our
eyes. The lichen along the road gave a
pale green tint to the land. But what
intrigued us most was a very rare and unusual tree know as the Welwitschia
tree, named for Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch back in 1859. We stopped and examined this strange tree
which really looks like a plant and lies pretty much flat on the ground with
most of the tree itself underground. Several
long straggly leaves stretch out on the desert floor. Closer to the base, the leaves look healthy
and green but the farther out they extend, the older portions of the leaves are
withered and thin. Originally thought to
have lifespans of 1,500 to 2,000 years our guide explained that more recent
research shows the oldest to be over 900 years.
He says he could accept the fact some might be 1,000 years old but 1,500
would stretch believability. The rare
rainfall allows new trees to be born; the trees are pollinated by bees,
butterflies and moths. We inquired as to
whether we might see the unusual baobab tree that we had heard about in
Madagascar and was also in some places in Namibia. It’s a funny looking tree that had a very
large trunk with a few scraggly branches at the top that look more like tree
roots. But we were told that the tree
was found only at latitude 24° and we were at latitude 22° so they didn’t grow
in the area we were visiting.
I didn’t really expect to be fortunate
enough to see any fauna in such a desolate area, but I was wrong. Our guide, Armin, with his trained eye, at
one point, shouted, “Look over there.
There’s an ostrich out there!” We
stopped and one by one, all five of us saw the gangly bird in the far
distance. Zoom lenses of our cameras
brought them closer and got several satisfactory pictures. We had seen them in Jurong Bird Paradise in
Singapore, more at the Ostrich Show Ranch just the other day near Cape Town,
but we had never seen ostriches in the wild.
We were quite pleased with our find.
Later, the guide spotted some springbok, a beautiful animal in the antelope
family. Again, in the distance, we saw
one then several of the sleek animals grazing on the desert scrub. It was interesting to learn that springbok
can survive nine months without water!
We were in a very desolate area with
only one rest room area at the Goanikontes Oasis during our seven hour
excursion. There we had a sumptuous
picnic lunch of salads and game meat, mostly eland prepared in a variety of
ways. We had time to wander the grounds
of this oasis, view the palms as well as other trees, and watch some attractive
alpaca in an enclosure with several goats.
After lunch, as we piled back into our
vehicles, we continued our beautiful drive through the stunning desert, now
made more beautiful by the afternoon sun and brilliant blue skies. As we headed back toward Walvis Bay, the
ground again became flatter and sandier.
On our right were tall dunes built up over centuries of weather and
wind. On the left were called shifting
dunes, smaller ones which tended to move somewhat depending on weather and wind
patterns. We made a short stop at what
was called Dune 7 where we could climb the sandy mountain if we felt up to it
in the time allocated. Many of us went
up a short distance, but one man made it to the top to the applause of the
onlookers. Captain Mercer and his wife
on this excursion, the first one that Barb and I had ever seen them take. A few readers of our blog have reported to us
that they had read parts of Captain Jonathan’s blog so they might be interested
to check his blog for this day to see his impressions. We will have to check it ourselves when we
get home and don’t have to pay for each precious internet minute. Barb asked Armin the significance of the name
“Dune 7”. To our disappointment, there
is no exotic reason like the fact that it’s the highest dune (it’s not) or the
seventh of a number of dunes (it’s not that either). Rather, Armin explained that Dune 7 is seven
kilometers from Walvis Bay! Who would
have guessed that was the reason for the name?
I might comment that the entire area
we visited on this excursion had absolutely no commercialization. Barb had wanted to find a place on one of our
two days to purchase one post card as she is sending a young student a post
card from various parts of the world.
But here that was out of the question. We didn’t come close to a shop on
this tour and the five minutes we had in a shop when we had our seal and
dolphin safari came up empty as well. We
had a few more South African rand to spend but there was no place to spend
it! While a few vendors displayed crafts
just outside the port gates, it was almost refreshing to not be hounded by vendors
wanting to sell whatever they had and what most of us didn’t need.
We came back to the ship with a new
impression of what had heretofore been a mysterious unknown in our minds. Barb and I, along with many others back on
the ship, comment that we had loved Namibia and would love to come back to this
deeply misunderstood country.
As we left the African continent, we
knew this really meant the cruise was winding down as our voyage across the
Atlantic had begun and would end with our disembarkation in a mere 2½ weeks in
Ft. Lauderdale where we began our voyage!
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