WALVIS BAY, NAMIBIA
3 December 2006- Sunday
The Great Namibian Desert
Up and breakfasted in plenty of time to be on deck for our entry into Walvis Bay. (The name comes from the usual English bastardization of a German word- Germany had South West Africa from the late 1800s until the first world war- for Bay of Whales. I say the usual, because if the Brits can't pronounce it they put their own words to it- like Infante de Castille becoming Elephant and Castle. The sky is deep gray and so is the sea so it's hard to see the horizon- there is a hefty breeze blowing and I'm wearing my jacket for the first time this trip. The ship has to spin around 360 degrees to dock and we debark to go to our several destinations. I've taken the 7 hour excursion to the great Namibian desert and find we are being loaded 6 at a time into convoys of FWD vehicles. We go thru a town which looks pretty clean and nicely laid out without anything moving in it and I realize it is a Sunday. Then we head up north with sand on all sides and come to a seaside resort which is now famous because Angela Jolie had her baby here with Brad Pitt in attendance. When we get to Swakopmund (Ger. for mouth of the Swakop river) we head east into the desert and stop at the Mountains of the Moon - one of the most desolate places I've been.
The "fog" has burned off and the sky is cloudless. Our driver who is a "pensioner" used to be a policeman and has skin like parchment. He explains that because of the Bengeulla current the West coast of South Africa is a desert from Cape Province SA almost to Angola (1500 KM long and 150 KM wide). The water temperature is 40 to 60 degrees. All the rainfall is inland and in the north is the Okovanga delta which gets plenty of rain and wildlife. Namibia makes its money from diamonds which have washed down from the mountains and are all over the beaches and under silt along the coast. If you find a diamond on the beach, it belongs to the govrnment and there are some beaches that are restricted. There are only 1.8 million people in a country the size of Germany making it one of the 3 lowest density populated countries in the world. And after the desert I can see why. Had finger-food lunch in an oasis and then drove down a road between a rairoad and a water pipeline (supplying one of the 2 uranium mines in Namibia) and 1000 feet high Sand Dunes. We stop and get out and are engulfed in superfine sand which gets into everything (so my camera gets folded in my T shirt). Some trekkers climb to the top in this wind and by the time we leave you can't find their footsteps. Last stop is at a lagoon that is just as windy, but some brave flamingos are still there to be photographed at a distance.
We go directly back to the ship- so no souvenirs. I ask the guide to buy some postcards, affix the preprinted labels I gave him and mail them for me- So I did spend $20 to stimulate the Namibian economy. Couldn't wait to get under a shower. Usual unexciting meal, I think I'm getting jaded with all the food- none of which I'd rate as gourmet. Get reminded by the maitre de to set clocks back one hour, and make it up to the Ambassador lounge for the new performer "Travis Clover" I don't wait for him to finish screaming out his first showtune before I'm out the door. Lost will definitely be better than this.
The Great Namibian Desert
Up and breakfasted in plenty of time to be on deck for our entry into Walvis Bay. (The name comes from the usual English bastardization of a German word- Germany had South West Africa from the late 1800s until the first world war- for Bay of Whales. I say the usual, because if the Brits can't pronounce it they put their own words to it- like Infante de Castille becoming Elephant and Castle. The sky is deep gray and so is the sea so it's hard to see the horizon- there is a hefty breeze blowing and I'm wearing my jacket for the first time this trip. The ship has to spin around 360 degrees to dock and we debark to go to our several destinations. I've taken the 7 hour excursion to the great Namibian desert and find we are being loaded 6 at a time into convoys of FWD vehicles. We go thru a town which looks pretty clean and nicely laid out without anything moving in it and I realize it is a Sunday. Then we head up north with sand on all sides and come to a seaside resort which is now famous because Angela Jolie had her baby here with Brad Pitt in attendance. When we get to Swakopmund (Ger. for mouth of the Swakop river) we head east into the desert and stop at the Mountains of the Moon - one of the most desolate places I've been.
The "fog" has burned off and the sky is cloudless. Our driver who is a "pensioner" used to be a policeman and has skin like parchment. He explains that because of the Bengeulla current the West coast of South Africa is a desert from Cape Province SA almost to Angola (1500 KM long and 150 KM wide). The water temperature is 40 to 60 degrees. All the rainfall is inland and in the north is the Okovanga delta which gets plenty of rain and wildlife. Namibia makes its money from diamonds which have washed down from the mountains and are all over the beaches and under silt along the coast. If you find a diamond on the beach, it belongs to the govrnment and there are some beaches that are restricted. There are only 1.8 million people in a country the size of Germany making it one of the 3 lowest density populated countries in the world. And after the desert I can see why. Had finger-food lunch in an oasis and then drove down a road between a rairoad and a water pipeline (supplying one of the 2 uranium mines in Namibia) and 1000 feet high Sand Dunes. We stop and get out and are engulfed in superfine sand which gets into everything (so my camera gets folded in my T shirt). Some trekkers climb to the top in this wind and by the time we leave you can't find their footsteps. Last stop is at a lagoon that is just as windy, but some brave flamingos are still there to be photographed at a distance.
We go directly back to the ship- so no souvenirs. I ask the guide to buy some postcards, affix the preprinted labels I gave him and mail them for me- So I did spend $20 to stimulate the Namibian economy. Couldn't wait to get under a shower. Usual unexciting meal, I think I'm getting jaded with all the food- none of which I'd rate as gourmet. Get reminded by the maitre de to set clocks back one hour, and make it up to the Ambassador lounge for the new performer "Travis Clover" I don't wait for him to finish screaming out his first showtune before I'm out the door. Lost will definitely be better than this.
Labels: Nairobi to Rio 2006
posted by DT at 11:49 AM
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