Sand Dunes and Whales

We left Sossussvlei behind heading for the Naukluft Mountain Park.

It was a short drive of just over an hour but when we arrived we found the 4×4 trail had been closed for many years since the rains had brought down boulders blocking the way. The campsite was expensive and even though the staff tried to encourage us to do a 4km walk in the heat of the day to a waterfall, we had our doubts as to just how sensible that would be.

So after a quick discussion we hauled anchor and headed off through the mountains to Walvis Bay on the coast.

It was going to be a long drive and it was already late morning so we broke it up with a stay at another farm. It was a purely random choice based on distance and good Google reviews. But when we arrived it took our breath away.

The manager was very friendly and proudly showed us the birds flocking at the waterhole

And the tortoises happily making their home under the trees

We pitched up on a site far away from the farm house with private ablutions and an absolutely stunning view.

As the sun set behind the mountains we decided Walvis Bay could wait! We weren´t going to rush away from here for a while.

The next morning we wandered back down to the farm house and passed the time chatting to the manager again.

Someone had a sense of humour!

The Manager was a fountain of knowledge having lived there for more than six decades. He told us about the rains – drought for 12 years then more rain in the last 12 months than Namibia had seen since the 1950s! Over 220mm in the year, more than ten times a normal good season.

He told us the Namib dunes to the north were alive with yellow grasses and tiny flowers and the river through their land had had water flowing for the first time in his lifetime. He showed us a magazine with two photographs of the area taken 12 months apart – one showed red sand dunes and plains, the other, taken from the same place, showed swaying grasses and what looked like grass-covered mountains. It dawned on me then that the view we had been looking out over for the last two days was not what it seemed – it was actually desert and sand dunes uniquely covered in grass just for these few months whilst nature revelled in the rainfall.

We tried to negotiate to buy the farm but apparently the owner was immovable! We couldn´t blame him one bit.

But as ever, we eventually had to drag ourselves away and drive the long roads to the coast. It wasn´t really a hardship….

And we passed another key milestone along the way

The geography of Namibia makes for an interesting and eclectic mix of weather. Most of the country is scorching hot, arid and dusty getting slowly hotter and slightly lusher the further north you go. But the coast is a different matter. Cold, moisture-laden winds blow in off the south Atlantic ocean and meet the towering sand dunes of the Namib where they condense creating rolling, atmospheric clouds and low level mist. The coastal regions are therefore almost always much cooler, damp and misty.

Like the roads into Luderitz, before the cool, damp coast there always seems to be desert and nearing Walvis bay was just the same

There were a few interesting rock structures

But really, a whole lot more of our beautiful nothing…

When we finally arrived in Walvis Bay the coolness was initially a welcome relief. We actually put jackets and thick trousers on!

Walvis Bay is not a bustling metropolis, the whole town is laid back and calm. It is also not a pretty town, it is the industrial part of the coast with a busy port and mining activities – whereas Swakopmund to the north is the tourist hub.

We checked into a nice, quiet campsite in the town centre, very different from what we had become used to but functional, convenient and friendly.

The first day was wash day.

But we quickly realised doing all our washing in a damp and increasingly cold environment was a bit of a problem and eventually the tumble dryer had to be enlisted as everything sat on the line going stale and showing no signs of actually drying!

The climate here caused us more problems as the ground of our pitch was sand – not lovely, fine desert sand but coarse, commercial-grade sharp sand which was always damp and stuck to our soles making Henry permanently filthy as we climbed in and out – we started having to brush him out up to ten times a day.

And we were getting cold. It was a very strange feeling.

The ´Walvis´ of Walvis Bay means Whale and that was what we had come hoping to see. Back in March, we had arrived in South Africa far too early for whale-watching and spent most of the whale season tending to Henry in Pretoria – not famously close to any sea! So when we checked in to the campsite here and enquired about whale-watching we were thrilled to find that October was prime whale season as they start heading down the coast towards the Antarctic for the summer. We quickly booked a trip for the following day and went in search of a celebratory pizza for lunch.

The next morning we were up early and ready to be collected for our whale tour. It was a short drive to the port where we met our catarmaran and headed out into the bay.

The first half an hour was spent cruising out surrounded by the locals – seagulls settled on the back enjoying the breeze

Pelicans flew down for morsels of fish from the captain

And even a seal jumped aboard to be fed

All rather touristy but it made us smile

We saw our first glimpse of dolphins, rather closer than the ones we spotted all those months ago in South Africa.

And finally, with a great burst of water spurting upwards, our first whale.

He arched his way through the water right by our boat and finally disappeared with a flourish of his tail

We had seen what we had come to see! A flash of tail is the ultimate success in whale watching. We were happy and the crew looked delighted.

We headed back in land via the local seal colony where we watched them fighting and frolicking as all good seals do!

Having ´done´ the whales there was little else in Walvis Bay to keep us so after a mammoth shopping trip to stock up on fuel and food – and an accidental purchase of a new watch by James when we found a watch-shop in the mall! – we set sail for Swakopmund.

Whilst we had never been to Walvis Bay before, I have visited Swakopmund twice and we have done it once together. My memories of the town were somewhat different to what we found when we arrived this time. I´m sure it was warm with blue skies before, this time it was freezing cold, damp and with low rain clouds constantly hanging over us. The town seemed more industrial, bigger, maybe a bit poorer – was this the Covid effect yet again?

For a town centre campsite, where we stayed was lovely – individual pitches with little thatched areas to keep the sun and rain off. 

And right on the edge of the beach – although we couldn´t see the sea from the campsite we could hear it crashing up against the beach and it was only a short stroll away.

The first day we were there, a little fete was being held next door to the campsite. The music started at 7am! Not a problem to me, I was already up and training and enjoyed the familiar, Old Skool tunes from the 1980s and 1990s UK charts. We had a lazy morning and headed out back down the coast to meet a couple who are members of the ´Landrover Owners of Namibia´ forum to which we have become honorary members. Willie and Daggi were a wonderful couple and we spent a couple of hours in their home chatting and admiring their harem of vehicles.

That afternoon we headed back to the campsite and wandered around the fete, poking about in the stalls buying all sorts of cheeses, breads, spreads, biscuits and cakes.

And I found a stall selling hand-knitted Star Wars-style ponchos which James was unusually enthusiastic about so I bought one and happily showed it off that evening over gin and tonics before heading off for a very nice dinner at the Tug Boat restaurant overlooking the bay.

As we sat looking around the restaurant waiting for dinner to arrive it dawned on us that we´d been there before – 8 years ago during our honeymoon. Given the choice of restaurants in Swakopmund we were amazed by the coincidence!

We were due to have a Braai with other members of the Landrover club the next day but it got cancelled for various reasons. It was also Sunday so everywhere was shut. So we spent a dull, cold and wet day doing budgets, planning our next steps and James had a bad stomach so spent much of it sleeping. Swakopmund was not having a good effect on us this time around.

The only interesting thing to happen that day was a guinea fowl suddenly landing on top of Henry with a great flutter of wings and a crash

He sat there for half an hour or more looking a little surprised

Things could only get better and they did! On Monday morning we headed into town early to secure permits and bookings for the Namib Naukluft National Park and then headed back to Walvis Bay to meet JB – another member of the Landrover club who runs tours to Sandwich Harbour.

We had tried to drive there ourselves a couple of days ago but it is 65km along the beach and we had no idea what the tides were doing so turned back – our danger-ometer is set to extremely high these days.

JB was an expert and offered to take us in his Landy – driving there over the beach and back over the dunes. It was an offer we couldn´t refuse, it cost a few pounds but, as James said, we would have the fun of the dunes without risking Henry who is a tad heavy for that sort of thing.

The route to the beach was via one of the most important wetland areas in Africa. Over a hundred thousand flamingos alongside numerous other bird species flock here.

We also came across what initially looked like an incredible sight here in Namibia.

Snow and ice in Africa? Surely not??

In fact, this is salt. Vast salt lakes spread out to the horizon, some with a strange pink hue from the algae.

The sea water is pumped from one lake to the next, gradually evaporating the water until all that is left is the salt. It takes up to two years but this area supplies salt across the continent – 90% of South Africa´s salt comes from here.

Eventually we reached the beach and headed down towards Sandwich Harbour. JB stopped off along the way scabbling in the sand trying to find ´Tommy´. We looked on rather bemused until this little fella appeared.

Cute as anything, he calmly sat in JB´s palm. His skin is transparent as he lives underground so we had to be careful to keep him in the shade.

Eventually we put him back and with a few deft flicks of his paws he disappeared into the sand and was gone.

Sandwich Harbour itself is one of the truly spectacular parts of Namibia. Famous for where some of the largest dunes come crashing down straight into the sea.

You can only drive through at low tide, by high tide the route is entirely under water.

People had lived here once but the slow and steady march of the sand dunes towards the sea eventually consumed the entire town

If Sossussvlei had been beautiful, this was even more so.

No car parks, no crowds of people

Just endless, rolling dunes, the sounds of crashing waves on the beach below

And stunning views

We even spotted another pair of whales, albeit too distant for a photograph, but how many people see sand dunes and whales on the same afternoon?

We drove back careering over the dunes, my heart was in my mouth at times, even though Henry was safely tucked up in the camp site!

We had lunch on top of a dune

And spotted hyena tracks in the sand. It´s amazing just how much wildlife can survive and thrive out here

After a glorious day in the dunes, we spent our last day in Swakopmund looking around the town itself.

It is a lovely, quaint, German colonial town full of beautiful architecture

We visited the museum

The lighthouse

And various famous historical buildings

We poked around an antique shop and had a lovely lunch at Bojos café. We then spent most of the afternoon in the crystal gallery which was fascinating. I asked James to stand next to the largest crystal for scale but he was in no mood to have his photo taken!

Sadly we spent so much time in the crystal gallery we missed out on waffles and ice cream as it turns out everywhere closes at 5pm! Ah well – our waist-lines will thank us tomorrow.

We had had three out of four good days here, one miserable day and five miserable nights. We were cold, damp, feeling hemmed in and Henry´s insides were covered in thick, damp sand. We were ready to leave and get back to the wide open spaces and sunsets we had started to get used to.

So the next day we filled our water tanks, fuel tanks and fridge and headed away from the coast back into the sun…..