West Africa Odyssey 2012 - Namibia

Namibia: Lüderitz, Kolmanskop, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and At Sea

March 27 - 31, 2012

Aboard National Geographic Explorer

Tuesday, March 27 was the first stop in Namibia at Luderitz where we visited an old German town, founded in 1883. It was a trading post that began to boom when diamonds were found nearby in 1909. We first went to visit the abandoned mining village of Kolmanskop. It was very busy until 1954 when it was abandoned because there were no more diamonds. The sand and dunes were reclaiming the buildings, which made for some interesting pictures. It was also very foggy that morning.

Back in Luderitz we walked around the town and visited some of the old homes of the German dignitaries who lived there at one time. We were back aboard the ship for lunch and resumed sailing north. Jim Kelly gave a presentation on “The Biological Productivity of West African Coast Waters and Namibia’s Director of Tourism, Sema Shikongo, joined us and led a discussion on “International Perspectives from an African Perspective.”

March 28-29 we were docked in Walvis Bay. Paul and I have been here before, briefly. The bay is the only deep-water harbor along the whole west coast between somewhere in Angola and Cape Town and it is a very busy port. There were a number of options for tours on the two days and we seemed to make the right decisions, accidentally.

Wednesday morning we took the half-day Marine Cruise Tour that put us on a small boat cruising around the bay, learning about the area fishing and oyster industries. Pelicans and seals that know the boats came by for handouts of fish from the captain. These made for interesting photo ops. At the end, they served oysters on the half-shell (raw) and other snack items. I'll have to say that I could develop a liking for the oysters. They ship loaded up on them and on March 30 we had them again out on the back deck.

On the afternoon tour we went out to see the Treasures of the Namib, which took us to a dune for photos and then into the more mountainous area where the granite and volcanic dikes made an interesting landscape along with native plants.

At the end of that outing we went to a "sundowner" area for more oysters and then to a BBQ (buffet) dinner set in amongst the mountains. It was very nice and a local choir entertained us before the long drive back to the ship.

Thursday, March 29 we took the morning tour to Swakopmund, a town about 30 km away, and to Mondesa Township, which during colonial times was where Africans were required to live. We visited a couple of homes and talked to the residents to learn about them. One was an orphanage for HIV babies and children. We drove past the school set up and sponsored by Brad Pitt.

80 year-old Mayor of Township

It was very interesting so see that, although the people are very poor, by any standards, they have great pride in their homes and property. Everything was very neat, and the yards were all swept with no trash anywhere. We stopped briefly to meet the 80 year-old Mayor of the Township. She was a lovely lady.

Sandwich Harbour

After a quick lunch on board the ship, we headed out for the afternoon excursion, which took us on a long drive south to Sandwich Harbour. It is really just a bay now, where the dunes meet the sea. I climbed up the dune a little ways to get a spectacular view, and pictures. Again, we were served oysters!!!

On the drive back we went up over the dunes for a bit of a thrilling ride in the 4X4 vehicles. I thought it was great fun. Paul didn’t!

National Geographic Photographer Jay Dickman and the Photo Team Jack and Rikki Swenson were among the special staff aboard. We were lucky enough to have them and several other photographers and specialists in vehicles with us a few times.

Days At Sea: Flying Fish, Dolphins and Sunset

Friday – Saturday, March 30-31 were Days at Sea along the Skeleton Coast of Namibia, named for the bleached whale and seal bones and from the many shipwrecks caused by hitting rocks in the offshore fog. There were interesting lectures throughout the two days. The nice thing was that we could watch the lectures on the TV in our cabin while I worked on editing photos. I was just learning Lightroom, a new photo editing software to me, so it is great to have some time with Jack, Rikki and others to help me get started.

The weather turned very warm and when at sea, it was very pleasant out on deck where we saw flying fish, dolphins, whales and birds.

Next we spend two days in Angola.
 
That's it for now. Grace and Paul