Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Sunday 8 May.

 

We were supposed to be arriving at Walvis Bay and to leave the ship at 9:30 am for a visit but with the late departure from Cape Town we wouldn't be getting off until 11:00 am. So there was no rush and I went for our mugs of coffee at the usual time. Once we finished our drink we went up to the track to walk. My achilles was still a little sore so I walked around with Moira. We managed a good pace and continued for 30 minutes. As we circled round the sun poked its head above the horizon and we had a wonderful sunrise. When we started off this morning everyone was going in an anti-clockwise direction today so we followed suit but there were some that still went 'against the grain'.

After our walk we showered then made our way to the buffet for breakfast. It was still early and even earlier when I remembered to put our watches back an hour. There was still no sign of land from our spot next to the window in the dining room. When we finished we returned to our cabin to get ready for leaving. Moira had made ham sandwiches in the buffet for our lunch and added two muffins and fruit, for drinks we had a bottle of water and another with fruit juice. When all ready we went to the lounge near where the gangway would be positioned and read the newspaper Moira had managed to download. Through the window we saw a large off-shore oil platform so we were now approaching civilisation and soon land was sighted. We went out on deck and watched as we came into the dock at Walvis Bay and tied up. It could have been anywhere, the dockside was lined with large containers and the skyline a series of tall cranes.

Walvis Bay docks.

 

There was a long queue to get off as we had to go through immigration. The Namibian officials had come aboard and were seated at a line of tables checking forms we had to complete and stamping our passports. At last we were ashore and making our way towards the town centre. At the dock there were lots of local tour operators and taxis looking for business with trips to Swakopmund but we decided to just have a walk round the lagoon like before. Outside the dock gates there was the usual array of street sellers with their wares set out, carvings of wild animals mainly, we resisted their hassling. Last time we were here we turned left at the main street by mistake but this time we recognised the way to go. On the way we stopped at a Spar supermarket and picked up a few odds and ends we had forgotten. They accepted SA Rands for the purchases but the change was in Namibian dollars. When we left the Spar we made our way along the long straight main street until we reached the lagoon.

Panorama of lagoon.

Large group of flamingos.

A lone flamingo.

 

It was a lovely day with a clear blue sky but there was a strong wind blowing from the sea and it was on the cold side. We made our round the edge of the lagoon by a nice wide footpath into this unpleasant wind. There were lots of benches at intervals but we were looking for one that was sheltered, instead we had to sit on the grass among a copse of palm trees. It was all right and out of the breeze where we sat and had the picnic lunch Moira had prepared. When we finished we continued our walk and soon came to the area with large groups of flamingoes feeding in the shallows of the lagoon. A few of the ship's official bus tours were already there, the first stop before continuing to the dunes and Swakopmund. I managed to get a lot of good pictures of these lovely birds with their long legs and necks.

Moira climbing large dune.

 

In the desert looking for water?

When we reached the point where the path met the main road we crossed and made our way up a large sand dune. The houses had finished just a short distance away and this was now the edge of the Kalahari desert. At the top it was just sand for miles while just a little behind and to our left was the last of the Walvis Bay houses. We cut along a path through the houses and picked up the footpath beside the lagoon again. There were more tour buses stopped at the flamingoes as we passed, it was also a smoke stop with lots of the people standing around at the buses puffing away. The sign on these tours said; 'Sand, Salt and Sea', we checked later and this was a trip to the lagoon, then to a salt mine, finishing with a climb up a sand dune, all for $90. I think our cheap excursion was just as good.

 

The wind was now at our backs and it was quite pleasant and feeling much warmer. We found a bench that had some shelter from the wind and sat to rest for 15 minutes in the now favourable conditions. We carried on past the road into town to the far point on the edge of the lagoon where we came to the Angling Club bar. We decided to have a reasonably price beer here before making our way back to the ship. We both had a Castle lager and it cost only R15 each. Moira had only a R100 note and ended up with more Namibian dollars in change. We used it up with some crisps and another beer, what we have left we will put in the charity boxes for foreign currency coins at the finish of the cruise.

Angling club bar - good for Castle lager!

Moira had a map of the town on her phone with our 'GPS' position highlighted. We followed the back streets back using this and it worked well. We were tired by this time and it was a long walk, about 3 km, to the dock but we had left ourselves plenty of time. Back at the Sinfonia we had to go through emigration this time with another form to completed and another stamp on our passports. It was a lie down now in our cabin until dinner time. I started off reading my book but soon dropped off to sleep, Moira woke me when it was time to head for the buffet. At dinner I logged on to the internet and managed to post my blog but when I attempted to download the newspaper it was very slow and I gave up rather than waste my WiFi time. We decided to just download the 'Telegraph' to one iPad and use my internet allowance for posting the blog. The ship set sail again while we had dinner, at 6:30 pm, once all the tours had returned.

 

When we finished dinner we made for the theatre for tonight's show. Last night both performances had been full and people were turned away, today we had to book and did this first thing this morning. The show was called Pot Pourri and was a sample of the shows to come. It was all right and much better than last night. There were Zulu dancers, the SA 'Strictly Come Dancing' compere and partner, a duo on the piano, and the usual chorus line dancers. After that we went to the bar where I watched the football last night on TV. The same woman was singing and it was all very enjoyable. Except for a guy who was having an argument with his wife who was on crutches, he picked up the crutches and threw them over the floor, it was quite embarrassing. I don't think Moira would have appreciated it if I had dumped her crutches after her hip op.

 

When the woman finished her singing stint we decide to go back to our cabin. We were very tired after all the walking we had done today and the extra hour was now telling. Whereas it was only 9:00 pm officially our bodies knew it was an hour later! I read for a bit when I got to bed but soon my eyes were closing and I turned out the light, Moira was already fast asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

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