Since we didn’t go ashore yesterday in Luderitz, we arrived and docked early this morning in Walvis Bay. It was 60 degrees with hazy, overcast skies, but it was supposed to get up to 70. Our excursion today was to Sandwich Harbor which is 29 miles south of where we were docked and the majority of that was driving on the beach or in the sand dunes.
Now the purpose of this excursion was not to see Sandwich Bay, it was to see where the huge sand dunes reach all the way to the ocean. Technically that happens at high tide but I specifically checked the tide table for this day and time to make sure we would be able to drive on the beach. And yes, low tide was at 10:45 and our excursion left at 10:30.
Sandwich Bay is in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Besides the amazing sand dunes, the wetlands contain salt pans and a bird sanctuary. The area is considered the single most important coastal wetlands in South Africa. There are no human settlements in the park but there is evidence of several archaeological sites dating back thousands of years that indicate the early inhabitants were hunter-gatherers who survived near fresh water and were sustained by hunting for small animals and collecting fruits, bulbs and melons. The sites closer to the ocean contain mussel and marine shells indicating that seafood was an important element for the early coastal dwellers.
There were seven four-wheel drive vehicles in our excursion, each held 4 guests and the guide. Our first stop was in town to view flamingos while the guides let air out of their tires to facilitate better driving on the sand.
Next, we drove past the salt “farms” where industrial sand is “harvested”. The water is pink from the algae and our guide said the salt content was as high as the Dead Sea, so you can’t sink! Industrial sand only has to be washed twice, table salt has to be washed 28 times! I’m guessing this is where the salt for our icy roads comes from …. The transportation cost must be high!
We had a short photo stop to view a group of sea lions on the beach. After that we encountered a lot of dead sea lions on the beach. Our guide said they don’t die in the water, they die on land. There were so many dead I lost count. When we entered the national park we had a quick bathroom stop. The women had an outhouse and the men were invited to go behind one of the dunes 😊
MEN’S BATHROOM :
WOMEN’S BATHR0OM:
We followed the beach for a ways and then we took to the sand dunes when they got larger and closer to the water. One of the highlights was on a huge dune overlooking Sandwich Bay. The dunes here reach up to 328 feet! That is a 32 story building … and unfortunately, my pictures won’t do this amazing place justice because there is nothing to gauge the scale. It was truly a magical spot that I will forever cherish the memory of … especially when I had to bury my head when we took to driving down these immense sand dunes. I told our guide that I couldn’t believe that someone pays him to do this!
This following is one of my most favorite pictures of the entire trip …. enlarge to see what the dark spot is near the center of the picture 🙂
After terrifying me with the immense ups and downs in the sand dunes, the 4 wheel drive vehicles were circled and the guides started getting items out of the back of the cars. They set up tables, added table clothes, unwrapped food and gave each of us a glass of champagne … it was surreal to have lunch and champagne surrounded by some of the largest sand dunes in the Namib Desert and the dunes here are considered the oldest in the world (composed of 5-million-year-old sands).
Fog is the primary source of water for the Namib Sand Sea and this area is the only coastal desert in the world that has large dunes influenced by fog. We were able to view a number of Sprinkbok in the dunes before heading back to the ship. They eat a fruit that grows on a thorny bush called a !NANA .,, and believe it or not, the exclamation point is part of the correct spelling and it has a pronunciation similar to a tongue click (or sounds like snapping your fingers but you do it with your tongue)!
Namibia did NOT disappoint. It was a great day that we ended with a little retail therapy at a local mall before returning to the ship and checking out of Namibia with the immigration officials on board.
Later this evening after we left port we were sailing the northern coast of Namibia called the Skeleton Coast. The captain said the locals called this area “the land God made in anger!” The sailors weren’t too keen on the area either. The surf is very powerful and the coastline is littered with ship wrecks.