The last leg of our African adventure took us to Namibia. It
was part of John’s mission but later transferred to the new Botswana mission.
He never got to serve there but always wanted to visit. We got up too early
(3AM for our 6AM flight) and were taken to the Cape Town airport for the flight
to Windhoek, Namibia. We were met by Cliff who took us into town and we met up
with our newest friend Nico (a Jeep Wrangler).
We drove Nico the 3 ½ hours to Swakopmund, on the Atlantic coast and
Kurt only drove the left side of Nico onto the shoulder a few times (still
getting the hang of driving on the left.) The vegetation went from the dry
grass and acacia trees we became accustomed to in Sabi Sand to the barren dunes
of the Namib desert. Reaching Swakop we checked into the Swakopmund Guest
House, a nice clean motel but lacking needed heat, a pebbly-floored bathroom, a
giant ocean-view mural with a rock cairn, and with only a glass door opening
onto the courtyard. Our afternoon activity was a walk through the village and a
drive out on to the sandy beach north of town. Our first night’s dinner was a
freezing cold walk about 6 blocks to the Tug restaurant on the ocean (and made
of parts of a decommissioned tugboat). The food was good and we were soon back at
the guest house.
Up the next morning and after some confusion about whether
we were being picked up or needed to drive out to the local airport, and a
delay occasioned by heavy fog, we were off with our pilot Serge in a single
engine plane flying low over the dry Swakop river and the sea of dunes that is
the Namib. We enjoyed our view until we got to the coast and were disappointed
by the fog bank that prevented us from experiencing close up from the air the
several hundred foot high dunes plunging into the sea. We did see several
shipwrecks (one of hundreds that gives this stretch of ocean the name the
Skeleton Coast) then returned to Swakop. The afternoon found us traveling by
Land Rover with our guide Chris who showed us the abundance of life to be found
in the apparently lifeless dunes. He scooped out a legless skink, spotted a
chameleon hidden by a small bush (the chameleon walks with a strange back and
forth rocking motion that helps it look more like a plant blowing the breeze),
caught a deadly horned adder (or viper) and a colorful gecko about to molt. We
drove straight up and over dunes, enjoyed the views and had a delightful time. Chris
made fun of our “Jurassic” camera that took these great pictures and
passionately decried to environmental damage being done by recreational quad
bikes and motorcycles throughout the desert (he called it the greatest
environmental catastrophe of our time.) Dinner was at the Jetty 1905 restaurant
(we were smart and drove to it) at the end of the jetty. The walk was cold and
wet and once inside there was a glass floor that showed the waves crashing
beneath the restaurant that shook noticeably for every large wave. We had a
great meal (John had the Springbok, Kathy the butternut and orange soup and
Kurt had a “burger” of tempura prawns, calamari and line fish).
In the morning we drove along the coast to Walvis Bay then
inland to the famous Dune 7 then across the desert to the main highway back to
Windhoek. We saw flamingos eating in a desert waterhole (the trip started with
Kurt’s favorite bird, the lilac breasted roller, and ended with Kathy’s, the
flamingo!) On the trip back only once did Kurt’s driving give Kathy and John
such a start that they both cried out. Safely at the airport, we boarded our
Air Namibia flight to Jo’burg and started the long journey home.
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| Over the Namib Desert |
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| Cozy |
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| Downtown Swakop with the Tug Restaurant in foreground |
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| Ferguson's Skink |
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| Chameleon |
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| Gecko |
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| Horned Viper |
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| Shovel-nosed lizard |
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| Dinner at the Jetty 1905 |
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| Flamingos |
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| Nico, John and Cliff |
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| Headed back to Jo'burg |
