The first excitement en route is an enormous herd of springbok, maybe 200+, all standing in the road. They part like the Red Sea as we cautiously drive through. Next we spot some bright orange dunes, covered in grass, and also a few curious looking oryxes. Further down we spot a group of massive birds flying, and as they land we realise they are vultures.
We cross the Tropic of Capricorn, and then tackle to Gaub and Kuiseb passes, stopping at a viewpoint for pics and enjoying the Kuiseb canyon. The rock formations here are truly fascinating, but I am torn between enjoying the scenery and avoiding the plague of crickets littering the road. After the passes, the surroundings just get drier and drier, until there is just light coloured sand. Some dunes appear, and eventually we reach dune 7, supposedly the highest dune.
Soon we are pulling into Walvis bay, and we drive around a little bit, starting with the dodgy end of town and ending up at the waterfront. We pull into the raft restaurant a little early for lunch, so we head to the bar/bistro and all order chocolate milkshakes. The Raft is built on a jetty out into the ocean. There is good wifi here so we relax a while, enjoying the fantastic view and a seal splashing nearby. Eventually we order fish n chips, a bushman dim sum and I try the raft sushi special - a California roll tempura battered and fried.
Feeling full, we continue exploring the town a little, it's pretty big. We drive towards the salt works, and in this road the houses are large and modern with great sea views. We reach a wetland area and enjoy the great bird life, including oyster catchers with bright red bills, pelicans and flamingoes. We check out the giant mounds of gleaming white salt, and then drive back, on our way to Swakopmund.
Just before we enter the city, we stop off at Desert Explorers to book our quad biking for the next day. After being sent from pillar to post, we eventually end up at the Paua guesthouse, in the Northern Vogelstrand suburb of Swakop. We meet Levi, who gives us the keys and shows us around. We have a three bedroom house, with a good kitchen, indoor braai area, lounge, two bedrooms on the ground floor and a large bedroom on the first floor. There is even an infrared sauna!
We settle in and then head into town to find supplies. The Woolies that we were so looking forward to it pretty disappointing, as it has nothing fresh, but we do buy two curry sauces for the evening meal. We head to Pick n Pay, which has a better selection, for the rest of our supplies. Next we check out the waterfront, which has a lovely promenade, lighthouse , and a very long and wide jetty. The sunset is amazing but the wind is bitingly cold. We book the restaurant at the end, Jetty 1905, for our last meal.
Back at the house we enjoy Korma and Tikka curries with rice.
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Location:Swakopmund, Namibia
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