For our last day on the coast we decide to take a drive up north. Along the way, we stop at a really strange little town, called Wlotskasbaken. There are some funny houses, not even close to the sea, on very dry and dusty pieces of land, no fences or anything. The houses seem almost a parody - they are painted extremely bright colours, each has its own water tank, and many have a decorative painted boat in front. It is unlike anything we have ever seen.
Next we reach a shipwreck, very close to the shore, and check it out. We continue past Henties to try to reach Cape Cross a little earlier. There is a thick cloud of fog sitting over the ocean and we are not sure if it will move in closer. The road is excellent, actually made of salt. The scenery on the sides of the road is dry and bleak - sandy and lifeless...
We reach Cape Cross and stop at the office to pay. It is N$60 per person plus N$10 for the car. We finish the last of our Namibian notes and coins... We drive around to the seal colony, and take a walk along the newly built walkway. There are seals everywhere, absolutely everywhere, and there must be literally thousands of them... Lying around on rocks, hopping along the sand, swimming in the ocean. And the noise is a cacaphony - pups bleating like sheep, adults roaring, belching and barking. And don't get me started on the smell... It's an assault on the senses but it's awesome.
We check out the cross, placed by Diogo Cao to claim the land for Portugal. And then head to a picnic spot by a beautiful beach, the cormorants sunning themselves on the rocks. We briefly check out the new Cape Cross Lodge, and start our journey back down to Henties Bay. On the way, we stop for lichen fields, which are protected, but not much to look at.
We reach Henties and have a drive around town. It is now very large, but there is still not that much on offer. We finally find a quaint little restaurant, Fishy Corner, and stop for a snack. There is the usual confusion with the waitress but I actually check her order slip and after re-adding my fish and chips, everything seems ok. But the starters come way ahead of the other dishes, even though we specifically asked for them to come at the same time, oh well! We have some prawn skewers, mussel soup and two plates of fish and chips, which are huge, everything is quite good, and the hake is fresh. Unfortunately they have run out of kabeljou and steenbra, which is what we were hoping for.
We head back to Swakopmund to get ready for dinner. Then we go to the Jetty 1905 restaurant for our 7:00 booking. We realise we should have booked for earlier, and come for the sunset, but that hadn't occurred to us at the time! The walk across the long jetty in the dark, with the wind whipping around us is tough going, but the restaurant at the end is warm and welcoming, and buzzing with an excited atmosphere. We are given a nice table, looking over the water which is dotted with resting seagulls.
We skip starters and order mains - Swakopmunder schnitzels, seared tuna, seafood kebabs and sirloin. Most dishes are reasonably priced but the tuna is a bit pricey at R185. It isn't all that worth it at that price - the tuna is perfectly cooked but the mash is lumpy and no veg is served with the dish. The sirloin seems to be the winner. The schnitzels cause confusion as they are served with what looks like shoestring fries, but seem too limp and soggy, they turn out to be spetzle, a German noodle, fried in butter. For dessert we try the Mozart cake - layers of cream, hazelnuts and meringue, really delicious.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Next we reach a shipwreck, very close to the shore, and check it out. We continue past Henties to try to reach Cape Cross a little earlier. There is a thick cloud of fog sitting over the ocean and we are not sure if it will move in closer. The road is excellent, actually made of salt. The scenery on the sides of the road is dry and bleak - sandy and lifeless...
We reach Cape Cross and stop at the office to pay. It is N$60 per person plus N$10 for the car. We finish the last of our Namibian notes and coins... We drive around to the seal colony, and take a walk along the newly built walkway. There are seals everywhere, absolutely everywhere, and there must be literally thousands of them... Lying around on rocks, hopping along the sand, swimming in the ocean. And the noise is a cacaphony - pups bleating like sheep, adults roaring, belching and barking. And don't get me started on the smell... It's an assault on the senses but it's awesome.
We check out the cross, placed by Diogo Cao to claim the land for Portugal. And then head to a picnic spot by a beautiful beach, the cormorants sunning themselves on the rocks. We briefly check out the new Cape Cross Lodge, and start our journey back down to Henties Bay. On the way, we stop for lichen fields, which are protected, but not much to look at.
We head back to Swakopmund to get ready for dinner. Then we go to the Jetty 1905 restaurant for our 7:00 booking. We realise we should have booked for earlier, and come for the sunset, but that hadn't occurred to us at the time! The walk across the long jetty in the dark, with the wind whipping around us is tough going, but the restaurant at the end is warm and welcoming, and buzzing with an excited atmosphere. We are given a nice table, looking over the water which is dotted with resting seagulls.
We skip starters and order mains - Swakopmunder schnitzels, seared tuna, seafood kebabs and sirloin. Most dishes are reasonably priced but the tuna is a bit pricey at R185. It isn't all that worth it at that price - the tuna is perfectly cooked but the mash is lumpy and no veg is served with the dish. The sirloin seems to be the winner. The schnitzels cause confusion as they are served with what looks like shoestring fries, but seem too limp and soggy, they turn out to be spetzle, a German noodle, fried in butter. For dessert we try the Mozart cake - layers of cream, hazelnuts and meringue, really delicious.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Henties Bay, Namibia
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