Hazard

Well, returning to NJ means the fairy tale is over and I have been consumed with ‘real life’ that has been pretty busy.  Sorry for the delay in completing my posts – re-entry has been a little rocky.  I do have one final post for Cape Verde that will be done soon.

Walvis Bay, Namibia  76F and sunny

The stop at Walvis Bay was strange on several levels.   I believe it is the only deep water port in the western Africa coast.  Because of that they provide refueling and repair which makes sense in stopping.  Plus we spent 5 long days at sea between Cape Town and Walvis Bay so everyone was ready for a change. 

There is really nothing of huge interest in Walvis Bay proper.   It is a small town built around the port.  No list of historical buildings or architecture etc.  The draw to Walvis Bay seems to be adventure based activities due to the sand dunes that are the start of the Namib desert, considered to be the world’s oldest desert.  Quad riding, sand boarding, desert trekking, camel trekking, camping, and the sea coast does make Walvis Bay a vacation destination for Europeans, Africans and visitors from SE Asia.  They have discovered oil in the coastal areas and are working on a plan to access the resource.   Once they put that infrastructure into place, I am sure the town will never be the same with the effects of that business. 

Since most of the sites to see are outside the town, I signed up for a private tour and experienced quite the mix up when meeting the tour guides outside port.   It seems the travel agency I signed up with was having a really bad day.  They had scheduled too many tours for the vehicles and staff they had available.  Everyone was huddled around trying to determine if they could combine tours while several of the passengers became a little irate.  Really – you are on vacation, relax.   Time was speeding by, so I got someone’s attention and said I was quite willing to cancel the tour and I asked for them to look at the locals offering to drive people around and suggest a driver that they knew.  They pointed out an older gentleman, Patrick, who is related to one of their tour guides and brought him over to talk to me.  We discussed what I was hoping to see, arrived at a price and drove off while the others were still arguing over what to do. 

First I had to go to an ATM for some cash.  It was a holiday, so our choices were limited but we found a bank ATM that had a line of about 15 people.  Patrick walked quickly up to the front of the line and spoke to the security guard and motioned me to go up as well.   I was horrified that they were letting me cut in line and I kept protesting that I needed to stand in line in like anyone else.  There were probably 6 ATMs and it wouldn’t take that long.  Patrick looked at me a little mystified and said “disabled and the elderly always go first”.  Wait,  what?   I wanted to ask him where I fell in those choices but since either one would work (my walking shoe and cane and aren’t we older than we want to believe), I decided to not ask.  I will add that during all the Africa stops respect for the elderly and disabled was a recurring theme.   Although I really didn’t appreciate it when a 20 something suggested I not wait in the street because he wouldn’t let his grandmother stand there.  Where has the time gone?

Investigating Walvis Bay, it appears that area was quite important from a sea faring historical perspective due to the deep natural port.  It was actually treated as separate area from Namibia, meaning Namibia ownership was passed to various countries but the Walvis Bay area was transferred separately and often ruled by a different country then ruled the rest of Namibia. Eventually the Walvis Bay areas ended up owned by British and finally transferred to South Africa until their independence and reunification with Namibia in 1990.

The tour was to look go through the sand dunes/ desert area and other interesting places around Walvis Bay and then visit a German influenced vacation town on the coast.  Now, picking a driver from the crowd at the pier normally means you lose a tour guide experience, as it all depends upon the knowledge and English ability of the driver.  Just one more adventure. 

Patrick’s history is a Dutch father and South African mother which puts him in the colored category in Africa (multiracial).  As we traveled, we talked about a variety of subjects which was pretty interesting.  Patrick grew up on a farm about 50 miles outside of Walvis Bay.   They raised cattle as the area is too arid for any crop farming.  When his father died, the land was divided between 4 brothers and Patrick ended up with a parcel that did not have any water on the property.  Patrick decided to give the land to his son, to see what he would do with the land.  Sounds like both of them have had an interesting time planning how to bring water to the land.   Once that is finished sometime this year, the son wants to grow canola for oil and Patrick is lobbying for dragon fruit.

Covid always comes up to understand how each country handled it.   Patrick was pretty happy with Covid as it probably saved his life.  Patrick owned a small company that would build houses.  Namibia shut down with covid and Patrick lost his business which is not a life saving experience.   However, with all this time now available, he went down to the coast to do some fishing one day.   He fell on the rocks and broke his arm.  During the treatment for his arm, they discovered he had cancer.  During the treatment for his caner, they discovered one of his kidneys was failing and I think he had a transplant (as my mind was screaming – don’t get a transplant in Africa-are you crazy).  But without covid, who knows when his issues would have been discovered.

That led to some interesting healthcare discussions.  As with many countries, all citizens are included in a government health plan / facilities.  They are generally seen as substandard to the private hospitals and clinics if one can afford private healthcare.  Patrick shared a few stories of his experience as his healthcare was the government route.  For example, for one of his surgeries he was taken to the operating theater where the procedure was cancelled 5 times before it was performed.  Why?  Lack of everything it appears.  Often there wasn’t enough oxygen, or supplies / instruments or staff.  He also mentioned that after one surgery he had to stay in the hospital for several weeks.  He had a sleepless night and spent it making videos of all the mice running around his room.

Our tour lasted the afternoon and I finally asked if we could stop at a coffee shop for coffee and a break from riding in the car.   I did my tried and true – someplace you would take your family or visitors.  I was a little surprised when he pulled into the parking lot of a supermarket that had a small café in it.  But it also makes sense.  Here is a guy who built homes for years and this would be the kind of place he would stop in for morning coffee!   Little did he know my interest of touring grocery stores in different countries, so it was a win-win with the coffee being pretty good!

Let’s get to some pictures ok?

Our first stop was to look at some flamingos that spend time in Walvis Bay.  They nest elsewhere but spend the rest of the time in sheltered areas of the coast outside the town.   Now by flamingos, I mean the last count was around 250,000 flamingos!  Some were quite close and for about 5 miles along the waterways were group after group after group of flamingos – it was quite the sight.

Next we headed out to the desert/sand dune area where all the adventure options exist. 

Dune 7 is a huge dune that does not allow any activity except walking on the dune.  Patrick said it takes about an hour to walk up and down the dune.  He used to do it twice a week before covid and looking at me said “the first time you die but it gets better after that”.  Next time without a broken foot, maybe.   Certainly an area where people could gather, some areas for grilling etc and I don’t know that my pictures really show the height and width of the dune or not but it was surprising so close to the coast and pretty in its own way. 

These are the center, left and right of the dune 7.

you can see some black dots-people towards the top crest of the dune. they decided to walk up from the side, not straight up from the center base.

At this area there were numerous small scrubby plants that were kind of like succulents but, nothing else. The palm trees were not present elsewhere and were watered to keep alive around the dune. .

Up close of the stems

One of the businesses in Namibia was the manufacturing of salt from salt flats.  They created large areas with a raised edge all around.  Flood them with salt water and wait for it all to dry/evaporate.  Surprisingly as the water starts to evaporate, it all turns pink in color but dries to a bright white.  The piles of salt waiting to be processed could be seen in the distance.   They mainly produced salt used in industrial processes but did a small business in table salt as well.

The salt plant in the distance.

Closer salt piles The sky really was that blue and the salt that white.

A flat that had been evaporated and the salt collected. Almost looks like ice.

As we drove further along the dunes there were numerous places to rent quad bikes and plenty of dunes to run around on.   On place offered camel treks so I had to stop and visit the camels.

We then went out to the german influenced vacation town on the coast Swakomundf which is referred to as Swako.  Lots of german architecture in the downtown and residental areas and the coast was quite nice.  I could understand the draw to the town.   My favorite however was the guinea fowl that ran around the town.  We tried to get decent pictures in Kenya and weren’t successful.  But here is Swako, they are used to humans and had no issues with me approaching them.  They are kind of ugly which makes them very endearing. 

That face with polka dot feathers I find quite intriguing.

Speaking of German influence, I discovered a horrific history involving Germany and the native tribes in Namibia which seemed to foretell the future. In 1884 Namibia became a German colony under the description of German South Africa.  The British ceded the land but kept the Walvis Bay area due to the deep ocean port.  There were a lot of issues with German settlers and the Herero and Nama indigenous tribes that ended in the tribes taking up arms against the settlers in 1904 - 1907.  The retribution was swift.  Documents exist today that indicate the German intent to completely eradicate the tribes.  The indigenous people were outright killed or sent into the desert preventing their return which was a death sentence due to lack of water.   Some of the tribes were also kept in camps where horrendous experiments were performed.   Historians have labeled this period as the first genocide of the 20th century and speculate that the concept and activities in the camps was a map to the concentration camps during the holocaust.  German rule of Namibia ended during WWI.

Once Patrick understood my interest in wildlife, he drove to a private country club / golf course sitting in the middle of nowhere, like an oasis.  I was interested in how they would handle grass courses in a desert, and it looks like lots of sand with grass only in strategic areas.

A couple of guys had just teed off.

If you enlarge there are lots of African Geese on the fairway and under some trees.

Here I saw an African golf hazard – Springbok, on the green.

Driving back to the boat we discussed more of his building company.  Obviously very proud of his work, he took a detour into several neighborhoods to show me houses he had worked on and some of the issues builders encounter, such as people not paying their bills and how the builders have to make that up.   I mentioned I have a townhouse in Florida I will eventually be renovating. At the end of the discussion, we agreed that the builder submitting bids only for the work for the renovation while I pay for all the supplies is advantageous for both sides.  The world is small in many ways.

Once again, I ended up with a day that wasn’t what I thought it would be.  the chance to connect with people often ends up with twists and turns but it is always interesting!

Next stop Cape Verde.