An Oryx Holiday - Part 4 - Swakopmund

Here's the next post from my parents....
Check out the previous ones: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Driving to Swakopmund on a gravel road, we saw lots of Springbok. It was desolate most of the way. We stopped to see the Organ Pipes which was a unique rock formation of basalt which formed when an underground volcano spew lava which cooled as it came straight up from the ground. 

We also stopped to see prehistoric cave paintings but we did not go on the tour. We ended up stopping for lunch at Uli which was a small and neatly laid out town, with German influence. We drove for about 80 Kilometers all along the coast.

We arrived at the Organic Guest House late in the afternoon on August 30. Swakopmund is a lovely town with all modern conveniences. Most homes are modern looking with a wall, maybe 6 feet high, all around it. (We are told that these fences are necessary because of the many homeless people who live here.)
We unpacked and went to The Jetty for dinner. We had to walk out on a long pier of a couple of hundred yards to get to the restaurant. Again, very contemporary with windows on all sides looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. Our bill, for 5 glasses of wine, 2 crab salads, 2 entrees and John had oysters, butternut and orange soup and crab salad. Our bill came to $91 American dollars including tax and tip.

The next day we went quad biking on the sand dunes. The guide did not spare us because we were senior citizens. We went between 30-40 kph up, down, and all around the dunes. It was an exhilarating and adrenalin producing fun....for 2 hours.

snakes on the dunes! yikes!

checking out real estate...

After that we ate lunch at The Tug...outside overlooking the ocean. Then we took a walk downtown. The streets were deserted. It was Sunday and apparently everyone stays indoors. Stores are closed and very few restaurants are open. We walked through an open market where each person told us we were their first customer so they would give us a deal. We bought nothing. We went back to the B&B and got ready for dinner. We drove down to The Lighthouse where we had a delicious Italian dinner. Johanna had a mound of spinach ravioli, John had a mound of smoked salmon ravioli, and Diane had spinach lasagna with  béchamel cheese.

The next day we were picked up and went on a dolphin and seal cruise. Peter was our driver and Isaac was his helper. There were 24 people aboard a large motorized catamaran. We saw thousands of seals, an oyster farm, and some dolphins. About 50,000 seals die each year...not because of predators but because as babies they have irresponsible mothers, or they get trampled on by the other seals. The oyster farm is composed of 50 gallon barrels connected by rope. There is about 25 feet between barrels. In each of these spaces grow about 6,000 oysters. This oyster farm exports 80% of these oysters to China and Hong Kong.  The best thing though were the seals. 

Every once in awhile a seal would jump on board and be fed by Isaac or petted or fed by the passengers. One of them could high five with both feet. One of them hydroplanes in back of the boat for a long time just to get a piece of fish.  pelicans are great white pelicans, with beautiful colored beaks and very white feathers. Male and female look exactly alike except during mating season when the area around the females' eyes turn yellow and they get a bump on the bridge of their nose.  We met and talked finally to some Americans from Rochester and Atlanta. The couple from Rochester have a neighbor who is a peace corp member in Malawi and his son-in-law works for Jimapco and lives in Ballston Spa. In Rochester they have 4 horses of their own and board horses too.

We decided to take a rest for a couple of hours before dinner. We walked around town looking for gloves for John and finally gave up and went to the Cosmopolitan for drinks then dinner.  The food was good but the service left a lot to be desired although the decor was wonderful. Johanna ordered us a side of Mahongu which she was very happy to finally eat again. Wait service needs to improve in Namibia. For instance, if one person at the table asks for another glass of wine, we have found that the waiter won't ask anyone else if they would like another glass; they won't bring the bill unless you ask for it. We asked for tap water and then had to ask for ice to put in it. Our bill for 4 cocktails, 5 glasses of wine, three entrees and a side of Mahungu and spinach was $85 with tax and tip. We are eating good!