Walvis Bay

Where the hell is Walvis Bay, you may wonder, and why the hell would anyone go there? To answer the first question, it is on the coastline of South Western Africa in Namibia which is commonly known as the skeleton coastline due to the amount of ship wrecks and marine animal carcasses washed up here. The answer to the 2nd question is because, although very remote & can't be more desert if you tried, is extremely beautiful. I have many photos, in fact over 300 of this particular place and am finding it difficult to narrow down to just a few.

It was first visited by the Portuguese around 1486, founded in 1793 by the Cape Dutch and claimed by the Germans in 1884 who called it German South West Africa.  The closest town is a little further north on the coast called Swakopmund (trying saying that after a couple of South African wines, even before) and was founded by the Germans in 1892. It does have a further history with the British being involved, then being part of South Africa and after many years of struggle was finally given back to Namibia in 1994 by president F.W. De Klerk, 30 years after the UN voted to end South Africa's mandate but I won't bore the reader with such details.

Walvis Bay is right at the edge of the Namib desert, apparently the oldest desert in the world. It has an annual rainfall of just 10mls so water is a constant problem.  The ice cold Benguela current of the Atlantic Ocean flows along this coast and as it hits the warm winds of the desert creates pea soup fog of which we encountered and slowed our journey so we arrived in port 2 hours late, having not made up any time from our late departure of the last port.

Getting off the ship was a bit of a nightmare as customs came onboard and insisted on a face to face clearance which slowed the whole disembarkation down but nonetheless we got off and met our guide, Juan, for the day. We were joined by two other women from Canada, one who had a fear of heights and was insistent that we didn't go over any high sand dunes. A bit of a tall order considering that was what the whole tour was about.

We traveled in a very nice 4x4 Land Rover, our guide was very experienced and a great driver so luckily Miss Nervous settled down for awhile. First stop was the town lagoon, the largest single area of shallow water on the west African coast. It is here that up to 60,000 birds come to enjoy the waters, feed and do whatever birds do. The majority of these birds are flamingoes and wow, what an amazing sight, thousands of flamingos stretching out like a river of pink. Of course we have seen flamingos before but never like this, it was just incredible. There is a wide promenade following the edge of the lagoon where people were walking their dogs or just standing watching this unbelievable sight.

We then headed into the desert, it was still very misty and the ocean was very rough. Our destination was Sandwich Harbour and to get to it there is a narrow piece of beach between the high dunes of the Namib desert and the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Our guide was sure he could get us there but very undecided if he could get us back as the waves were closing in on the gap and the fog wasn't clearing. It's always a worry when even your guide doesn't know.

Needless to say he braved it and we were rewarded by some incredible sights. The sand dunes were so beautiful, almost impossible to photograph and the pictures certainly don't do it justice. It is an experience that you have to do yourself to appreciate what I'm trying to describe. They have been shaped by the strong winds here, constantly changing with steep sides plunging into valleys and soaring up to thin peaks. By now the mist had cleared and the skies were so blue with the backdrop of the sand leading onto the deeper blue of the sea. Even though it was desert there was still some very hardy green plants whose thick roots went deep into the sand to access the water table below and helped to anchor the sand dunes into place. There was also a lot of animal tracks in the sand of which Juan identified hyena, jackal, ostrich and springbok to name just a few. We did see two jackal on the beach just near a very stinky whale carcass and also a couple of springbok, this time not in a hamburger, further up the dunes.  Our guide said it was too windy to see many of the animals as they tend to go into hiding in this type of weather.

Going over the blind tops of the dunes was particular exciting, especially for Miss Nervous who elicited a couple of screams but he was very good and went slow so there was no flying in the air like we had told her there would be, just for fun.

The last part of the desert trip was overlooking the salt works which stretched for 50kms looking very impressive with its white mounds of salt and pink lakes.

Juan took us into the town of Swakopmund even tho it wasn't really a part of our tour so it was good to see. This architecture is late 19th early 20th century German style throughout the town, not as nice as the Dutch colonial like Cape Town but interesting, as well as the more modern style buildings. Down by the beach were the very exclusive sub division houses belonging to the wealthy and also a brand new complex housing 5 different restaurants, all of which looked amazing. Juan was quite proud of the fact that in the summer time the sea temps reached a dizzyingly 20 deg, a great time to go swimming he thought. Not quite my idea of great swimming.  He also took us to the less salubrious side of town where thousands lived in whatever construction they could make out of materials available. There is no electricity so at night it's pitch dark and he wasn't sure how they even cooked their dinner as any kind of wood is used to make housing and gas and coal were too expensive. There were some water points in various places which were coin operated so you needed money and possibly a long walk to get water. In the words of Fred Dagg, you don't know how lucky you are mate.

Juan got us back to the boat about 5 minutes before the gangway was drawn up, we were literally the last on board so not a minute was wasted in this most remote and amazing port.

Lions and Tigers and Elephants- Oh My

I had the same problem with Port Elizabeth as I did with Mauritius, the blogger app will forever keep its secrets. I may one day find the energy to re write it all again but in the meantime, here are the photos. Needless to say it was an amazing safari where we got to see Eland, heartibeest, lions, Burchell zebras by the thousands, loads of elephants - it was after all called the Addo elephant park, Cape buffalo, warthogs, kudu, buzzard jackals, leopard tortoises, a family of meerkats (suricate in English) which was complete unexpected and a couple of rare and unique Addo flightless dung beetles. This is not an exhaustive list but I lost my notes on all the types of animals we saw, double bugger.

Mauritius

I have spent a considerable time writing about our day in Mauritius but unfortunately the app that I used has gone haywire and frozen up so I can't even see what I wrote. If anyone knows anything about the Google blog app and how I can access it I would very much appreciate hearing from them. In the meantime I don't have the heart to rewrite it all again so photos will just have to suffice, sorry about that. Even that's not easy as I have to write this in another program on the iPad then post it on the blog but the photos are on the other tablet so I have to access the blog from there and repost, if that makes sense so it may not look very pretty.

We had a very lovely day in Mauritius, photos to come!

Cape Town Day Two

The following day dawned even worse than the day before, the clouds hanging over the mountain were blacker and more threatening but we only had half a day today to explore as all aboard time was 2pm even tho we weren't due to sail until 5pm. I think this was once again due to immigration. As it was Friday, they only worked for half a day but had conceded to work until 2.30pm, very good of them. We had to take passports onshore and had filled out departure cards but as it was, they did go home early so that was a waste of time. So much for immigration.

This was also the last port for this sector of the world cruise so over 1100 people got off and the same amount got on. At breakfast it seemed we knew everyone as they were all stopping by to say goodbye, didn't realise we had meet so many people and it was sad saying goodbye to some of them. Others it was a pleasure! We think the fruit fly got off as we haven't seen her again. Not sure if I have spoken about the fruit fly but she was a single woman around the 60 mark but there were no surprises that she was on her own. Jon named her as we saw her one morning dancing to some music and moving around like a fruit fly. He hated her for some reason but I think he misses her as he hasn't found anyone else to replace her therefore no one to be scornful about. Well actually, there are plenty but not to such a degree.

The demographics have certainly changed on this leg. I think as there are only 4 stops in 18 days all the elderly and in-firmed have joined the ship. There are so many more sticks, walkers and those damned 4 wheelers that take up the entire aisles and lifts and generally get in the way than there was before and the average age must have increased by at least 10 years. 

Back to our last day in Cape Town, we had thought we would go straight up to Table Mountain but once again it was closed so we sat on the buses for the last two lines. One took us through district 6 which is where vast numbers of people, around 60,000 where relocated during the apartheid times. It was then bulldozed down, they were going to rebuild but there was so much controversy most of it was left so there are now large grassy and weedy patches around this area, littered with rubbish and makeshift tents for the homeless, very depressing and not the nicest part of the city.

The other part we went was actually up to Table mountain to where the cable cars started from. Lucky it had cleared up a bit and if I thought that Signal hill was narrow and windy it was nothing to this road.  The bus chugged and gasped its way up the switchback road and as it got higher we were afforded the most amazing views of the city and harbour.  It wasn't until we got to the top that the mist came down to obscure the cables as they disappeared higher up into the slopes.

We had lunch down by the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront which has lots of lovely restaurants and shops and really nicely developed. I had wanted to try one of the national animals so we had a springbok burger with beer as we sat outside under the umbrellas with heaters blazing, huddled under blankets supplied by the restaurant. By now it had really got bitter cold and by the time we got back to the ship it was blowing a gale and icy rain was sweeping across the wharf. 

There were all the newbies trying to board with their suitcases and we were standing in line but they closed the gangplanks as the wind was so strong it was blowing them around. We were all huddled together as the rain was blowing down feeling miserable until they bought in a forklift and wedged it by the gangplank and we all scuttled up as fast as we were allowed. Once onboard we went up for coffee after drying off and looked out at the storm blowing across the city and the water coming off the buildings in sheets. The port was then closed so the ship was over 2 hours late in sailing and when we did eventually sail we were warned it would be very rocky with over 8 metre swells expected.

Ironically that evenings entertainment was a juggler, couldn't have timed it worse. We pulled out of port and just when we hit the first swells his act started. It was a bit of a challenge for him, needless to say his act was cut short and his 2nd performance was canceled, a bit disappointing for him.

Cape Town Day One

We arrived into Cape Town under the most gloomiest of skies and there it remained until we sailed out. It was a huge disappointment in the way that all I wanted to see was Table Mountain and to ride up the gondolas and see the view from up there but it wasn't to be. In fact the gondals remained closed for the two days we were there and with the gale force winds were not likely to open anytime soon. Apparently the weather, up until the day we arrived, had been glorious and I suspect would have cleared up again the day after we left but there is not much you can do about the weather except grizzle about it.

It was also quite cold, after we had been in temperatures of around the 30 mark it had dramatically dropped to around the 15 deg mark and with the wind chill factor felt colder than that, so weather wise it wasn't a great success but everything else was. For some strange reason it felt familiar,  it didn't really feel like we were in another country despite the terrain, African faces and shops full of African artefacts. The gardens had the same plants as back home, the shopping centres were similar, everyone spoke English and were very friendly and generally it really felt we could have been in Wellington NZ even down to the windy rainy weather.  I guess the harbour was the same too with hills all around and the city built on the waterfront and up into the cradle of the foothills. 

Of course it is far more historic than Wellington with the Portugese sailors being the first to round the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. After that they use to anchor in Table bay to collect fresh water. It wasn't until a Dutch ship sunk in the bay in 1647 and the shipwrecked sailors set up camp that the Dutch East India company recognised that it would be a strategic place to have a base and finally set up a base in 1652.

Slaves were brought in from Indonesia, Java, West Africa and Malaysia which may account for the most delicious food on offer. I love South African food, it's been the best so far and they even have decent coffee but it was the vines they planted all those years ago that definitely have my interest.

I had to laugh at the suggestions of possible activities in our daily programme magazine. I wonder if whoever writes this publication ever considers the demographics of the ship. It was expounding the virtues of Cape Town and said "to take full advantage of the abundant outdoor space: learn to surf, go hiking or mountain biking, tandem paraglide off Lions Head, abseil off the top of Table Mountain " I mean who writes this shit, half the people here can hardly walk let along abseil off the top of a flipping mountain!

We again decided on a hop on hop off bus tour as the best way to see around town. This one had 4 lines and did a big loop around not just the town but over the mountain into the wine country and right around the coastline including a trip on the harbour in a small boat. There is so much to see its impossible to fit it all in the one and half days we had there, even not going up the mountain in a gondola. We also didn't make it to Robben Island which would have taken more than half a day and we were advised by a local it would be best to see that when we had much more time, there were better things to see in the meantime.

The first trip we did was the tour of the harbour. As it was still quite early we were the only ones on the boat so we had a personal tour of the calm waters of the Harbourside. There were quite a few seals swimming lazily around. On the high sides of the wharf were huge tyres hanging down, acting as bumpers for the boats but the seals also like to make use of them for a snooze. The locals referred to this as 'seals on wheels'.

As the bus took us over the hill towards the wine country there were great views looking down into the city and the bay beyond. Just up the hill on the eastern side was the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens which the bus made a stop at. The drive heading up there was beautiful, big trees lined the sides of the road and as we drove into the gardens the surroundings and plants were just lovely. Now these buses are double decker and the top deck is half uncovered so you can have unimpeded views all around. The danger of that of course is what we found out in Turkey when Jon was whacked in the face by a tree branch and blood spurted everywhere.

I sat under the covered bit for awhile as it had started to rain and it was cold but Jon braved it outside, being mindful of the trees, ducking every now and then as a stray branch went sweeping by. As we were leaving the gardens I came out to sit opposite so I could take some photos. I called out to Jon to catch his attention for a photo so he turned around towards me to oblige. Just as I took the picture, a branch came out of nowhere and whacked him on the side of the head. I still laugh even as I write this, I guess you had to be there but it was extremely funny. 

We wound our way around the side of the hills in a area called Constantia where the likes of Maggie Thatchers son lived as well as Wilbur Smith and other notable folk whom I forget but the houses there were magnificent, the Dutch colonial architecture is just lovely. We had to change buses to go on the wine trail line which then weaved its way around grapevine lined countryside. Being Autumn the leaves were starting to change and were tinged with red & yellow. We got off at Groot Constantia which is the oldest wine making centre in South Africa having produced wine since 1685. The homestead was built in the 17th century by Governor Van der Stel and is the classic Dutch Colonial design. It now houses a museum and some of the side buildings also had information on the history of the place. Slaves were used to take care of the vines, pick and tread the grapes, a job that can't have been that bad. It is a beautiful vineyard graced with beautiful buildings, gardens and trees. 

We decided to stay for lunch in the warm and cosy restaurant onsite after we had a wine tasting session in the cellars. It was around $4 for 5 tasting glasses which were quite generous so we thought we should have some food to soak it up. Trouble was we decided that the local Pinotage wine, described as South Africa in a bottle due to its unique grape (grafted from a Pino noir and another grape of which I have forgotten) was such an excellent drop we ordered a bottle to go with our lunch. I ordered a tasting plate which consisted of their local iconic foods one being a dish called Bobotie which is a curried mince with an egg custard on top. Sounds strange but believe me is extremely delicious. After all that we felt like a little lie down and a tummy rub but we had to get back and take the rest of the tour. 

The bus took us over to the western coast to the Atlantic ocean and we wound our way through the exclusive suburbs of Camps bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay and sea point. The scenery was spectacular with the soaring mountains of the twelve apostles (actually 17 of them) on one side and the drop down to the ocean on the other. Buildings on the cliff side started from the road and dropped down to the water, hugging the cliffs for up to 10 stories. The roof became the car park as it was the same level of the road because they have been banned from building higher than the road and blocking the view. The cars that were parked on these roofs gave you the idea that only the very wealthy lived in these apartments.

We also took the sunset tour bus which went up to Signal hill, a mere 1,148 ft as opposed to Table mountain which is 3,533 ft to watch the sunset, knowing full well there would be no sunset but it was included in our ticket. It got its name from being an obeservation post since the first settlement and much like Edinburgh, it fires a canon every day except Sunday at noon. When this happens it booms over the entire city, causing tourists to jump and locals to check their watches.

By now the weather was closing in again and the mist had not really lifted from the mountains so our bus wound its way up a very steep and narrow road with a sheer drop on one side and giving me heart failure and then disappeared into the mist. We couldn't see more than a metre in front of us and as we listened to the commentary about the wonderful views and what we could see from there the whole bus was laughing. When we got to the top there was a howling gale and fog all around, giving absolutely no idea what may lay beyond. You were invited to bring a picnic up here and this tour was meant to be 3 hours long. Needless to say we were back at base within the hour.