Namibia has the second least densely populated countries in the world after Mongolia; a huge land mass and only 3.1 million inhabitants!

A Little bit about Namibia:

Much of the land mass is desert, the Kalahari to the North and the Namib to the South; one unique feature is seeing the desert meet the sea! The main industries are mining – diamonds, uranium, gold, silver and base metals.

The first inhabitants were travelling, nomadic African tribes; the Bantu and the OwambI. In the 15th century, Portuguese navigators, Diogo Cão and Bartolomeu Dias , were exploring the coast of Southern Africa; on their expeditions to discover a sea route to the East via the Cape of Good Hope. they established a settlement in Angola to the north. The Namibian Coast is known for its fog, and sailors really couldn’t see much except for sand, so they didn’t formally stake a claim to Walvis Bay. Indeed the coastline proved treacherous with the poor visibility, in that many ships were wrecked along its length; giving it the name “Skeleton Coast”.

The next Europeans to look for a stategic foothold in Africa were the Dutch, again related to a route to the East Indies for the East India Company. No permanent (year-round) settlement was attempted and little commercial development occurred on the site until the late 19th century. In the meantime, the Cape Colony had become British, and during the Scramble for Africa, the British claimed Walvis Bay. In 1884, the Germans arrived. They established rule over most of the territory (except for Walvis Bay) forming a colony known as German South West Africa. One of the consequences of defeat in WW1 was the ending of German rule, and its replacement being a form of administration by South Africa.

In 1948, the National Party was elected to power in South Africa; this led to Apartheid being applied to both South Africa and South West Africa. Uprisings and demands for political representation resulted in the united Nations assuming direct responsibility over the territory in 1966, but South Africa maintained de facto rule until 1973. That year the UN recognised the South West Africa People's Organisation, SWAPO, as the official representative of the Namibian people. Namibia gained independence from South Africa in March 1990, following the South African Border War. However, the strategically located Port of Walvis Bay remained under South African control, as an ‘exclave’. Following the signing of a treaty between the two countries, South Africa formally transferred sovereignty of Walvis Bay to Namibia on 1 March 1994.

Walvis Bay (= Whale Bay) is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The Bay is a haven for sea vessels due to its harbour, protected by the Pelican Point sand spit, which is the only natural deep-water harbour along the country's coast, hence why it was strategic to both Germans and South Africans. Being rich in plankton and marine life, these waters also draw large numbers of southern right whales, attracting whalers and fishing vessels.

Interesting fact: Do you know how the Southern Right Whale got its name? 

Well, during the Whaling era, there was more than one type of whale along this coastline; there were also Humpback Whales. Humpback whales were difficult to catch, but the Southern Right Whale was the ‘Right’ whale to catch, because when caught, it floated to the surface, and was easier to bring ashore. In addition it had more capacity for the whalers to harvest whale oil than other species. It was termed the ‘Southern’ to distinguish it from the ‘Northern Right Whale’.

Walvis Bay, with its large bay and dunes, is an important centre of tourism activity in Namibia. Attractions include the artificial Bird Island, centre of a guano (= bird number 2) collection industry, the Dune 7 dune, Sandwich Harbour, the salt works and the abundant birdlife (large colonies of Flamingos).

My tour today encompassed most of these tourist attractions; on our previous visit to Walvis Bay, I did a tour including Dune 7, the highest sand dune in Namibia at 383m above sea level – it is termed Dune 7, as it is the 7th dune along the route north of Walvis Bay. This time, we were heading south in 4x4 vehicles visiting the birds, salt works and Sandwich Harbour.

Being Winter in Namibia, the fog is quite prominent, indeed Namibia only get 60 days of proper sunshine each year. Most days start off with fog, which lifts to cloud, and then falls again in the evening. The weather started off like this, as we went to the lagoon to see the Flamingos. In the summer there are over 100,000 Flamingos here, but the vast majority had flown inland chasing food and fresh water. However we did still manage to see some in the lagoon. Just off the main road south, we turned right onto a track which followed the salt works. The salt produced by natural evaporation is not used for human consumption, but instead for industry e.g. clearing snow on roads; the tracks here were made using salt. With the lack of hot sun, it takes 10 months for the salty water to evaporate to harvest the salt. The salt lakes had a very pink hue, and with no wind, the still surface was very reflective.

The track led to the coastline, and the 4 wheel drive vehicles powered along the sandy beach; we hoped to see humpback whales here, as it is their migration season, however we were not lucky and contended with a seal and plenty of cormorants. The coastline is quite trecherous here, as at high tide, there is no escape as the waves then come up to the edge of the dunes. The beach ride led us to the entrance to Sandwich Bay Park. Sandwich Bay is not named after anything involving bread and a filling, but from the German ‘Sand Fish’ Harbour. This is where the Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the World, meets the sea.

We then bounced our way through towering sand dunes, ending up atop a high dune, where we were offered snacks and drinks. With this spectacular setting, silence around us, except for the chinking of glasses by fellow passengers, who were all mesmerised by the views of sun, sky, sand and sea! The sun has come out with clear blue skies – it was magic; one of those 60 clear days!

After lunch, it was time for the drivers to have some fun ‘Dune surfing’ in their vehicles; there was also a stop where guests could ‘surf’ down a dune on a piece of cardboard, just as young Namibians would have done!

We were left wanting more; it was a great ‘adventure’ into the desert. However, we had a ship and a 24K Margarita to get back to! Once back on board, we had 7 sea days to savour before our next port, taxi is Mindelo in Cape Verde. This means we cross 2 important lines on the Globe; the first, then we just crossed as I am writing this, is the 0 degrees longitude – this line passes through Greenwich, London, and means that we pass from the eastern hemisphere to the western hemisphere. In the next day or so, we will pass 0 degrees latitude, otherwise known as the Equator.