“Have you booked any activites?” asked the lovely lady at our Guesthouse in Swakopmund. We looked at each other and obviously our idea of having a more leisurely day by the ocean is not the most common thing people come to Swakopmund and Walvis bay for. Apparently, one does quad-biking, kite surfing, fishing, go-karting, ballooning, sky diving, camel riding, kayaking, paragliding or scenic helicopter flights when they visigt this part of the world. Instead the lady informed us there were flamingoes we could go see, which was more our thing.
So south in Walvis bay we found the Flamingoes, which were fasciniting and very close to shore. As many might be ware they do get their pink colour from their food and in this case its the algae in the lagoon that they eat. They eat rather interestingly by putting the top of their beak on the water, then tipping their heads back. They kept us amused for a while before we headed back into Swapkomund.
In Swakopmund we did find a fantastic craft and souvenir store, that my friend Amanda would have loved as well as it ties into her podcast nicely. They sold all sorts of art, craft and souvenirs that was made by Namibians and even had photos up of all the artists, a lot was made from recycled materials and the money from the sakes went to the artists. A completely satisfying place to buy from and far better than being told mass produced wood carvings were made by a random person on the street.
The next day we left Swakopmund and headed to Cape Cross Seal colony on our way to Damaraland. Quite and easy drive on a sealed road but as we approached the colony there were tables and tables beside the road with rock salt and what appeared to be an honesty box/jar for the vendorts to make money. It was misty and a bit wet and not a sould to be seen. Every few hundred metres there were more tables.
The seal colony was a sight to be smelt though. Never underestimate how smelly a seal colony is. The seals were metres from where we parked out car and we had to dodge around seals just to get to the board walk. there were thousand of them, all making loud noises. However, we did realise its almost like watching a dog, they had all the characteristice of a dog in how they sleep and how they behave with each other. A large bus turned up and we soon left.
However, leaving didn’t get rid of the seal smell. I swear we could smell it for a long way towards Damaraland which is our next stop and next blog (which turned out to be lovely and internet free).
Definite vote for the flamingo activity! Those seals are so lovely, need pats and ear scratches