Southern Africa - Day 10 (Part 3)

Wednesday, 22 January 2020 - Namibia 

These were the nomadic way of life of the bushmen but nowadays they are put in reservations, and their traditions are dying. It is quite sad because they have such an intimate knowledge about the desert; at the same time who are we to deny them the same development and comfort that we enjoy. 

After the lessons in the desert, we made a pit stop at the Tropic of Capricorn (the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be directly overhead), and passed what Clever said resembles a moon landscape. I’m not sure about this although it did look rocky, dark and dreary. 

Then we arrived in Walvis Bay, which is quite an important port in Africa, for local as well as international trade. There is a little port town here now. Salt mining is a big industry here. Most of the roads here are made of leftover salt from the salt mines. In 1990 when Namibia got its independence from South Africa, Walvis Bay remained under South Africa due to the port activities. Only in 1994 when South Africa abolished apartheid, did they gave Walvis Bay back to Namibia. 

We stopped at a lagoon to see flamingoes, the greater and the lesser. They were all busy eating with their heads in the water. I also saw ducks and sea gulls. In the distance was an oil rig from West Africa, apparently it is cheaper for them to do it here and bring the oil back to West Africa.

Finally we arrived in a quaint little town called Swakopmund. The river here once formed the border between South Africa and Namibia from 1990 to 1994. The place is named after this river. 

Our first destination in Swakopmund was an adventure centre to sort out our activities for tomorrow. Jay is into sky diving; in fact after Windhoek he will be back in Swakopmund to take up sky diving. I remember him telling me that he had done the research and he chose Namibia to learn sky diving because it’s the cheapest place in the world to do it. So then when we were watching this video this pest of a voice in my head said I should do sky diving because if not, I probably never will. Before I knew what I was doing I signed up for it. 10 am tomorrow I meet my doom. 

Then we checked into our hotel, and after that Jay, Rigmar and I walked around for a bit. Near the sea front there was a nice walk way with lovely flowers and palm trees, and guinea fowls, cats, and different types of birds everywhere. It was really a pleasant walk. We arrived at a craft market, and the people here were really quite pushy in trying to sell us things but we just passed through without buying anything. Although sunny, the wind is cold and in the evenings after the sun sets it is really quite cold. 

We made our way back to the hotel where we met the others and together we walked to the designated restaurant for dinner. For dinner I ate spaghetti. They had chillies!!! Joy of joy. I just didn’t feel like meat today. 

Then back to the hotel and I almost immediately slept, I guess I was sleepier than I thought I was.