OUR WINTER CRUISE: DAY 18

Walvis Bay, Namibia


Sunday 18 November 

We had to complete arrival and departure forms for immigration on disembarking for the day at Walvis Bay. When we went up for breakfast it was very misty outside and cold. Moira filled the flask and made sandwiches while at breakfast to do us for lunch when ashore. Namibia and the port of Walvis Bay came into sight about 8am and we went out on deck watching as the ship was manoeuvred into the harbour and tied up. It was still a bit misty when out on deck but it wasn't so cold as earlier and we decided to go without our fleeces.

Arrival in Namibia

There was a queue to get off with the immigration official checking and stamping everybody's passports and arrival forms. It appeared to be fairly routine and the line moved steadily forward and we were soon on dry land again after all these days afloat. As we have become accustomed at all the docks there is no indications of the way out. Moira asked the security guard on the quay and he scratched his head as if it was his first day on the job here. His directions took us out all right but later we found there was a more direct route to where we wanted to go - the Lagoon.

Moira had picked up a map from reception, I checked; it was of Walvis Bay, and the roads all had their names on them. We made our way to the town's Main Street which wasn't much and there we made a mistake. We must have lost our sense of direction with the twisting and turning route to get out of the docks and turned the wrong way along the Main Street. My calculations concluded that if we headed straight along this road we would reach the sea and the lagoon. On the way we stopped at a supermarket and they had the SA Sunday Times newspaper but they wanted $5US, far too much for a Rand16 paper. Moira tried using her SA cash card in an ATM to get Namibian money but it wouldn't accept the card. We gave up and continued our walk. 

Walvis Bay Kerk

We had been walking for about half an hour, the road was quiet and nobody from the cruise appeared to be going this way. We came to a section that didn't correspond with anything on the map when a car pulled up beside us. I thought at first it was a taxi touting for business but it was a couple of guys in a municipal van. He asked if we were from the cruise and where we were heading. I told him and he said we were going the wrong way and if we continued would end up in the black township which could be dangerous. He showed where we were on the map and the point where we had gone wrong. Now it was a long walk all the way back again and out the other way.

Back at the junction where we had gone astray the tourists from the cruise were out in force. Also in the other direction there were lots more shops and supermarkets. This time we found one that would accept SA Rands and we bought the paper. This area was also a lot more affluent in the housing and as we got nearer to the lagoon they became very large and luxurious.

The lagoon was now in front of us and it was worth all the effort to find it. It was locked from the sea by a reef or sand bar that we could see running between the two points of the large bay. It was a haven for all types of sea birds but mainly flamingoes. There were thousands of them on there long legs with their equally long necks bent over pecking for food in the sand. They looked extremely attractive with the pink on the underside of thier wings and legs. There were lots of other birds of all shapes and sizes, unfortunately they didn't have a information board with the types that could be found around the lagoon. We did recognise a number of oyster catchers and a trio of pelicans flew over our heads.

FLAMINGOES ON THE LAGOON

There was a walking path, the Esplanade,that ran all the way round the edge of the lagoon. We made our way the whole distance to where it met the main coastal road. At that point we were going to just turn back but noticed that on the other side of the road there was sand dunes that seem to go on and on. We climbed to the top of a large dune to get a view and some photographs, there had been tyre tracks on the sand and the area is used for quad biking. In one direction it was just sand, the Namibian desert, but in the other houses and a short cut to the lagoon again. We took the shortcut and once on the esplanade found a bench where we had our picnic lunch.

NAMIBIAN DESERT

It was a very pleasant return all the way back on the side of the lagoon admiring the bird life. We passed a bus load of people on one of the ship's excursions. They had all come off the bus, some to photograph the birds, and others whose priority was to light up a cigarette. We continued further round the bay to other point where the yacht club was situated and on the other side of the club we could see the MSC Opera towering above the quay. At this end there weren't so many birds about, it may have been a guy windsurfing with a kite that was frightening them away.

Apub with SA's Castle lager

Near the yacht club there was a little bar restaurant that was busy with a lot of people from the ship. I asked if they would accept Rands and we had a couple of Castle lagers when they said yes. Moira had only a R100 and received her change in Namibian dollars. Not wanting to get landed with these notes, to us, useless money, we bought a bottle of red wine. On the way back to the ship Moira poured it into the vacuum flask to smuggle it on board and we had it later for a pre-dinner aperitif.

We were going to return to the ship all the way back the route we had come. Fortunately we saw some other of our shipmates take another direction and we followed. There was gate close by the lagoon and not far to walk in the dock to the ship, the route we should have taken when starting out. There was a queue to board and when we got on deck the immigration officer was there to take our departure forms and stamp our passports again.

Once on board the day pack was dumped in the cabin and then up to the disco lounge with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. There was a bit of bad news for us in the paper, the SA budget airline that we were booked on to fly from Cape Town to Durban had gone bust. Luckily  Moira had booked using the credit card so there shouldn't be a loss of money but we will now have to book another flight and it will be more expensive. Looking at some of the adverts in the Times, prices have risen since we were last here, petrol is now R12/litre, it's high but still much cheaper than in the UK.

 We had some of the red wine we bought in the cabin, and it was very nice, before dinner. It had been about five hours of walking today and we were both very tired so once we finished our meal it was back to the cabin to stretch out on the bed and read. At about 9:30pm we gave up and got to sleep.