Mittwoch, 2. September 2009

the coast


One night we camped wild at the Brandberg with no-one around for a couple of kilometres. We enjoyed the nature and the absolute quietness. Then we explored the other end of our proposed original route, the Brandberg West camp. We drove through a deserted mine and just as we thought nothing will be there and wanted to turn around a simple camp appeared. We were greeted and the woman had a registration list ready and also hand-drawn maps of the way through Doros Crater. So, from this side the undertaking looked much more possible, but now it was too late. We turned around and drove to the coast. The Skeleton coastline is as bleak as described in the books, but we did not get bored by this. I even enjoy this emptiness. The kids went bathing in the Atlantic at 13 degrees water temperature, mist and an unpleasant wind outside. On our way we visited one of the largest seal colonies in Southern Africa. The number of animals was quite impressive and it stank horrible. We watched the acrobatic swimming for a while.
We stayed a few days in Swakopmund to get some entertainment. The boy and the man went quad biking, the girl and the woman had a look at the Kristallgalerie and adjoined jeweller shops. One day we joined Tommy’s Living Desert tour which was great fun. I had been on the tour over a year ago, but it was very interesting again. In Walvis Bay we met a pelican selling souvenirs and my visitors bought a few.
On our way back to Windhoek we stopped for one night and a bit of scrambling at Spitzkoppe. The kids enjoyed this adventure a lot.