Today was a day at sea. It was much needed after two busy half days in Walvis Bay. Last night I was in bed by 9 pm and slept until 7 am. Walvis Bay had so many wonderful excursions to choose from and I could only choose 3. We arrived late in the morning of April 7. After going through immigration on board I had an early, quick lunch because my tour was leaving at 12 noon.

Walvis Bay is a large working port but it is also well set up for lots of tourist activities. I’ll cover some history at the end of the blog for anyone who has an interest.

The Viking Sky has been with us at this port and was also in Luderitz. It carries over 900 passengers. We can carry 275 but only have 218. Glad this is the last port we will have to share with them as they are not stopping at most of the ports that we are. My guide said sometimes they have 4 ships in port and sometimes they have the huge ships.

My afternoon tour was called “Sandwich Harbor”. We loaded into Toyota 4runners and other 4x4’s. But there was nothing to do with any harbor!  We first stopped by the lagoon to see some flamingos.

We then went by a large complex for harvesting salt from sea water. We stopped at a channel that is used to bring the sea water into a series of ponds for evaporation. Our driver showed us some hunks of salt.

Then the fun began. We first drove on the narrow strip between the ocean and the towering sand dunes. Then we drove up and down the huge sand dunes. It was somewhere between terrifying and too much fun. We stopped for a break where we could see the ocean, the sand dunes and have some refreshments. The lighting was too harsh to have artistic photographs and there was no way I could truly capture the ride in photographs or videos.

At our break, my ankles said no to climbing the dunes for a better view so had to settle for what I could see from near the parking area.

Couldn’t believe they served sparkling wine in glass glasses. Plus, the snack plate was something else.

After the break the real fun began. On one side of the dunes, it is a gradual slope. But, on the backside it is nearly straight down. The driver would put the vehicle in low gear (no brakes used) and the vehicle would slowly slide down in the sand. Those that went down first could film the rest, then we would trade places so everyone could watch trucks slide down the slopes.

There is wildlife in the dunes and we were lucky to find some springboks. One of the other tours concentrated on the small wildlife and they saw a sidewinder snake, a chameleon and various insects.

We drove back along the ocean.

Got back to the ship with about 45 minutes to get ready for the next excursion. We drove about 45 minutes from town. We had sundown drinks by a sand dune. I could eat the cheese and crackers but passed on the raw oysters on the half shell – a local specialty. We then drove around the dune to a huge tent. Outside there were luminaries and fire dancers.

Inside we had a delicious buffet and a singing/dancing/drumming group. There had been a plan to do some astro photography, but fog moved in and the half moon created way too much light for good astro photography.

It was a short night because my excursion the next day left at 7 am. I opted to take the Birding at Walvis Bay Lagoon excursion. Unfortunately, this area is often blanketed in fog and this morning was one of those foggy mornings. Our stop at the lagoon was very foggy and the sun was barely up so very dark to photograph the flamingos and pelicans. I was glad I had seen the flamingos yesterday.

Saw two kinds of gulls: Kelp Gulls and

Hartlaub’s Gulls

Then we drove down the Pelican Point sand spit. My driver has his own birding tour company so he knew every bird and everything about them. He pointed out 5 different kinds of terns but most were very far away. Due to environmental haze/distortion I found it impossible to get any clear shots. So, I don’t know what kind are in my photos.

There were also a variety of shorebirds in both breeding and non-breeding plumage. I’ll have to ID them when I get home. When my luggage got up to the weight limit, I had to leave by bird guides behind.

This area also has 10,000’s of Southern Fur Seals. There were bunches all over the spit and the water was churning with all the seals. The kayaking groups were totally surrounded by seals.

Saw one small group of Cape Cormorants with their turquoise eyes.

Sign on the beach...

Returned to the ship for lunch then we sailed away on our way to Angola.

Today was filled with wonderful lectures and beautiful, calm seas. Today’s trivia theme was wine – our team didn’t do too well. You would have to be a real wine snob to know many of the answers.

For dinner tonight I opted to go to the Grill. It is outside by the pool. It’s covered and has heaters overhead so not cold (in South Georgia last year you needed about 4 layers to eat out there). I was so disappointed that they have done away with the “hot rock” cooking – you cooked your own meat on a super-heated rock at your table. It was fun. I had the grilled prawns tonight but didn’t like the spice they put on them. The baked potato was good…

History of Walvis Bay: Walvis Bay is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The bay is a safe haven for sea vessels because of its natural deepwater harbor, protected by the Pelican Point sand spit, being the only natural harbor of any size along the country's coast.

Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão reached Cape Cross, north of the bay, in 1485. There followed Bartolomeu Dias, who anchored his flagship São Cristóvão in what is now Walvis Bay on 8 December 1487, on his expedition to discover a sea route to the East via the Cape of Good Hope. He named the bay "O Golfo de Santa Maria da Conceição". However, the Portuguese did not formally stake a claim to Walvis Bay.

Walvis Bay was founded at the end of the 18th century as a stopover for sea travel between Cape Town and the Netherlands by the Dutch East India Company. No permanent (year-round) settlement was attempted, and little commercial development occurred on the site until the late 19th century.

Afterwards the area was British, German, South African and finally part of Namibia.