Discovering the joys of camping in Namibia (page 11 of 30)

We’re heading out before 1 p.m. for the second part of the day—the organization is really top-notch. We’re with an Italian couple who was with us on the boat. 60 km separate us from our destination: Sandwich Harbour. On the way out of Walvis Bay, we stop to see the flamingos. It’s stunning—apparently, there are 50,000 of them. They’re Lesser Flamingos. They only come here to feed; otherwise, they breed in Etosha or Botswana.



Next, we pass by salt pans made up of 17 huge basins. On one side of the road, the salt pans; on the other, the lagoon with the flamingos—it’s really beautiful. Like this morning, we get a lot of information during the drive—it’s really interesting.









Then we enter the desert and follow the beach, where large colonies of cormorants wait to fish. The water is at 15–17°C, and the air is at 17°C today. Brrr… Doesn’t exactly make you want to take a dip.





We follow the beach for quite a while, between the dune and the water. The dune, under the assault of the waves, breaks and crumbles little by little.









Next, a must-do: driving through the dunes. The driver has a bit of fun in them before dropping us off at the top to admire the stunning landscape before us.









It’s 3 p.m., and we’re expected for a lovely snack by the beach: oysters and sparkling wine, little bruschettas, skewers, and dessert—we’re really well taken care of!

We set off again at a relaxed pace after three-quarters of an hour. The Italian woman asked not to go into the dunes too quickly because she didn’t like it 🙁. What a shame! It would’ve been fun.

With the tide coming in, the water rose, leaving less room for the 4x4 to pass, but our driver was amazing! We drove a bit tilted on the dune and half in the water.



On the way back, we spotted a black-backed jackal. Our driver stopped and called it over to feed it. We were really surprised it came so close!





A few more flamingos, along with springbok, and we headed back via the salt pans.







We got back to the car around 5:30 PM, thrilled with our day. We really recommend these two outings—they were totally different!

We headed back to Swakopmund, with the wind blowing in the late afternoon.



After filling up for tomorrow, a quick stop at the Spar for groceries, and watching the sunset on the beach, it was time to head to dinner at Küki’s Pub, which we’d booked last night.







This restaurant is downtown—it’s a bit of a factory, and it’s definitely not as nice as the one we went to last night. But we didn’t have many options since a lot of places are closed on Sundays, and the others were already fully booked. We still enjoyed some great fish and calamari—it’s a nice change from braai 😉

Back to it here

This all looks really nice, though you’ve gotta love oysters ;)

And did you see the jackal trying its luck? 😉

Very nice all that, but you’ve got to like oysters

That’s exactly what I thought... and I don’t like them! 🙁 Well, there are the canapés to fall back on (as long as they’re not oyster-based 😏). Muriel

That all looks really nice, but you’ve gotta love oysters😉

Yeah, only the French were eating them 😮, I tried the cooked ones, they’re not bad 😊

And did you see the jackal trying its luck? 😉

Yes, they prowl around the seal colonies, but this one left after a few unsuccessful attempts because the mothers were keeping a close eye on their pups 🙂.

It's all very pretty, but you've got to like oysters

That's exactly what I thought... and I don't like them! 🙁 Well, there are canapés to make up for it (as long as they're not oyster-based 😏). Muriel

Me neither, I don't eat oysters, but I tried the cooked ones 😉. Don't worry, the canapés aren't oyster-based. In fact, the English guys couldn't get enough of them 🤪.

And I’m still loving it 😎 no oysters for me—they don’t like me (same goes for all seafood) 🏴‍☠️ Why does the jackal come? If we feed it, of course it’ll keep coming since hunting is so tough. The flamingos are called: Lesser Flamingo/Flamant nain Regulation’s got a lot to answer for... killing them to sell their skins, for sure

Thanks for this amazing travel journal 🙂

the name of the flamingos is: Lesser Flamingo/Lesser Flamingo

Thanks Anne Marie, I’ll fix that right away

To fuel the debate about oysters

The wild oysters in Knysna—absolutely massive!

Yeah, but we didn’t get to try any last winter when we were in Knysna—I’m really not feeling it 🙁. I’m like Anne Marie now; I’m wary of seafood after getting food poisoning in Bali 🏴‍☠️.

So, for oysters, our guide showed us a shell from Angola—it was huge... we had to hold it with both hands 😉

Hi Isabelle,

Memories, memories!

At the Rostock Ritz, we had lunch there, and afterward, we took a little walk starting from the trail that began at the restaurant. Nice view of the surroundings.

I can confirm the beautiful scenery when passing through Guiseb Pass.

In Swakopmund, we had a great dinner at The Tug restaurant.

In Walvis Bay, we also took a boat trip to Sandwich Harbor—there were 12 of us in our group. Like you, the weather was gray at first, but the sun came out a little later. We had lunch on the beach, not far from the lighthouse. There were oysters too, but since seafood is absolutely off-limits for me, I enjoyed the other dishes. It was a wonderful surprise because we didn’t expect to have lunch there.

In the afternoon, we did what I call "dune rodeo"—it was amazing. We also had a snack at the bottom of the dunes, with a jackal just a few meters away keeping us company. We had an excellent day.

Liliane

Hi Liliane, I see these memories are only a year old 😉 . Indeed, at the Rostock Ritz, we should’ve taken a walk while we were at the lodge—it would’ve saved us waiting over an hour for our spot to be ready 🙁. Yes, I recommend that boat-and-4x4 combo in the morning and afternoon—just like you, we had an amazing day 🙂. Maybe that jackal was just waiting for its snack!

Hi Isabelle,

Yes, I recommend the boat in the morning and 4x4 in the afternoon combo—like you, we had a fantastic day 🙂.

We only did the morning boat part, and now I kinda regret not doing the Sandwich Harbour portion. But the prices for the full day were really over the top—over $2,350 (over 1,500 €!!!😕) per person if I remember correctly.......

Hi Isabelle,

Yes, I recommend the boat combo in the morning and 4x4 in the afternoon—just like you, we had a fantastic day 🙂.

We only did the morning boat portion, and now I kind of regret not doing the Sandwich Harbour part. But the prices for the full day were really over the top—over $2,350 (more than 150 euros!!!:/) per person if I remember correctly.......

Yeah, the full day does come at a cost (we paid 2,500 NAD/p), but I think it’s a shame to miss out on Sandwich Harbour. I don’t know if it’s cheaper through other tour operators—I quickly looked into it and got the impression they were all in the same ballpark. Overall, the excursions in Namibia are pretty pricey, but it’s all relative 😉.

Yes, indeed, the full day does come at a certain cost (we paid 2500 N$/p), but I think it's a shame not to go to Sandwich Harbour.

Yeah, like I said, I kinda regret not going now...😕 Maybe next time?😎

Yes, indeed, the full day does come at a certain cost (we paid 2500 N$/person), but I think it's a shame not to go to Sandwich Harbour.

Yeah, as I said, I kind of regret not going now...😕 Maybe next time?😎

Yes, you always have to leave something for next time... except there’s even more to do than the first time, so we’d already need to plan a third trip...🤪 😏 😏

Hi Isabelle,

I really love your travel journal—it’s so thorough! You’ve taken some truly beautiful and numerous photos that really help capture the variety of landscapes you can encounter in this magnificent country. That diversity is actually what surprised my husband the most during our trip. He hadn’t read any travel journals before arriving and thought that 10 days in the desert might be a bit monotonous!!!! But it’s incredible how many different desert landscapes you can cross in just one day of driving there! The stories from these last two days are perfect examples of that!

I’m still so immersed in the vibe while reading your posts... and I also regret not taking more photos while we were there. Like during the drives or little details of the trip. We were in Swakopmund the evening you took that sunset photo. The light was absolutely stunning that night, but we’d gone out to walk along the beach to the restaurant without bringing the camera... Seeing your photo took me right back to that beach where my daughter ended up with soaked shoes because she was playing in the waves despite the wind and the rather unkind temperatures!

As for us, we opted for the kayak and Sandwich Harbour combo, and it was an extraordinary day too!

Can’t wait for the rest! I’ve started sorting through my photos, but with back-to-school and returning to work after 5 weeks off (my record for a vacation), I have to say it’s not moving very quickly. I admire how fast you’re posting—keeping up that pace is really impressive.

Have a great evening,

Well, Sybille, we crossed paths in several places without actually meeting 😉.

The kayak option tempted us too, to get close to the seals, but also close to the water—and I was afraid I’d get too cold 😮. So we went with the catamaran option, and it was great.

The upside with my husband is that on vacation, he never puts his camera down and snaps everything and anything—though afterward, it’s me who has to sort through it all 🤪.

Actually, for the travel journal, I write it every evening on my smartphone. When I get home, I export the text to a Word document, so the work is pretty much done 🙂. Just need to sort the photos and insert them into the text... and voilà!