Walvis Bay, Namibia

Early in the morning of January 25, we slowly sailed into Walvis Bay. The peacefulness of the area, combined with the thick clouds that lay right at the water’s edge, gave it an almost surreal appearance. It was Sunday morning and very little moved around the port.

Entering Walvis Bay

  

From the upper deck of the ship we had a panoramic view of the city of 85,000 people and the tall sand dunes that completely surround it. The dunes looked like a fortress wall that had been erected to protect the city—this one built by nature. It was a reminder that the Namibia Dessert was only a short distance away.

In the dockyard, a long line of small shuttle buses and tour coaches stretched from where we were docked to the entrance of the port. The tour manager had told us that Namibia has very little in the way of extra transportation to take passengers on tours, so vehicles of various sizes had to be brought in from neighboring South Africa, quite a distance.

The day was absolutely beautiful with light breezes, a comfortable temperature, and as the morning went on, clear blue skies.

We took the shuttle provided by Cunard to the downtown area, which because it was Sunday morning, was virtually deserted. Few stores were open, which was fine for us since we didn’t care to shop. The buildings were two or three stories high. A Woolworths, which we hadn’t seen for years, was on one of the main streets.

The town was clean in the areas we visited and we felt quite comfortable walking through it. Parts of the city reminded us of scenes from the TV series based on Alexander McCall Smith’s series, The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. It was very quiet, and we saw little traffic—just a few taxis. It was a reminder of the peaceful Sundays we used to have in the U.S.

We saw a KFC restaurant, which we seem to see everywhere. We were surprised to see advertisements for businesses that we didn’t expect to see, for example, Re/Max real estate. 

Since we hadn’t been to Africa before, we didn’t know what to expect. We had been told that Namibia is a poor country, but we didn’t see anyone requesting money or pushing goods at us. The few people we came into contact with were polite and friendly.  A number of taxi drivers approached us offering rides. When we said no thanks, they would give us a thumbs-up, smile, and drive away.

The shuttle dropped us close to the Stella Maris Catholic Church, a nice looking building with a tall bell tower. Since it was Sunday morning, we checked the times for the services on the board near the front entrance. We figured that a good way to get a sense of a people would be to worship with them. Unfortunately the only service for that day had been at 8 a.m. We were an hour too late.

Stella Maris

Stella Maris is also the name of a charitable organization that has centers in ports throughout the world to support sailors and their families. Crews from ships can go to these centers to rest, use the Internet, and obtain emergency assistance. We’ve seen the centers in a number of ports and feel that Stella Maris is a worthy charity.

Since there wasn’t a whole lot to see downtown, we decided to head to the nearby lagoon to see the birds we were told we could see there. Again we underestimated the distance and it turned out to be quite a long walk—one that took us through some business and residential areas. Stonewalls about four feet high separated the houses from the streets like a picket fence. When we did see picket-like fences, the pickets were made out of concrete made to look like wood. As we walked past the houses, many with bars on the windows, we could hear the barking (and sometimes growling) of dogs on the other side of the wall. The dogs made for an excellent alarm system and would definitely be a deterrent to anyone trying to break in.

Residential Street

The houses we passed ran the gamut of cinderblock square bungalows to very modern and fairly new two-storied homes. One was a lovely thatched-roofed cottage. The closer we got to the lagoon, the nicer the homes became. Some of the homes had pretty gardens with squat palm trees and hibiscus plants. Others had front yards of packed dirt and satellite dishes attached to them.

Thatched-Roofed Cottage

Modern Home Facing Lagoon

The lagoon featured a long retaining seawall lined with park benches, where we could sit and watch the birds that congregated at the water’s edge. Walvis Bay is known for its rare white pelicans. We saw two pelicans; sadly, one of them was lying on the beach dead. We also saw some ibis. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the flamingoes that this area is so well known for. In the distance, we could see a sandbar where they gather, but they were too far out for us to see them clearly. There were so many it made the sandbar look like it was covered in snow. The one time we could have really benefitted from the binoculars we had left on the ship.

Lagoon  

Pelican

The odor of fish and birds in places was noticeable. Because of the number of birds in the Walvis Bay area, the selling of bird guano is big business. As the British say, “Where there’s muck, there’s money.”

  

When we decided to return to the ship, John was all for walking back—even though the ship was far in the distance. My Fitbit was already showing we had taken over 8,000 steps—and that was before 11:00 a.m. A wiser head prevailed, and we took the shuttle back. When he saw how long the ride actually was, I think he secretly was relieved that we had opted for the bus. We arrived back just in time for afternoon tea, which was most welcomed.

Previous to our visit, the only time we had heard anything about Namibia was when it was in the news following Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s visit there. We had a pleasant day in Namibia and are glad we now know about it firsthand and not because of Angie and Brad.

That evening as we set sail for Cape Town, we watched from the top deck as the ship pulled away from the dock and began sailing south along the coast of Namibia. Tall khaki sand dunes stretched as far along the coast as we could see. Namibia is not as remote as it had seemed before. It is growing, and they are promoting tourism as well as investing in mining and drilling for gas. Perhaps we’ll return some day.

My friend Judi sent me an e-mail asking how to add a comment or ask a question on the blog. If you go to the bottom of each entry, click on the word Comments. A box will appear for you to enter text. If you don’t have any luck with that, just send me an e-mail.

You’ll notice that there is a lag from the time we visit a place and the date my blog appears. Because of the rough days at sea at the beginning of our trip, I got a bit behind and it takes me a while to write them. I’m finally catching up.

During our days at sea, I plan to write about life on the ship. If you have things you would like for me to address, please let me know.

Next port: Cape Town, South Africa