patriciawatt

STILL CATCHING UP

Coming into Walvis Bay in Namibia  is really something.  The town is built along the water and some parts are actually below sea level.  Hence it is protected by a dike against flooding.   But most astonishing is the backdrop of the huge sand dunes and the Namibia Desert that come right up to the edge on the backside of town.  They also have one of the largest flocks of flamingoes in South Africa.

Our tour took us out to the biggest pile of sand I have ever seen.  Dune 7 – a mountain of sand over 1200 feet high.  You can climb it and slide down it and act like a kid again playing in the sand.  What fun!

The Swakop River Canyon is like a “moonscape” with unusual rock formations and a dry river bed seared into  the landscape by the

glaring sun and beautiful in the ruggedness of the area.  I saw a Welwitchia Plant that was over 1000 yers old and learned about the dollar bush so that if I ever get lost in the desert, I can survive because the little disc shaped leafs are full of water.  You could see where the animals had nibbled at the edges.  Our guide told us that no animal would ever eat the whole leaf, but would leave it for the next time or next animal.  People should behave like that. 

We drove through Swakopmund  and I saw a sign to Windhoek.  My friend Jen Snyder lived there many many moon s ago.

Interesting note.  We saw a really huge warehouse type building in Walvis Bay where they manufacture tiles.  The building was built by the Chinese and they were allowed to staff the entire operation with Chinese – hiring no locals.  I was to hear similar stories time and again throughout  our stops in Africa.