Swakopmund

Yesterday we walked around Swakopmund and visited a few of the sites. A quick visit to the information point set us off to get the permit required for the Welwitschia drive which we decided to do on Thursday morning on the way to our next stop, which at the moment is looking like Spitzkoppe on the road to Windhoek.

We started with the Kristall Galerie. They had the most amazing display of gemstones amongst which you will find the worlds largest quartz crystal cluster.

We did the tourist thing and visited some of the shops and craft markets. Ho-hum. It’s all same as Green Market Square and the likes. We did however have a very nice chat to the owner of Pandora’s Box. We walked down to the lighthouse to take a few pictures. Then it was up to the Snake Park where we got Piggy the Python draped over our shoulders.

I also found a shop with some German confectionery where I bought a doughnut shaped nougat thing draped in chocolate. The sugar rush was intense. I also bought a vanilla cake slice (also covered in chocolate) which had a thin layer of jam and marzipan on top. The cake was a little dry, but carrying it around all day probably did not help to ensure moistness.

After stopping at camp for lunch we went looking for a place to sandboard. We then also stopped to take pictures of the shipwreck just outside Swakopmund.

Andre went diving late afternoon and managed to catch 7 crayfish. He kept the largest one for himself and donated the rest to the UK couple camping across from us. They have been traveling through Africa for 15 months now and (like the Swiss) have a nice setup to do so from. Oh and no venture Andre ever embarks on is free from self inflicted harm. He managed to lose a part of a nail on one of his fingers while crayfishing.

I in the mean time walked the beach and the river area where I found a number of pink flamingos and other birds.

The hopes of sunset pictures from the Jetty were dashed by the sudden onset of cloud. Once they move in it starts to get cold very quickly.

Dinner was a nice spicy chicken on the coals followed by leftover nougat doughnut 🙂 We then walked down to the reef bar which is right on the beach for a quick drink. We had quite a nice chat with the bar staff and headed back to camp.