ARRIVAL IN THE FOG

Our escorting tugboat was barely visible through the thick fog as we approached Walvis Bay early this morning.  I wouldn’t have been surprised if we stayed outside the harbor until the fog burned off.  Still, the Captain and his bridge team skillfully and safely brought us alongside the pier, arriving at 8 am.  This was a little late as we were scheduled to be cleared and going ashore by 8 am.

The ship was cleared at 8:30, and we left immediately as we had an 8:30 pick-up time for our private tour to Sandwich Harbor.

Usually, in Walvis Bay, a shuttle bus is provided to the Dunes Mall and the Waterfront area, which has some restaurants.  Today, we learned that the shuttle would only go to the Dunes Mall.  If you wanted to walk to the waterfront area, it’s a little less than a mile.

If you haven’t booked a tour here, you will always find tour operators selling tours at the end of the pier.

SANDWICH HARBOR TOURS

Sandwich Harbor, about 25 miles south of Walvis Bay, is a very popular destination.  The trip requires using four-wheel-drive vehicles, and if the tide is low, you can have a great time running on the smooth sand.  Otherwise, you will have to go up and down the dunes away from the beach and may not have enough time for the round trip.

There are several companies offering tours.  We chose the half-day option for $135 with Sandwich Dune Tours – HERE.

HAL offers the identical tour for about $500.  In 2023, the HAL tour was $229.  If you are interested in this tour, you may be able to use the HAL best price guarantee.  I asked onboard about the reason for the huge price difference, and they didn’t have a good explanation.

The Sandwich Dune Tour is listed as starting at 8 am, and since we arrived at 8 am, this could have been a problem.  But the company assured me they would pick us up at the pier at 8:30 and wait if necessary.  They were very responsive to emails, and I recommend using them.

Our driver was waiting for us, with my name on a sign.  We piled into his Toyota Fortuner 4 x 4 and headed off to their nearby office, where we were joined by another guest from the ship.  There would be three guests in our Fortuner and four in the other Fortuner.

Here is a video of our excursion

HEADING SOUTH TO SANDWICH HARBOR

Our two Fortuners headed south, and after a few miles, we drove off the road and onto the sand of the Namib-Naukluft National Park.  We stopped to let air out of our tires, reducing the pressure from 29 PSI to 11 PSI.  This increased the surface area of the tires, increasing traction and improving ride quality and handling.

When we started, the tide was low, which allowed us to drive on the smoother sand above the surf and make good time.  After a few miles, we stopped to take some pictures and use an outhouse toilet — this would be the only toilet on the trip.

We continued south until the sand dunes met the sea where we turned inland and climbed up the dunes until we reached the summit with an amazing view of Sandwich Harbor to the south.

We were trailing many other tours, including the seven vehicles on the HAL tour, which were already on the summit when we arrived.  They left after a few minutes, and we had the dunes all to ourselves.

Heading back down, we swooped down one dune and then back up another, where we stopped for our mid-morning snack.  The snack turned out to be an elaborate mini buffet with sparkling wine, beer, and soft drinks, along with chicken tenders, ribs, fish, red velvet cake, and more.

HEADING BACK TO WALVIS BAY

After about 10 minutes, we headed back north.  This time, we drove up and down the steep dunes.  Our driver, Hans, would stop at the top of one dune, then accelerate down, slaloming across the sand into the valley while picking up enough speed to carry us up on the other side, where we would stop and repeat down the next dune.  We probably did this ten times on the way back before we ran out of dunes and were back on the beach.  The water was closer this time as the tide was coming in as we raced back toward Walvis Bay.

After we were back in Walvis Bay, we headed over to Flamingo Beach, where we spent a few minutes observing the flamingos and taking some pictures.

BACK ON THE SHIP

About seventy children from Namibia’s Bernard Nordkamp Center (BNC) from Windhoek, Namibia, spent the day aboard the Zuiderdam enjoying the pool and ice cream.  At 3 pm, the children performed various songs for a capacity crowd on the World Stage.  After the performance, Hotel General Manager Henk and Captain Friso presented a check for $16,000 to the director of the BNC, MaryBeth Gallagher.  The $16,000 was raised on the ship with the silent auction held a few days ago and supplemental cash donations.

Here is what the BNC center is all about from their website:

The BNC endeavors to compensate for the failings of the Namibian public education system by providing education subsidy to motivated grade 1 to 7 students. The 170 children who attend the BNC receive extra classes in maths and English (reading and writing) as well as homework assistance. There are additional classes offered in music, dance, sports, drama and visual arts.

As the performance was closing, the ship’s PA system announced “Mooring Emergency”.  The Captain and Henk quickly left.  We learned later that high winds started to push the ship away from the pier, creating too much tension on the mooring lines.  The bridge team turned on the bow thrusters to keep us pushed against the pier.

WORLD STAGE

Instrumentalist Gary Sletcher was the headliner on the World Stage this evening.  He played the saxophone and sang a variety of African songs.