Walvis Bay is a large, very industrial port.  On my earlier visit, the ship moored alongside the wharf,  but this time we moored on a long, narrow pier that connected to the wharf.

We already cleared immigration in Lüderitz, so clearing the ship was much faster today, and people were allowed to go ashore soon after 8 am.  A shuttle bus wasn’t announced but it was available to the Dunes Mall that was a few miles away.  Walking out of the port was allowed, and the street was lined with street vendors selling various local crafts.  The shuttle bus was available but it wasn’t announced in advance in the Daily Program.  A few restaurants are along the waterfront, about a 1/2 mile walk.

We decided to take the HAL tour to Swakopmund, a small town about 22 miles north of Walvis Bay, as described below:

“Swakopmund

Departs: 10:30 AM Approximately 5 Hours Adult $179.95; Child $139.95

Depart from the pier and enjoy a short orientation tour of the fishing port of Walvis Bay, including a brief visit to the lagoon and tidal flood plains where magnificent flocks of flamingos (seasonally), pelicans and other water birds abound. From here, continue via a gravel road, stopping for photos at Dune 7 — the highest sand dune in the Walvis Bay area. You’re headed to Swakopmund, founded in 1892 and located at the mouth of the Swakop River. This is a slice of Germany on the edge of the desert — a charming seaside resort resembling a Bavarian village. Many buildings here date back to the turn of the 20th century. Enjoy a drive through the town, which is built in Art Nouveau style. Visit the Swakopmund Museum, which depicts the local history of the town and features an interesting exhibit about the various people inhabiting Namibia. Make your way to the Kristall Galerie center, displaying crystals weighing up to 14 tons, and considered the largest gallery of its kind in the world. Use your free time to browse at the Brauhaus Gallery shopping arcade in the center of town. Return to Walvis Bay via the coastal road, passing sand dunes on one side and the sea on the other”.

We left the ship around 10 am and headed to the tour buses in a large parking lot at the end of the pier.   The pier was covered with seagull guano, which many people tried to avoid, unsuccessfully.

As we left the pier, numerous vendors approached us, selling tours in small vans and taxis.  We learned we could buy the same tour on the spot for about $40 per person.  But while many of these local tours are fine, we would not be sure about the quality of the vehicle and tour until after we paid.  Many people do these last-minute tours as a routine, and they work out fine.

There were three forty-passenger buses on our tour, all very modern and relatively new.  The temperature was mild, low 70s – so we didn’t need air-conditioning.

Our first stop was the nearby Flamingo Lagoon, where we had 15 minutes to observe and photograph the hundreds of flamingos.

Continuing on, we made our next stop at Dare Devil Adventures, about halfway to Swakopmund, for a chance to photograph one of the sand dunes.  Dare Devil Adventures offers a variety of tours where you can ride quad bikes on the dunes themselves.  They will pick you up from the ship and look like a lot of fun.

We arrived in Swakopmund around noon and walked a few minutes to Kristall Galerie, the home of the World’s Largest Quartz crystal cluster on display.  There is a small museum with two adjacent gift shops selling various lovely gemstones.  One shop sold high-end jewelry, and the other sold more reasonably priced pieces.  If these stones interest you, you will probably find something you like.  We had about 30 minutes here with an option to walk back later.

For the next 25 minutes, we enjoyed a windshield tour of the city with excellent commentary from our guide Ndeshi.  NOTE:  The HAL excursion brochure offers its usual disclaimer when visiting developing countries: the guides may not be excellent, and the equipment is in poor condition.  This was not the case here, as the guides, drivers, and buses were all top-notch.

We were dropped off at 1 pm in a parking lot near the Swakopmund Museum and would have one hour and 45 minutes to explore the museum and/or more of the town.  Kristall Galerie was about 1/3 of a mile away for those who wanted to head back there for more shopping.

The museum is very nice and has a wide variety of exhibits, in excellent condition and with well-marked signs in English and a few other languages.  Various stuffed wild animals and rocks, industrial equipment, and photographs explaining the area’s history are displayed.  We were here for 30 minutes but could have easily spent an hour or more.

Afterward, we walked down a very lovely waterfront concrete boardwalk lined with various restaurants overlooking Swakopmund Beach and the South Atlantic Ocean.  We had a nice lunch at the Brewer & Butcher restaurant toward the boardwalk’s end before returning to our bus.  We left Swakopmund at about 2:50 pm and returned to the ship around 3:30 pm.

About 20 Children from the Bernhard Nordkamp Center, (BNC) located in Windhoek, Namibia, about 250 miles east of Walvis Bay, visited the ship today and performed on the World Stage at 4:15 pm.  The BNC was transformed from a soup kitchen to an educational facility in 2005 by MaryBeth Gallagher from New York.  In 2013, the ms Amsterdam called on Walvis Bay, and some passengers in contact with MaryBeth, decided it would be easier for the children from BNC to visit the ship instead of passengers traveling 5 hours each way to visit the BNC.  Henk Mensink, who remains the Hotel GM, helped facilitate the visit then and today.  Today marked the 10-year anniversary of that 2013 visit, and about ten young men and women in the group returned to visit a Holland America ship again.

The BNC Children arrived on the ship around 10 am and enjoyed the day swimming in the pool, eating ice cream, and enjoying many of the wonderful cruise ship amenities.

The performance was excellent, and afterward, the Captain presented a large check to MaryBeth for over $8,000 raised from the silent auction and cash donations.

Unlike most countries, we had to visit the Hudson room for a face-to-face Immigration departure inspection.  We had over 3 hours to complete this requirement, so the lines were never long.

Tonight in the Lido, they had a Biergarten Festival.  See the special menu below.  The dance band played 3 sets by the Lido Pool.  Attendance was light, and we missed hearing the Chicken Dance song or other Beer Hall Polkas commonly heard at such festivals.

LIDO GERMAN DINNER BUFFET

• Potato Salad
• Cabbage Salad
• Tomato Onion Salad
• Cold Cuts and Cheese Selection
• Blood Sausage, Smoked Ring Sausage, Knockwurst, Bratwurst, Boerewors
• Suckling Pig
• Sauerbraten and Dumpling
• Smoked Pork Loin or Smoked Ham
• Beer can Roasted Chicken
• Kaiser Roll, Pretzel Stick
• Sauerkraut
• Spaetzle
• Red Cabbage
• Boiled Potato
• Broccoli
• Mustard, German Mustard, Ketchup, Mayonnaise
• Berliner
• Spiced Apple Cake (apfelkuchen)
• Bavarian Crème (Bayerische Crème)
• Kaiserschmarrn (Emperor’s mess Pancake)
• Jell-O in Beer Glass for Decoration