Namibia post

Walvis Bay is a deep-water port and that makes it possible for large ships like the Amsterdam to visit. The ocean currents in the South Atlantic keep the coastline of Namibia extremely dry. For example, Walvis Bay receives only two inches of rain per year on average. In the photos below, you will see giant sand dunes that line the coast to the north and south of the city and these dunes extend eastward into the Namib Desert that makes up 1/3 of the nation of Namibia. Tom and Steve enjoyed exploring the dunes in a 4X4 vehicle with other cruisers and we had a champagne picnic with shrimp and calamari and other seafood. We spotted Springbok (antelope), seals and lizards, plus we saw tracks left by jackals and hyenas, both of which mostly hunt the desert after dark. And we delighted in seeing some of the nearly 65,000 flamingos that inhabit the shoreline most of the year. This made Walvis Bay an interesting place for us to visit before we sailed away to the west into the Atlantic Ocean towards two even more remote islands that will be part of our next post.