Namibia

Our first day in Namibia was a tour in a 4 x 4 through the Namib Desert.(The desert occupies an area of around 31 200 square miles, stretching about 1000 miles along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia). We had such a knowledgeable guide who pointed out firstly the Welwitschia plant which was over 500 years old - some of them live to over a 1000 years. This plant is a modified tree producing a single turnip-like stem that can be more than three feet thick and five feet tall.At first glance there seem to be many leaves, but closer inspection reveals only two, up to 10 feet in length, which split into many sections.It has a relatively short tap root but a myriad of smaller roots which radiate out for about 15 metres just below the surface. It was fascinating to see. To the south of the mountaineous desert are enormous sand dunes - just spectacular to see. Dune 7 is supposed to be the highest sand dune in the world (450 ft.) and is very popular for sandboarding. Many of the students climbed to the top which is incredibly hard as the sand is so powdery.
The lunar-like landscape of the desert comprises ancient gray granites 250 million years old intruded by younger pink granites and very often covered by black, erosion resistant, dolerite giving a contrast in colors. We also saw a melon looking fruit on a thorny bush called Narra which has a tap root extending down 30-40 meters. Toward the end of the tour in the desert, snacks and drinks were served which included fresh oysters. It was a fascinating trip.


Our second day we went out in a speedboat on the Walvis Bay Lagoon. You will see from the photos that we were regularly joined by some very friendly seals. We saw loads of flamingos and pelicans - went out to seal island where there were literally thousands of seals (very noisy ones!) It's interesting to see sleeping seals with their fins protruding from the sea. It was a fun trip where again fresh oysters were served. (Pity I don't eat oysters but Gus enjoyed my share!) On our final day we rented a car and drove through to Swakopmund (20 miles). Swakopmund City (German for "Mouth of the Swakop") is a lovely little city on the Atlantic coast of northwestern Namibia. It has a lovely beach and some wonderful German colonial architecture. We found a lovely restaurant overlooking the sea. We looked around several African markets where we met up with some students who were buying gifts to take home. We also saw some African "Himba" women who are very striking to look at because they have maintained their traditional culture and dress. The women are topless and cover their bodies with a paste made from fat and ochre.

(Some useful trivia (?) - all our tour guides were proud to tell us about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who regularly stay in Namibia and pointed out where they stayed!!!)

We are now en route to Cape Town and should arrive at 8 am tomorrow. Global Studies this morning included a great lecture from Gus on South Africa.

Photos to follow (hopefully!)