No Fixed Abode: Welwitschias….what?

Sun 26 Jun 2016 - Welwitschia Drive and Walvis Flamingos

Unfortunately, early this morning the house alarm was set off and, whilst we stayed in our room, we heard a bit of a racket going on downstairs but we soon realised it was some other guests arriving home after a good Saturday night out. Now awake we were able to make use of the good internet here before everyone else logged. As Roxy cooked us breakfast she apologised for the disturbance but confirmed the house alarm was essential. She produced the local paper with a piece regarding a recent break in, robbery and murder of a dad to a local family. Apparently, what has incensed the community is that after the capture of 2 of the 6 men it transpired they were on bail following three previous incidents of attempted murder. Reflecting on this we considered if this is a one off incident or the future of Namibia.

Roxy had advised us it is unseasonably warm an indication of a possible sandstorm over the next couple of days and as we headed out of Walvis Bay town the wind was blowing quite strongly from the east across the desert dunes to whip up the sand, blowing it across the main road. We considered turning back but decided to head on further to Swakopmund town, which is Namibia’s main beach resort and extreme sports destinations, and, if necessary, hunker down there. As we entered the town the wind dropped and our anxieties were diffused.

We headed down the C24 to Dorob NP to see one of Namibia’s most unusual plants, the Welwitschia. They are only found here and reach their greatest concentration on the Welwitschia Plains east of Swakopmund, where they are the dominant plant. As we turned off the main road we commenced on what is known as Welwitschia Drive (think even more gravel dirt track roads though) and within a short distance started to spot these dishevelled appearing plants. They have only two long and leathery leaves, which grow from opposite sides of a corklike stem then darken with years of sun and are torn by the wind into tattered strips, causing the plant to look like a wilted lettuce. Their growth rate is very slow and it is believed the largest ones, whose tattered masses of stripped leaves are up to 2m, may have been growing for up 2000 years, no typo here, two thousand years! The mid sized ones are thought to be less than 1000 years old and they don’t even flower until they are 20 years old. We cruised down the drive stopping every 50m or so to walk across the sand and investigate these strange plants and deciding we’d seen enough we continued on heading towards the distant mountains. Suddenly the sand stopped and we were making an ascent across sandstone boulders with a black seam running through them and the mountainside riddled with white sparkling quartz. We spotted a small sign pointing to a camping site, basically an area of the same of terrain but with a long drop loo hidden behind a cobbled together wooden frame. Who would camp out here?!

The drive returned back to the arid desert and we soon realised we were in the Welwitschia area proper. Here they were prolific and very large, putting the earlier plants in the shade (well not out here!). Several were either about to flower or spread their seeds, both looking dried and burnt. Wandering about these plants not only the sun but also the wind was hot and we were on the wane getting dried lips and dehydrated and decided to head back via the road that passes Dune 7. This dune is popular with the locals for sandboarding and skiing and used to have a picnic site which is now engulfed by sand. Both locations had no signs of human life so our desire to have a go at skiing was quashed, we forgot it was Sunday.

Arriving back at Walvis Bay we headed along the esplanade and waterfront area in search of its unique natural attraction, one of the largest flocks of flamingos in the whole of Southern Africa, where we spotted a small congregation but, as Walvis has 3 wetland areas, we headed off to the The Lagoon. Unintentionally we had timed our arrival immaculately as the tide was coming in and the birds were wading in along the shallow tidewater. Here were enormous noisy flocks of lesser and greater flamingos distinguishable by their colouration. Greater ones are white to light pink with whitish beaks with black tips and Lesser ones are a deeper pink, nearly reddish colour with dark red beaks. We soon realised the Greater ones feed by rotating in a circle stamping their feet to entice something up from the mudflats, looking as if they were dancing from one leg to another. Lesser ones were sweeping their heads from side to side filtering the algae. As well as feeding many were washing and preening vigorously and their white feathers created what looked liked foam on the incoming tide. Yvonne managed to select a few pink edged feathers as mementos, sufficiently lightweight to carry around.

We sat and watched the flock for a very long while using our binoculars to spot many other birds scouring the mudflats before the tide engulfed them and before we knew it the sun was setting and the flamingos were raising one leg and laying the long necks across their backs in readiness for sleep. Eagerly we dashed back to the car to visit the Salt Flats and as we arrived outside the factory the salt mountains were glowing with an orange hue - yet again we watched a beautiful South African sunset.

Back at Roxy’s the other (noisy) guests had departed meaning we were the only guests in the house and as soon as Yvonne entered the kitchen Roxy arrived for a quick chat and before we knew it a couple of hours had passed by, enabling Glenn, with a decent internet service to Skype Scottie and see cutey Cody Jay Jarvis. Not long now to wait until we get to give him a great big cuddle back home.