August 24-25: Sandwich Bay in Namib-Naukluft National Park

After reluctantly leaving our desert campsite at Rock Arch, we headed to the coast and Walvis Bay for a couple of nights at an apartment and a full-day guided trip down the coast to Sandwich Bay:

We spent two nights in Walvis Bay at Windbeggars in an efficiency apartment located one block from the Bay and on the southern edge of town. It was quite a contrast from our previous desert hilltop campsite. The only thing in common was that they were both perched up high, one on a rocky hill, the other on the second floor of the building.

The main reason for coming to Walvis Bay was to see the coast, in stark contrast to the desert we just came from, pick up some new birds for Steve and Ki, and take a full-day guided safari down the coast to Sandwich Bay. But in the meantime, we learned that Walvis Bay is the only Port in Namibia and all overseas exports go through it. One interesting factoid about Walvis Bay is that it is home to the largest saltworks in the southern hemisphere, which is a major export product for the country and includes sending salt to the U.S. The table salt you are using right now might have come from this very spot. Here’s a shot of the saltworks, that involves pumping salt water from the “lagoon” into basins and then letting the water evaporate over 6-8 months, afterwhich they are left with 15-20 cm of harvestable pure salt, which they bag for truck transport to neighboring countries or put on ships for overseas export. Here’s a picture of a portion of the saltworks:

We also learned, and observed first hand, that they also mine lots of Uranium in the surrounding desert – there are 5 mines in the immediate area – and ship all of the ore to China, who, by the way, is gradually taking over, at least economically, large parts of Africa.

Sandwich Bay (or Sandwich harbour) is accessible only by 4×4 and involves traversing beach and dunes for 60 km to get there. The Bay is included within the Namib-Naukluft National Park and is designated as a RAMSAR site for the expansive shallow saltwater lagoon (that was formerly freshwater). In case you don’t recall, RAMSAR is an international treaty signed in 1971 for the protection of wetlands of international significance. The RAMSAR list currently includes over 2,500 sites across the globe, including 5 in Namibia.

Based on the descriptions of Sandwich Bay and the tours, we fully expected the tour would be focused on seeing wildlife in Sandwich Bay lagoon. Well, it turned out to be much more about the desert dune landscape – which was very welcome – but even more about the wild ride up and down the dunes at break-neck speeds, racing up a steep dune and going over the lip of the dune without being able to see the drop off before descending, or rather falling off, what felt like near vertical faces (which in reality clearly didn’t exceed the angle of repose of perhaps 35-40%). It was quite a thrilling ride that many of you (yes, I am referring to you Caitlin) would have enjoyed immensely, especially the adrenaline junkies, but others might scoff at. But rest assured that the next wind wipes away the dune tracks so the impact on the physical environment is rather negligible. Here’s a few pics of the dunes and beach drive, but there is also a little video footage (see below):

The biggest surprise was seeing the wildlife making a living in the rear dunes supporting sparse vegetation. This included gemsbok (oryx), springbok, ostrich, and black-back jackal. We also had a wonderful encounter with a Cape fur seal on the beach (see video footage). Here’s a few pics of the critters:

Here’s a short video of a cool fur seal giving himself a sand bath on the beach and some beach and dune driving:

Sandwich Bay video (4 mins)

Next stop the Naukluft Mountains en route to the famous Sussosvlei salt pan and the red sand dunes. See you there!