We had to make an early start as today we had to drive from Swakopmund to Etosha…roughly 600 km. Did we get an early start? No. We woke up around 8, had a nice breakfast while planning our travels and readied our music collection. We knew we had to drive north so that was a start. We found out that the C34 was our road and it took us up the Skeleton Coast. It has come to be known as the Skeleton Coast due to pirates that inhabited the area during the 15th century. You see, these pirates loved building sand castles and the coast had a ton of sand. Due to the high salt content in the sand the castles were able to withstand centuries of mother nature’s abuse. Today, some small mounds of sand remain where once whole sand castle cities used to flourish. It’s pretty amazing. Now, if you believed what I just told you then you should also know that if you donate $50 to me right now then one of your wishes will come true. For each additional $50, another wish will come true.

So the Skeleton Coast is really named that because there is nothing there. Rock and sand. It’s a bit unsettling to drive through, but nevertheless a site to see. We decided to take a detour to see the Cape Cross Seal Colony. We paid the tourist fee and arrived at the coast. Thousands and thousands of smelly, cape fur seals were there to happily greet us with their goat-like cries. It might not seem like a big deal, but this was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I could have happily spent many days there just watching how their colony works, but we had some elephants and lions to see….besides, the gates to the park close at sun down and we had quite a drive ahead of us.

After a little back tracking we were on our way to Khorixas.  I don’t think we could have seen more nothing if we had asked for it, however it was strangely appealing.  The tricky thing with having no end is sight is trying to keep your speed down on the gravel roads.  This all becomes easier when you go over 100km/h and the tail of your truck starts to swerve a bit after hitting some rough patches.

Shannon got her first taste of the real Namibia in the small town of Uis as we stopped for some much needed bread and fake cheese.  You can pick up some nice colored crystals there if you were wondering what there is to do in Uis.

Outside Khorixas we stumbled upon the tar roads again and sailed smoothly to our final destination in Etosha some hours later.  It was a long drive, not filled with much excitement, but sometimes that’s just the way things go.

After a nice, relaxing morning in Walvis Bay we decided to take things up a notch…at least our travel agent felt like we should. Next up was Desert Explorers ATV excursions. Shannon and I started things off right with a bag of Mild Chili and Sour Cream Doritos and a can of Fanta, oh yeah. We were given our extremely white and large helmets and laughs followed. We were given the choice of ATV type: Baby Bear, Mama Bear and Totally Sweet Papa Bear editions. Shannon naturally moved to the choice of wussing out Baby Bear style while I moved to the extreme. Apparently, she chose the small version due to her small hands…or so she tells me. (I only write this because she’s sitting right to next me)  I may be embellishing a bit, but you get the idea.

The trip was an hour long, which was more than enough, and we went out into the sand dunes. It was actually a prettty good time, but the older people on the trip made it difficult to go as fast as I wanted.  Who slows down when they are going down a giant sand dune, honestly?

The views were great but something was lost by riding around on a motor vehicle.  Still a good time.  I think next time I’ll bring my mog, an android and a princess.

On our return trip from the Mola Mola Dolphin cruise we couldn’t help but be amazed by the sand dunes. So what else could we do but go and climb them? Nothing is the answer, so climb them we did. Climbing sand dunes is harder than it looks. (see video) The view at the top was well worth the huffing and puffing. The best part was running down the sand dune, I highly suggest you try this if for no other reason than to just say that you did…just don’t forget your comb like we did.

A short drive south of Swakopmund is Walvis Bay. The drive is ocean on one side and desert on the other.  Thanks to the helpful ‘Sand’ sign, we knew we were surrounded by sand and not brown sugar.

I’m still wondering why anyone would ever build a town here.  While I pondered life’s mysteries we arrived in the industrial town of Walvis Bay.  It’s not the prettiest of places from what I could tell, but was home to the Mola Mola Dolphin Cruise.  I’m not sure why I let our tour guide talk us into this, but I figured it’d be something different and besides they promised oysters and champagne.  We arrived early and were able to enjoy a drink by the bay as we marveled at that size of the pelicans.  They’re much cleaner than their American relatives and about twice as big…a little pink too.

We set off aboard the Gambit around 9am and really didn’t know what to expect other than champagne and oysters.  I was naturally a little afraid of seasickness, but calm waters all around were a good sign.  Our guide for the day, Wally, began his schpeel in both English and German (i think).  He informed us that we’d be taking a tour around the bay and having some seals on the boat.  Ok…so we’re thinking they just sit on the back or something.

First up we were entertained to pelicans eating from Wally’s hand as the boat was moving.  He’d whistle up a storm and they’d all come in hoards.  Pretty cool, but not that cool for those that got pooped on.  I would save that for myself until later.

Next up were some seals.  They stopped the boat, opened the back gate, everyone stood on the perimeter of the boat leaving the middle seating area open and onboard came a seal by the name of Googles. He came all the way on the boat and quickly made ready for some fish.  This was pretty great and completely unexpected.  We were able to feel the seal’s hair and how it was dry underneath.  We could see the nails it had on its flippers that it used to scratch itself.  We were loving every second of it and I quickly spotted a second seal about to board and noticed it was a bit bigger.  In fact, it was way bigger! (see video)  Robby was his name and he brushed Googles aside as it was his turn to shine.  I felt a little like Jeff Corwin as I repeatedly said the same thing over and over again in sheer amazement…’Look how big it is.’  Robby spent the rest of the time posing for photos with Shannon, pushing people around, including me, and not wanting to get off the boat.  Fun times with Robby.

Because there is so much to tell and the rest isn’t too important I’d like to make some highlighting comments.  We saw a seal colony, learned about the oyster industry in Walvis Bay, saw some dolphins as we braved the waters outside of the bay (i did not get sick thank you very much), were treated to the sights of a guano platform built by an ingenious man and finished with our champagne and oysters.  The seal colony was a hoot because if you’ve never heard a seal before they sound a little like a sick goat…so basically hysterical.  Shannon and I made our best impressions. (see video)  The oysters were delicious, which is something I never thought I’d say, but nevertheless were great with some tabasco and champagne to wash them down.

The three hour boat ride was definitely one of the highlights of our trip and would recommend it to anyone as a must on your journey around Namibia.  The afternoon we had some ATV riding to do in the desert so we’ll see if that can match the dolphin cruise.