20250201 Seabourn Sojourn Grand Africa Cruise Day 68/96 - Walvis Bay, Namibia

Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 68/96 - Walvis Bay, Namibia - A Moonscape and 1,000-year-old plants

Today was a delayed-start kind of day as we weren't scheduled to arrive in Walvis Bay, Namibia until noon. That gave us time to look around and that paid benefits as we saw many cape seals playing in the water.

The Pelican Point Lighthouse at the end of the point in Walvis Bay

Deepsea Bolsta, a Norwegian drilling rig

Those three lifeboats sure look like they would hurt

The pilot boat, heading back after delivering the pilot to our ship

It was quite a way away, but there are lots of flamingos here, plus a bunch of cormorants on the closer structure on the right

We took a bus tour this afternoon into the Namib desert. We made three stops. The first was on the plains to view the Welwitschia mirabilis, Namibia's national plant. This plant can live for hundreds of years and nothing eats it. It spends its first century underground, eventually breaking the surface, and exposing exactly two leaves. These leaves eventually split, giving the look of more leaves. The roots can go as deep as 40m, pulling minerals and nutrients from the soil. All its moisture is absorbed by microscopic openings on the leaves during morning fog.

The plant has two varieties, one female and one male.

A female plant

The female flower - the pollen gets picked up by the wind and gets deposited all over

The male flower

A male plant

A female plant

This one was interesting

This was a pair of plants, one female, one male, that were colocated

A long pipeline that delivers fresh water

Our next stop was called Moon Landscape Viewpoint 4. We turned off the paved road and received 20 kilometers of African massage (rough dirt roads mean lots of bumps and vibrations in the bus). A large area in the Namib desert used to have a large river running through it. The valley created through erosion is a bit unworldly, hence the moon landscape reverence.

Our next stop was equally odd - a naturally occurring oasis in the middle of the canyon area, the Goanikontes Oasis Rest Camp. It was occupied by the Germans in the late 19th century into the 20th century.

There were a bunch of rusted vehicles left here

They made planters out of anything

There were severe penalties for pooping dogs

They had a lot of budgies in a cage

These two lovey-dovey budgies decided to start making more budgies

It was kind of sweet how she turned to look at him during the act

The other spectators were unimpressed

Several vitelline masked weavers were in the trees

Their nest weaving skills are impressive

This junk truck was turned into a dining area

Like I said, literally anything can be a planter

This natural green area was amazing

We boarded the bus for a return African massage back to paved roads.

Endless electrical wires

Endless freshwater pipelines

So much sand

Namibia's famous Dune 7 - it is over 250 meters high

The wind reshapes the dunes but they don't move

We arrived back at the pier and took a walk to the waterfront area to scope out our tour meeting point for tomorrow. We have an excursion that we booked privately rather than through the ship so we have to get ourselves to the meeting point.

A gull, floating at the waterfront

Having successfully found the spot, we returned to the ship to get ready for dinner.

Arlona caught a portion of a local performance, the Moscato Children's Choir, in the Grand Salon.

Arlona checked out the singers while I got the photos from today processed

We had a nice dinner in The Restaurant and then grabbed a nightcap in the Observation Bar.

The sky was lovely tonight

We have an early morning tomorrow, meeting at 8:10 at the waterfront. That means we'll need to leave the ship around 7:45 to leave a little wiggle room. That forces us to order room service so we put out an order on the doorknob tonight. Tomorrow is our last day in Namibia before six sea days.