Africa Final Chapter: Swakopmund
After the trek, we swiftly headed back to Johannesburg to fly back into Namibia (after a quick scare where our ride was over an hour late). We made it back, grabbed another car and drove a few hours to Christine abode to pack for a week in Swakopmund. Swakop is to Namibia (and a lot of Germans) what Cape Cod is to East Coasters. Pretty much a solid vacation spot with a beach, good food, and a quaint-ish atmosphere.
The next day we drove 6 hours to the Skeleton Beach Backpackers hostel in Swakopmund. This was the ‘relaxing’ week, so we toned it down a bit and used each day to explore around. The town of Swakopmund is vastly different from the rest of Africa, due to the large amount of German tourism, so I wanted the pics in this post to reflect that. Coffee shops, breweries, book stores, modern houses, etc. It was a nice place to end the trip. Thanks for checking out the blog posts, looking forward to the next random adventure of DanVsWorld. I’m sure it will be somewhere obscure.
Dubbed, “Meow Meow”, this cat tried to follow us to dinner a few times.
Dune 7 is outside of Walvis Bay, a 30 minute drive from Swakopmund. It is the northern tip of the large Namib Desert and a cool spot to check out.
Christine’s sand angel.
The beach was extremely rocky, so only specific confined areas of beach were hotspots for swimming.
Modern housing for vacation homes. There were extremely fancy houses 30 minutes away in Walvis Bay.
Food truck. But it was stationary, so nut really a food truck.
Cappuccinos and Civ V. Not much more you could ask for. Except for maybe stronger WiFi.
One of many coffee shops.
A fine tea shop. They had books, games, and a lounge area where you could order a pot, then chill for a bit.
Tea time.
German and Afrikaans tourists as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of racism between the white Afrikaaners and black native Namibians. The legacy of the Apartheid.
The museum of Swakopmund was worth the visit. A lot of German history here. In fact, in the early 1900s the first ever concentration camps were setup in Namibia.
And I will end this blog series with this wonderful woman selling rocks and minerals gathered from the local Uranium and rock mines near Swakopmund. Yup, massive Uranium mines right down the street. Family fun.
So nicely done. Love Christine and the the kitty pic and final picture of the woman selling rocks. All great — oh and sand dunes, amazing.
I just noticed the two of you in mirror in this last picture. So nice!
The uranium mines had monthly tours, family fun indeed!