words from the world

Back to the seaside where we keep on driving northwards. From the both sides of the tropic of Capricorn virtual line the animals goes on flocking to greet our visit. The sympathetic meerkat and the superb gemsbok are like shooting stars that illuminate our route. The vegetation little by little becomes scarce. The desert have taken back its land when we arrive at Walvis Bay.




We won't stay a long time in this uninteresting town. We however stop at the dune marked number 7 to devote oneself to the joys of quadbiking. With incredible gliding and skid feelings on the dunes.

As soon as we finished the quadbiking, we head for Swakopmund, the Namibian capital city for the sand- and desert-related activities. At the entrance of the city, the carcass of an old ship – the Kolmanskop – is lying on the rocks. The foam licks the hull. A boat among the others which ran aground on this frighteningly coastline over the centuries. The regular mist, strong onshore currents, sandy shallows and false luminous signals set by the miners are the factors the sailors had to make the best with to move along the Namibian shore. The numerous ships that perished in this part of Africa coined the name of this coast which is henceforth called the Skeleton coast.




After visiting Cape Cross then the scenic flight over the Namib desert (which will be the subject of my 2 next posts), we go again for a « glide session » on the sand dunes. And this time, it will be sandboarding. Exhausting and endless climb up the dune. On foot, the board wedged on the back. At the top, we coat the board with wax, we face the slope before dashing forward for a set of falls. The Namibian sand doesn't have a very good taste...