April 1, 2023

What a wonderful day we had!  It has been on the cool side here (in the 60s) so we dressed in layers for our Seal and Pelican Adventure.  We did a similar tour 8 years ago and just loved it, so we signed up for this one on this trip.

It was a very short drive from our ship to the yacht club area where our group of 16 boarded a small boat for our trip into Walvis Bay to view the wildlife there. 

Our guides were terrific.  The best thing was how they got so excited to show us everything.  Of course, the boat captain and was very knowledgeable and got so excited to show and tell us everything. Here he is showing us the Sedgwick’s Old Brown Sherry, which, of course, we all got to drink.

Good thing we dressed in layers – but they were well equipped with warm blankets for those who needed them.  There was seating on the front and back of the boat and also under cover and we could climb the ladder to the top of the boat too, which we did for some good pictures.

A bucket of fish immediately attracted many seals (these are fur seals – their ears are on the outside of their heads) and pelicans.  They came right on and into the boat and we got amazing pictures.  I probably have hundreds but won’t post them all!  More than 3 million seals live here.  We learned that the main predator for seals is surprisingly, the seagull.  They pick on the weak or ill seals or the babies and they first peck their eyes out and then eat the rest.  There are also jackals that attack the seals and we got to see one on the shore – in the first picture.

We saw more flamingos, dolphins and all types of birds including flocks of thousands of cape cormorants. The last picture is one of thousands of terns  – we waited a while for that special sight.

We got to pet the pelicans (one got mad at me and tried to pick my sunglasses off!) and the seals and just had a great day.

On our way back to the harbor, we had sparkling wine and snacks, including the local oysters.

After we got back from the trip, we spent a short while in one of the pier side shops.  I bought two pairs of African socks.

These Himba women wanted money to have us take their picture so we obliged.

And here are two women from the shops.

As you can see, the sun came out and it warmed up nicely.  We walked back to the ship. I would highly recommend visiting Namibia.  Wonderful people and very diverse sights. 8 years ago, we had an around the world event here out in the desert – they put luminarias all up and down the dunes and it was a very special night.

Tomorrow we visit another port in Namibia, Luderitz, where we will do a walking tour.