Welcome to Germany...Oh Wait, It's Swakopmund!
Sunday, August 28th: Today we left Etosha National Park and saw our last lions before heading to Swakopmund. We took all paved roads and went through Outijo and Karibib then to Swakopmund. It is a German town by the ocean with bright colored buildings. It has a strange feel to it, because the sand dunes are off in the distance. When we arrived it was cold and foggy. We didn't have a hotel booked, so we went in search of accommodation. We found a hotel called Hotel Prinzessin Rupprecht. It is an old hospital converted into a hotel. The rooms were recently updated and very nice, clean and awesome showers. They had complimentary breakfast, which was really good and had eggs, meats and cheeses, cereal, toast, tea and coffee. The had secured parking and the owners were very very nice.
Once we were checked in, we walked around town. Since in was Sunday, most shops and restaurants were closed. The hotel owner told us about the "best ice cream in town", so of course I was on a mission for ice cream. We walked down the pier and then found the ice cream place by the lighthouse. We found a german restaurant to eat dinner at and had some really good food. Jeff had a very rare zebra steak and I had beef goulash. They gave us more food than four people could have possibly eaten. Jeff really enjoyed his zebra steak.
Monday, August 29th: We headed out of Swakopmund and south to Walvis Bay. The first part of our drive was along the water. Then we headed east to Sesrium via Solitaire. This was our first experience with the gravel roads and it wasn't very fun. The roads were rocky and corregated. It took a lot longer than we planned and the roads were not what we were expecting. Our maximum spead was 50 km/hour. It took us 6 hours to go 315km. The road from Walvis Bay to Solitaire was the worst and then it got slightly better. There were graters along the sides of the roads, but the roads had definitely not been grated in awhile. On our drive we saw something orange/brown on the road. It looked like a stick. As we drove by, we saw it slithering. We turned around and saw this ugly snake that looked like a cobra. Later we found a snake book in a gas station and identified it as a Cape Cobra. It is more dangerous than a Black Mamba. We made it to Sesrium just in time for the gates to close for sunset. We were going to be here for two nights.
Travel Tidbits: Allow extra time for the gravel roads. They were not as smooth as many sites online say and can take twice as long as planned. Since the driving is rough, it will take more gas than driving on a paved road. Make sure you fill up on gas before leaving Walvis Bay, because there are no gas stations between Walvis Bay and Sesrium (Solitaire).
Once we were checked in, we walked around town. Since in was Sunday, most shops and restaurants were closed. The hotel owner told us about the "best ice cream in town", so of course I was on a mission for ice cream. We walked down the pier and then found the ice cream place by the lighthouse. We found a german restaurant to eat dinner at and had some really good food. Jeff had a very rare zebra steak and I had beef goulash. They gave us more food than four people could have possibly eaten. Jeff really enjoyed his zebra steak.
Monday, August 29th: We headed out of Swakopmund and south to Walvis Bay. The first part of our drive was along the water. Then we headed east to Sesrium via Solitaire. This was our first experience with the gravel roads and it wasn't very fun. The roads were rocky and corregated. It took a lot longer than we planned and the roads were not what we were expecting. Our maximum spead was 50 km/hour. It took us 6 hours to go 315km. The road from Walvis Bay to Solitaire was the worst and then it got slightly better. There were graters along the sides of the roads, but the roads had definitely not been grated in awhile. On our drive we saw something orange/brown on the road. It looked like a stick. As we drove by, we saw it slithering. We turned around and saw this ugly snake that looked like a cobra. Later we found a snake book in a gas station and identified it as a Cape Cobra. It is more dangerous than a Black Mamba. We made it to Sesrium just in time for the gates to close for sunset. We were going to be here for two nights.
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| Gravel Roads in Namibia |
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| Cape Cobra |
Travel Tidbits: Allow extra time for the gravel roads. They were not as smooth as many sites online say and can take twice as long as planned. Since the driving is rough, it will take more gas than driving on a paved road. Make sure you fill up on gas before leaving Walvis Bay, because there are no gas stations between Walvis Bay and Sesrium (Solitaire).
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