Pelicans, seals and flamingos

The morning cruise

The fifth morning of our trip started with an early wholesome home cooked breakfast at the guesthouse before we drove the 30 kilometres to Walvis Bay. Our half-day Dolphin and Seal Cruise started around 9 am. As the boat left the jetty, two pelicans perched themselves on the railings.

After they took a measure of the passengers on board, they grew even more friendlier and hoped down into the boat to socialise. Obviously, we were all thrilled to have such unique travel companions and scrambled around for our cameras and phones to capture the moment.

But there was more to come. Once the pelicans had left the stage, it was the turn of two seals who hopped on for the boat ride, flopped around and fed on buckets full of fish as we enjoyed our on-board coffees and the kids tried to be friends with them.

Our journey took us to the Pelican Point, where there were more seals there than pelicans. These were the Cape Fur Seals. What a noisy colony they were! And a very smelly one too. That is what I have found common in seals in all parts of the world, you can smell their strong fishy smell from about a mile away. Sadly, we did not manage to see any dolphins in this outing.

On the way back we were served a buffer spread of fresh mussels, an assortment of snacks and sparkling wine.

The Flamingos

Once back on land, we made our way to visit the flamingos at the lagoon just outside the city. Multitudes of pink flamingos stood clustered in the shallow waters hunting for food.

IB wanted to take close-up pictures of the birds, but they did not like him getting too close, so instead he managed to get shots of flying flamingos.

Sorting out practical concerns

The next steps were to sort out some practical issues. Our local phone connection would not last us through our entire stay in Namibia. So, we bought an extension to our local phone package. Then we looked around for a place to change money. At the airport we had been advised to get money changed at the bank counter. We found that within the city, the banks advised us to get the job done at the private money changers. They said the banks would be more expensive because of their high rate of commissions. Then we made our way back to our guest house, looking forward to our hot air balloon ride in the late afternoon.

The flight that almost happened

We  were picked up from our guesthouse around 4 pm in the afternoon and driven out from the town to a valley among the sand dunes. Martin, the pilot met us there with the balloon. We understood then, that it was all in the family. Jessica, with whom I had booked the flight online, was actually his mother and we had been driven to the site by his father.

There were six of us waiting to take the flight. But then the sad news happened. It seemed that the wind was not right. Martin, his family and his helpers made valiant efforts but the balloon just could not get off the ground. They finally gave up, Martin saying it was too risky to go up, he was afraid that the balloon may bump into the sand dunes and that was not safe.  A sad bunch were dropped off at our respective accommodations.

Dinner on the beach

Dinner that night was at the restaurant The Tug, which sat right on the beach near the jetty. We sat indoors as we felt it was too cold for outdoor dining. It was crowded, but we managed a table for two after a short wait. Food was good and service too. We were waited upon by a young man who was working to make money for his university studies. As we walked we wished him the very best for his future.