Beyond Hearing Loss: NAMIBIA PART 6: "SEA AND SAND

HERE I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU MY PICS OF THE NAMIB DESERT AND THE NAMIBIAN WEST COAST FROM HENTIES BAY TO WALVIS BAY.

WE WENT TO SWAKOPMUND AND WALVIS BAY A FEW TIMES. THE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN ON DECEMBER 24TH WHEN WE DID SOME SHOPPING IN SWAKOPMUND AND PAID A BRIEF VISIT TO WALVIS BAY. BEING THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS THE SHOPS WERE CROWDED WITH LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS AND IT WAS HARD TO FIND PARKING SO AGAIN THE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN WHILE DRIVING.

FIRST SOME ABOUT THE NAMIB…(WIKIPEDIA INFORMATION)

THE NAMIB DESERT IS UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST SPECTACULARLY BARREN AND MYSTERIOUS ENVIRONMENTS. IN NAMIBIA, TWO LARGE PARKS ENCOMPASS MUCH OF THE NAMIB: SKELETON COAST PARK, IN THE NORTH, AND NAMIB-NAUKLUFT NATIONAL PARK, IN THE SOUTH.

THE NAME NAMIB IS OF NAMA ORIGIN AND MEANS "VAST PLACE". ACCORDING TO THE BROADEST DEFINITION, THE NAMIB STRETCHES FOR MORE THAN 2,000 KILOMETRES (1,200 MI) ALONG THE ATLANTIC COASTS OF ANGOLA, NAMIBIA, AND SOUTH AFRICA, EXTENDING SOUTHWARD FROM THE CARUNJAMBA RIVER IN ANGOLA, THROUGH NAMIBIA AND TO THE OLIFANTS RIVER IN WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA.

FROM THE ATLANTIC COAST EASTWARD, THE NAMIB GRADUALLY ASCENDS IN ELEVATION, REACHING UP TO 200 KILOMETRES (120 MI) INLAND TO THE FOOT OF THE GREAT ESCARPMENT.

ANNUAL PRECIPITATION RANGES FROM 2 MILLIMETRES (0.079 IN) IN THE MOST ARID REGIONS TO 200 MILLIMETRES (7.9 IN) AT THE ESCARPMENT, MAKING THE NAMIB THE ONLY TRUE DESERT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.

HAVING ENDURED ARID OR SEMI-ARID CONDITIONS FOR ROUGHLY 55-80 MILLION YEARS, THE NAMIB IS ALSO THE OLDEST DESERT IN THE WORLD. THE DESERT GEOLOGY CONSISTS OF SAND SEAS NEAR THE COAST, WHILE GRAVEL PLAINS AND SCATTERED MOUNTAIN OUTCROPS OCCUR FURTHER INLAND.

THE SAND DUNES, SOME OF WHICH ARE 300 METRES (980 FT) HIGH AND SPAN 32 KILOMETRES (20 MI) LONG, ARE THE SECOND LARGEST IN THE WORLD AFTER THE BADAIN JARAN DESERT DUNES IN CHINA.

TEMPERATURES ALONG THE COAST ARE STABLE AND GENERALLY RANGE BETWEEN 9–20 °C (48–68 °F) ANNUALLY, WHILE TEMPERATURES FURTHER INLAND ARE VARIABLE—SUMMER DAYTIME TEMPERATURES CAN EXCEED 45 °C (113 °F) WHILE NIGHTS CAN BE FREEZING. FOGS THAT ORIGINATE OFFSHORE FROM THE COLLISION OF THE COLD BENGUELA CURRENT AND WARM AIR FROM THE HADLEY CELL CREATE A FOG BELT THAT FREQUENTLY ENVELOPES PARTS OF THE DESERT. COASTAL REGIONS CAN EXPERIENCE MORE THAN 180 DAYS OF THICK FOG A YEAR.

DURING OUR VISIT THERE WAS FOG ALMOST EVERY DAY WHICH ALSO HAD AN IMPACT ON MY PHOTOS NOT BEING ALL THAT COLORFUL BUT I DID NOT EDIT ("PHOTOSHOP") THE PHOTOS SINCE I LIKE THEM AS THEY ARE SHOWING WHAT THE ENVIRONMENT REALLY LOOKS LIKE. THE FOG MOSTLY OCCURS AS A THICK BANK OVER THE OCEAN STRETCHING INTO THE DESERT AND LIFTING SOMEWHAT LATER IN THE DAY.

SWAKOPMUND AND WALVISBAY LIES IN THE SOUTHERN NAUKLUFT PARK.

NAMIBIA'S SOUTHERN COASTAL PARK IS ENORMOUS, MEASURING ALMOST 20,000 SQ. MILES (50,000 SQ. KM.) AND ENCOMPASSING A WIDE VARIETY OF DIFFERENT DESERT ENVIRONMENTS.

SWAKOPMUND (GERMAN FOR "MOUTH OF THE SWAKOP") IS A CITY ON THE COAST OF NORTHWESTERN NAMIBIA, 280 KM WEST OF WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA'S CAPITAL. (MORE ABOUT THIS CUTY WITH ITS GERMAN ARCHITECTURE IN THE NEXT BLOG)

DRIVING TO SWAKOPMUND WE HAD OUR FIRST CLOSE VIEW OF THE HUGE SAND DUNES. FOR ME IT WAS AWESOME SEEING THE DUNES EVEN THOUGH WE DID NOT GO TO SOSSUSVLEI FURTHER SOUTH WHERE THE LARGEST DUNES OF THE NAMIB IS FOUND.

WE HAD SOME ENCOUNTERS WITH SAND LOL THE FIRST TIME WE GOT STUCK RIGHT AT THE GARAGE DOOR OF THE HOUSE WHERE WE STAYED AND KALIE HAD SOME PROBLEMS GETTING OUT OF THE SAND WITH THE HELP OF A MAN FROM THE STREET WITH A SPADE .

WELL IT WAS AT THIS DUNE, RIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT OF AN ADVENTURE CENTRE THAT WE GOT STUCK IN THE SAND FOR THE SECOND TIME. FORTUNATELY THERE WERE FRIENDLY GUYS HELPING OUT.

NOTE THAT 4X4 VEHICLE COMING DOWN THAT DUNE...

OUR FRIENDLY HELPERS

CONTRASTS ALWAYS FACINATE ME AND I COULD NOT RESIST ALSO TAKING A PIC OF THE KOIPOND AT THE ADVENTURE CENTRE . IT LOOKED SOMEWHAT OUT OF PLACE AMONG ALL THE SAND.

THE NAMIB IS ALMOST COMPLETELY UNINHABITED BY HUMANS. HOWEVER, OWING TO ITS ANTIQUITY, THE NAMIB MAY BE HOME TO MORE ENDEMIC SPECIES THAN ANY OTHER DESERT IN THE WORLD.

THE DRY CLIMATE OF THE NAMIB REFLECTS THE ALMOST COMPLETE LACK OF BODIES OF WATER ON THE SURFACE. MOST RIVERS FLOW UNDERGROUND AND/OR ARE DRY FOR MOST OF THE YEAR, AND EVEN WHEN THEY ARE NOT, THEY USUALLY DRAIN INTO ENDORHEIC BASINS, WITHOUT REACHING THE SEA. THE SWAKOP AND THE OMARURU ARE THE ONLY RIVERS THAT OCCASIONALLY DRAIN INTO THE OCEAN.

INTERACTION BETWEEN THE WATER-LADEN AIR COMING FROM THE SEA VIA SOUTHERLY WINDS, SOME OF THE STRONGEST OF ANY COASTAL DESERT, AND THE DRY AIR OF THE DESERT CAUSES IMMENSE FOGS AND STRONG CURRENTS. IT CAUSES SAILORS TO LOSE THEIR WAY; THIS IS TESTIFIED BY THE REMNANTS OF A NUMBER OF SHIPWRECKS THAT CAN BE FOUND ALONG THE SKELETON COAST.

ON THE POSITIVE SIDE THE FOG FROM THE OCEAN PROVIDES THE MAIN SOURCE OF MOISTURE FOR THE RARE DESERT PLANTS AND ANIMALS.

THE WELWITCHIA IS A WORLD FAMOUS ENDEMIC DESERT PLANT THAT I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEE BUT BY THE TIME WE WANTED TO GO ON A DESERT TOUR THE TOUR AGENCY WAS CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS. WELWITSCHIA MIRABILIS IS A SHRUB-LIKE PLANT AND ACTUALLY AN UNDERGROUND TREE. IT GROWS ONLY TWO LONG STRAP-SHAPED LEAVES CONTINUOUSLY THROUGHOUT ITS LIFETIME. THESE LEAVES MAY BE SEVERAL METERS LONG, GNARLED AND TWISTED FROM THE DESERT WINDS. THE TAPROOT OF THE PLANT DEVELOPS INTO A FLAT, CONCAVE DISC IN AGE. WELWITSCHIA IS NOTABLE FOR ITS SURVIVAL IN THE EXTREMELY ARID CONDITIONS IN THE NAMIB, MOSTLY DERIVING MOISTURE FROM THE COASTAL SEA FOGS.