Now we're camping in style!

We were up early Sunday morning. We knew we had a 320 km (200 mile) drive to do, and it was all on dirt roads! Plus, we were headed for the seaside town of Swakomund and we wanted to get there early enough to enjoy the afternoon there as we only have two more days in the area.

We hit the road by 7:20am.

We drove through Damaraland. In the first two hours of driving we think we only saw 4 or 5 other vehicles.

An old abandoned vehicle. Somebody probably still lives in the shack.

A craft market?

We passed a lot of little craft market stalls along the roadside where the locals are trying to make a little cash from the tourists. We think that very few of them are successful. 

320 kms (200 miles) of dirt roads!

The dirt road driving was actually not too bad. We tried to stick around 80 km/h (50 mph). The speed limit is actually 100 km/h (62 mph) but we think that would be a little unsafe and certainly hard on the vehicle. Maybe that's why we saw so many damaged tires at the side of the road.

Watch for elephants on the road! We didn't see any yesterday though.

However we did see a martial eagle sitting on a pole posing for us!

The martial eagle is the largest eagle in Africa, with a wingspan between 6 and 8 feet. Their numbers are apparently declining and it's status is listed as "near threatened" as a species. We were lucky to see one!

We finally made it to the coast. This south Atlantic area of Namibia is known as the "Skeleton Coast" due to the number of shipwrecks in the area. On average, there are 180 days per year where the coast experiences thick fog and ships have a very difficult time with this!

We drove by the wreck of the "Zeila" which was only beached in 2008.

Made it into Swakopmund (pop 44,000) just before noon. We had driven nonstop other than a couple of photo opportunities, and we made pretty good time. We drove all the way through to the other side of town and arrived at the Alte Bruke Resort...where we got set up on our "luxury" campsite!

What a change from the day before. Now we're camping in style!

All grass sites, well manicured with trees and flowers. And each campsite has it's own patio and fancy braii (bbq) grill. And, your own private bathroom and shower. We're here for three nights and we're going to enjoy it!

And, we're back to having a great internet signal! 

We went for a walk around town and checked out the sights. Went into a few of the major grocery stores and just walked around checking out prices. Found a deal on beer! They are large 750 ml bottles for N$12 each which is the equivalent of around $14 for 24 regular size bottle in Canada. Also went to a hardware store where I was able to buy the supplies necessary for our fridge problem. We won't know for sure if it works until we set out driving again on Thursday.

There is a large jetty here that sticks out into the rough ocean. Interesting to take a walk out there because the waves were so large that sometimes the water would splash up when it hits the concrete supports. Lots of fun.

The seaside town of Swakopmund.

In the distance, you can see the large sand dunes along the highway between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.

Taken from the Swakopmund Pier.

Guess who?

We've been in contact with an American couple who are currently renting an apartment in Swakopmund, and they've invited us over for dinner tonight! Really looking forward to meeting Bobbi and KC. they have a blog at http://goal42.wordpress.com/.