Sunday night we had dinner at a seafood restaurant called Tug. I had delicious fish and chips, Nick and Esther had sole and Charles had a seafood combo. Charles insisted we try the chocolate fondant for desert, and it was fantastic.
Monday morning we met Charles for breakfast at 7 and took off for our “sea safari” at 7:30. It was very chilly and I tried to layer with my warmest clothes, but I really don’t have anything that heavy or a windbreaker. We arrived at the Catamaran Tours office, and Charles collected our tickets. We saw seals and large pink-toned pelicans while we waited. We stood around about 20 minutes before they called the Silver Cloud group. (All the boats start with silver in their names. We boarded (Charles stayed on shore) and took seats at the top of the boat and then noticed that seals and pelicans had actually come on board with us.
We pulled away from the dock and were given a safety briefing by Damien, one of the 20-something crew members. He then pointed out an oil rig in the distance, saying it was not there the last few days, but now it’s back. I didn’t realize these giant rigs could be moved, but Damien said there are specialized ships that move them. They may be on a 5-year contract.
Next we saw numerous barrels arranged in rows in the water. This is an oyster farm. Pacific oysters were brought from Chile in the 1980s and cultivated here. They start them somewhere else and finish them off here. The area is ideal because of the cold Benguela current that brings lots of nutrients to this part of the Atlantic Ocean. The oysters are grown for 9 to 12 months, while in France it may take up to 3 years. The oysters are filter feeders and help clean up the ocean, unlike other types of fish farms. Damien described that there are ropes hanging vertically from the barrels, with 2 or 3 baskets attached to each rope. Each basket holds about 60 oysters. Their markets are in Asia and South Africa. Only 17% stay in Namibia. They think their oysters taste better than French ones.
We kept sailing with the pelicans and seals walking around the boat and posing for pictures. We did not especially want our photo taken with the creatures, but the crew kept feeding them fish all around us so I’m sure we are in someone’s photos. At one point Nick put his hood up and a pelican started pecking at his head. They did a lot of gross pooping and a member of the crew was constantly grabbing a mop to clean up the mess.
Next we came to a long sand bar that formed from sediments carried by the Orange River. The sand bar grows in length each year and one day will probably enclose the whole bay. We saw a lighthouse on the sand bar and a structure next to it that formerly was the lighthouse keeper’s cottage but now has been turned into a luxury hotel.
On one portion of the sandbar was a Cape Fur Seal colony. There are over 2 million seals in Namibia, and 100,000 of them live here. On one side was the “nursery” with moms and babies. The babies’ calls sound like lambs bleating. When a baby is born the mom stays for 5 or 6 days and then the mom leaves and goes hunting. When the mom returns the baby gives a unique call so the mom can locate them. On the other side of the bar, the males live with their harems of 5 to 75 females. A male will mate with up to 75 females per year. The seals here have no natural predators in the water, other than humans and pollution. On land, hyenas, jackals and seagulls (who attack babies) are their predators.
We heard of a whale sighting and sailed over. We did see a humpback briefly surface. We then left to look for dolphins. I personally did not see any but Nick said he did. We also saw a beached whale that came ashore yesterday. People had tried to get it back into the water but failed. They were going to try again at high tide today. By this time we were quite cold and the crew offered us blankets. I was the first to accept one, and soon everyone on the boat followed suit.
We were served lunch by the crew. It was fresh oysters and also some cold cooked meats and deviled eggs. I liked the raw oysters the best. Most of the guests were German and I was surprised to learn they did not know what horseradish is. They prefer black pepper and lemon on their oysters.
We returned to shore and reconnected with Charles. We browsed in a souvenir store and bought some carvings from local woodcarvers. We then returned to the hotel, and we will meet Charles for dinner later.
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