Arrived back in Windhoek a couple of days ago, just been chilling and enjoying hot/cold water, electricity, etc. Spent 20 days driving the Windhoek -> Caprivi -> Chobe -> Maun -> Okavango Delta -> Windhoek loop. I think that's now the longest continuous streak of sleeping in a tent I have now.
Lots and lots of stuff to report since Sossusvlei.
After Sossusvlei, I headed NW to the coast. Made it to Walvis Bay right as the sun was setting and found a small hotel that was pretty surprised to have a random USA#1er showing up on their doorstep. Guessing they mostly get local clients. The Namibians call the coast the Skeleton Coast because there are a ton of shipwrecks, including some that are still visible:
all those little dots are birds that have claimed it as their home. That one was a fishing vessel from Angola, according to the dudes on the beach who approached me to sell rocks as I was taking photos. I didn't buy any rocks but gave them a couple of bucks and a packet of biscuits for the history lesson. They asked for water as well but I didn't have any to spare. Felt bad about that one as they were living camped on the beach and drinking filtered seawater.
Kept heading north up the coast, stopping for some food supplies at Hentie's Bay:
which is pretty much the last real coastal town after Swakopmund.
Saw lots of rose quartz stands all the way up the coast:
where people leave a small container for your to drop your coins in after selecting the piece that you want. None of these stands were manned. Saw probably 80 of them. Didn't buy any. Just kept heading on up the salt road.
Stopped for the night at the Cape Cross Seal Reserve, which is one of the largest cape fur seal colonies in the world. Something like 200k+ seals at this point:
Live seals, dead seals, sleeping seals, fighting seals, you name it:
Some of the baby seals decided that tiny car was a good shelter:
and it took a while to convince them otherwise. As soon as I got them out from under there and backed the car away to take a final photo, they ran (hobbled? they aren't so graceful on land) right back underneath.
Made a few other stops on the coast including some other desertified sites like this abandoned oil rig:
(that's a black-backed jackal hanging out in the center)
before eventually reaching the gates to the actual Skeleton Coast Park, which look appropriate:
and continuing on for more shipwrecks and desolation.