May 9th - At sea
Our first real day At Sea day brought us massive swells and people waddling around as if they had downed a few too many drinks... pretty rough seas. We just lazed around and headed to watch an afternoon movie (The Book Thief)... we got all gussied up for the first formal night. Switching to the 8 o'clock dinner seating, seemed to be much better... more time to enjoy the day and then have a pre-dinner cocktail before heading to dinner... lovely meal and great wait staff (Janos and Marta)
May 10th - Luderitz, Namibia - Kolmannskuppe
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| Early morning- first sight of Namibian coast |
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| Coming in to harbor |
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| Pilot guiding us through |
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| Our first port of call - Luderitz Namibia |
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| Walled graveyard in desert |
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| Like a moonscape |
We woke to blue skies and a view of Luderitz, Namibia, as we backed the ship into dock. We had breakfast on our balcony. After immigration clearance which took an hour, we headed off to Kolmannskuppe... a ghost town from the diamond era.(1908- 1928) While there are still diamonds in the area, bigger finds further afield resulted in this town being deserted in the mid 1900's ... it is quite eerie to see the homes and Main Street being taken over by the desert sands. We tried to imagine such extreme wealth where all water was brought in by rail sufficient to support a town of 1,300 people complete with ice making factory, butchery and bakery. Much of the tile work and machinery came direct from Germany ...delivery 9-12 weeks! The biggest house was owned by the shop keeper!!!! Life in this pure, arid desert was certainly not easy.
We had a quick walk through the town on the way to the ship ...it is very dry and dusty, makes Arizona seem like the wetlands. On board for a light lunch and spent the afternoon updating the blog after watching the sail away.
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| And here we are - Middle of nowhere!! |
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| The sand taking over ghost town |
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| Two ghosts in the ghost town! |
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| Skittle-alley.. remnants of a vibrant German town |
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| Poser.!! Homes deserted around 1950 |
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| Sand taking over |
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| Shopkeeper's House |
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| Desert Landscape.. bath anyone? |
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| Outside Mine manager's home |
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| Inside mine manager's home |
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| Beautiful exotic wood floors under the sand |
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| Reflection in Police building back in Luderitz |
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| Monkeying around |
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| Our cabin, right-hand side of very centre. |
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| Leaving Luderitz |
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| Late. but welcome, birthday celebration onboard |
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| Walking track as we leave Luderitz |
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| Panning from balcony |
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| Colourful town indeed |
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| Bye Luderitz - Next Stop - Walvis bay |
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