We'll Always Have Swakopmund, 1

We were three nights at Swakopmund, on Namibia's coast, aka the Skeleton Coast of Africa. We had been looking forward to this since, a) it included our first "day at leisure" on the trip, b) it was on the Atlantic coast, something I had been curious about, and c) it was a break in the awful roads and driving. Swakopmund itself goes back a hundred years or more (!), and we speculated d) there might be something interesting art nouveau architecture there, too.

The Alte Brucke resort, where we stayed; alas, I did not take any
pix of the "campsites," which were utterly unique in our
experience: each site had its own little building, complete with
bath, cooking area and sink, plus water, electricity; even a safe 

This was as close to art nouveau as we got; there was some
German "colonial," but most of the Swakopmund we saw looked
like a nascent Ft. Lauderdale, condos, beachy, ultra modern

Scenes walking about town

Safari truck with AC; this is how some tour the area

They loved their Kaiser (did I mention Namibia was a German
colonial possession (prior to WWI))?

Nicely landscaped

And a sense of humor

How others tour: a 4WD rental, tents on top and an aluminum
topper

One of the better cell tower trees

Old lighthouse; lots of wrecks on this coast

Beach warning

Too rough and too cold (15 degrees C)

Post-colonial architecture

More warnings: no hubbly bubbly!

Playground and city museum beyond; we demurred

To our eyes, the town appeared mostly white and affluent; the
others lived in these housing projects way south of town

Miles of optimistic landscaping on the road to Walvis Bay;
did I mention that the land meeting the ocean is nothing but
sand? The Namib desert?

Swakopmund pier; and beach; well, desert

On The Road To Swakopmund

It was 500k from Etosha to Swakopmund, on the Atlantic. Only about 300 miles, but, because of the deteriorating roads, it took the better part of 3 excruciating days. And this was just the beginning...

Termite mounds...towers, actually...plus surely our last baibob tree ("don't call
me Shirley")

Compound fenced and decorated entirely with dead tires

The road goes ever on and on, but, alas, the pavement doesn't

This IS Nam, and there are rules...the vehicular designation for Namibia is NAM...
confusing and perhaps troubling for Americans, but it is what it is; and there are
rules

Geographical update; we're up in the upper left-hand corner now, maybe more than
half way through our tour

Principal attraction at the iGowati Country Hotel and Lodge (and campground) in
Khorixas

End of show

For us, the pavement ended at Khorixas

Yeah, sure, like every millennium or so

Innovative use of water bottles

Wilderness sculpture

The interesting rock outcroppings we have seen throughout
our journey, from Kruger to here...continue

Humor...we've seen things like this in Idaho, too

At this point, I think most in our party were keeping it well under 100kph...
later, after a week of such driving, however, 70 or 80 felt OK

Blossoms near Uis

Encampment at White Lady B&B and Camping, in Uis (White Lady is the
name of  nearby rock carving); it had not rained in Uis for 3 years; we're in the
Namib desert now, that Grandfather of Deserts, in Damaraland

Tailings from a nearby uranium mine

Rocks from nearby mountains

This is really, really, out there, yet, there is a picnic area

The depiction of the tree may be a bit overstated

Mile after mile of corrugated sand road

Finally, for the last 10k, the road becomes graded, and then,
"Thalatta!", the sea!

Where, at Huntie's Beach, we meet up with several members of our group

The beach, where the Atlantic meets the Namib desert, is wild and windy...more
reminiscent of the Pacific than the Atlantic I know from the Americas

For a thousand or more miles, this is known as Africa's "skeleton coast"--with
500 years' worth of rusting or rotting hulks

The birds like them

Adventurous line fishing

Very popular