We are awake at 5:30 AM and get a wonderful view of the sunrise and as it threw its golden rays on Spitzkoppe. We just lay in bed for about an hour admiring the view. After getting our fill, we got up and packed away our stuff as we prepared to go around Spitzkoppe.
We have a very nice walk - it is not yet too hot and it is nice to watch as the colors change as the sun rises further in the sky. At times we climb up and onto the rocks.
We debate going right around the massif, but we are not sure that we have enough time to get back before we need to leave, so we turn around and head back. It is amazing how different the landscape can look when you simply turn around and walk back - everything looks quite different.
We get back to the truck just in time for breakfast - pancakes. We are the last ones to eat, but we wanted to have as much time as possible walking around this beautiful landscape. We then pack up the campsite - which includes rolling the awning back up - and prepare to head out.
Before we leave Spitzkoppe, however, we take about an hour to drive around the area. We sit up on the roof seats and get a great view of the area. At one point, however, we almost had a prickly end. We drove under one of the acacia trees - the only problem was that they must have forgotten that we were in the roof seats. We bent down just in time and held our hats up to brush away the long and sharp thorns. We get a couple of scratches, but Jacqui has lost her hat. It is stuck up in the tree. We yell for them to stop and then some people run back to collect the hat, but it is too high up. Finally, Jacqui climbs on someone's shoulders and uses the broom to knock the hat down out of the tree.
After finishing our drive around Spitzkoppe, we head out and drive towards the coast and Cape Cross. The roads are in very good condition and we make progress. Even though many of the roads are dirt, they are well maintained.
We arrive at Cape Cross just before 2 PM and go and look at the seal colony. Cape Cross is named after the Portuguese explorer Diego Cão, the first European to set foot in Namibia, who planted a 2 meter high 360 kg padrão at Cape Cross to honor King John I of Portugal.
The colony of seals that live here is huge (they are actually not true seals, but rather a type of sea lion). There are thousands and thousands and as you approach there is no way to miss them. The noise and smell is tremendous. They are barking loudly, often fighting or biting each other, and the smell is overwhelming. You can only stay so long.
But it is an amazing sight and we are able to get up very close to the seals. We can see the pups suckling, ...
... the adults guarding their territory fighting with other seals and many of the seals playing in the sea. While feeding is surely their top priority, we can see many if the seals actually surfing in the large waves that crash against the shore.
After taking many pictures and taking in all the sights, sounds and smells, we go and take a look at the crosses (there is now a replica there, along with the copy the Germans put there after removing the original and taking it to Germany). It is quite a sight - they must have been dedicated to drag this cross all the way of the boat and up the beach to this spot.
We drive a short way up the beach to have some lunch. As the food is being prepared, some of go for a walk on the beach. We are saddened to see one pup dead in the surf and another pup that is clearly close to dying laying on the beach at the edge of the surf. There is noting we can do for him - birds of prey are already waiting for the pup to die.
After lunch we head on our way to Swakopmund, arriving there at 5:30 PM. It takes a while to check into the rest camp - we stay in six person chalets - and get organised. After a bite of food, some of us head into town to see what is happening. Once again we are struck by how Germanic the place is. We went to the Brauhaus for a beer and bratwurst. It was good. After a drink at another bar, we head back to the rest camp.