A portion north of Swakopmund is called The Skeleton Coast, stretching for several hundred kilometers up to the Angolan border. It is noted as one of the most hostile stretches in Namibia, and the waters are known for their dense fogs, treacherous sand banks, and strong currents that have caused the sinking of over a thousand ships. The only shipwreck we saw was just about 50 km north of Swakopmund. When we pulled off the highway to look at it, we were immediately bombarded by locals trying to sell us shells and supposed items from the wreck. The wreck, called Zeila, was a fishing trawler that got stranded in August 2008 after coming loose from its towing line while on its way to India. We stopped by to grab a couple of photographs and returned to the car to continue our journey up the coastline.

The highway we took, B2, used to be a salt road, and we saw several salt mines as we continued north. They had several small tables of salt crystals that people could take (with a small donation). I didn’t realize how pink some of the crystals would be, but seeing them was pretty cool. We stopped by one section to donate the Namibian coins we had acquired throughout the week (we decided a donation was fine without lugging a hunk of salt around the world with us).

When we finally made it to Cape Cross, we stopped by the visitors center to pay our entrance fees and get a map of the seal reserve. We weren’t sure what we expected to see while driving along the road to the seal reserve. However, we were hit with the smell first of a thousand plus seals and could see hundreds of seals by the pedestrian walkway. There were even a few by the entrance gates to the walkway, so I was nervous about going close to the gate. There are plenty of signs and comments to avoid getting too close to them as they could attack and bite. We’ve done pretty well to prevent any injury, and I wanted to keep it that way. Grant was able to hop onto the walkway from the side and shoo the seals away from the gate so I could get in.

Tim and I joined him on the walkway and were shocked by some of the sounds the seals were making. It sounded like a mix of seals, goats, velociraptors, and dogs, all in one spot by the ocean. There were so many seals everywhere, from the parking lot to the sea, and even some swimming in the waters. We tried to walk further along the pathway but were unfortunately stopped when we saw three seals lying on the wood path. Grant tried to see if we could walk around, but the one closest to us hissed and almost started to charge. So we just enjoyed snapping photos and videos from our current location.

We spent about an hour observing them and agreed it was the coolest spot any of us had seen seals before. There were just so many all in one place and very active in both the shore and the water. After leaving the seals we headed to the nearby lodge to grab a quick snack before our journey back to Swakopmund. We returned to town around 6:30 pm and threw our “seal-smelling coats” into the wash before heading to Brewer and Butcher for dinner. Since we had enjoyed their wings there, we hoped we would have a better dining experience than the previous night at a different restaurant. Tim and Grant enjoyed their food and beer boots, while my veggie burger was meh. However, the best part of the night was the serenading by the local Swakopmund acapella group. We ended up supporting them by purchasing their CD (but unfortunately, our truck didn’t support CDs, and we couldn’t enjoy it on our journey back to Windhoek – hopefully when we get back to the US we can play it).

We packed our things on our last morning in Swakopmund and ensured nothing left to do for the Airbnb besides leaving the keys. We grabbed breakfast from the Village Cafe we had previously visited and learned that the cafe was a historical building that had been there for several decades. The owner told us that they couldn’t do anything to the outside of the building, but they could decorate how they wanted within the inside. We noticed in Swakopmund that they were all about appearance, keeping the grass watered and groomed and ensuring no trash along the streets.

After breakfast, it was off to finish the last of the music video that Tim and Grant had been making all week. They created a parody of Miley Cyrus’s new song, Flowers. Let me tell you, it was quite an adventure seeing them create this. Once they filmed all of their clips, it was off to Windhoek for our last night in Africa before we headed to the Middle East.

The road to Windhoek was busier this time as we could use the main highways back into the city instead of the gravel side roads. Grant had booked a lodge outside of the city closer to the airport because he thought we would have been able to drop off the truck on Friday and have the lodge take us to the airport. However, we didn’t clarify with Africa and Wheels before returning to Windhoek, and they previously told us to drop it off Saturday morning while they shuttle us to the airport.

The lodge, River Crossing Lodge, ended up being located on top of a hill with a beautiful city view. The book in the room said guests could sometimes see horses, oryxes, giraffes, and the occasional leopard down in the valley or along the hillside. We grabbed some drinks by the pool while we waited for dinner. Dinner was some of the best food we had in Namibia. It was another three-course meal with several options: grilled aubergine and asparagus to kudu steak and a Nutella/banana waffle or pudding for dessert. The sunset was beautiful to watch as the spectrum of colors changed as the night went on. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the cabin and prep for the travel day ahead.