Feb 6 Walvis Bay
Goodbye to Angola. The flag comes down and goes into the flag locker until the next time Insignia comes by west Africa.
We chose the tour of the Namibian desert via off-road vehicle. But first it was the nearby lagoon to see the flamingoes. Lots of brine shrimp keep them happy and in the pink (pun intended). As people walked closer, the birds moved further away. Yet people kept trying to get closer. It was difficult to determine the bird brains in the two groups.
We're off towards Swakopmund and there are lots of dunes along the highway. Since 1900 the Wright brothers, gliding down sand dunes in windy spots near the ocean has always been a fun thing to do.
Into Dorob National Park and we entered a moonscape. Plants are few and far between,rain comes at the rate of 15mm per year, and dusty rocks are everywhere. We need Greg Wheeler here to translate all of this -- although our driver Lawrence pointed out that most of this was granite, with some veins of marble and dolomite within. One group of rocks was particularly rich in iron, and when a guide banged a small rock into a big rock, it sounded like a bell sounding a note. Apparently some musician has been here and recorded a song using the different rocks.
The black streak running across the top of this ridge is dolomite, which is harder and therefore erodes more slowly than the lighter colored granite, leaving a dark stripe along the top. In the next picture you can see the veins of pink marble within the granite. And next you can see the folding that occurred when this area was still very hot and soft. Looks very pretty now.
A unique plant in the desert is the Welwitschia mirabilis, referred to as a "living fossil" since it has remained unhanged for the last 200 million years. And it just seems to grow that slowly. The bugs crawling around on the fruity part are essential to the pollination of the plants. The plants secrete a flavorful substance for these bugs and they travel the tens of meters from one plant to the next to get the goodies, taking pollen along with them.
Going back to the ship we passed the back side of the dunes, and stopped at Dune 7 (since it's seven miles from the ocean). Some tried to climb up the slope, but quickly tired in the very soft sand. And there's no value in climbing it, since the people who scooted down on their bottoms complained of how hot the sand was -- to say nothing of all the places the sand probably ended up.
In the afternoon back aboard there was a special presentation by the Makato Chorus. Think "Glee" in West Africa without show tunes but with African rhythm. A couple of the performers were both good singers and expressive performers. It was a wonderful performance. They sold CDs to further fund their activities and they left the ship with a fistful of dollars and handfuls of cookies from the Insignia bakery. A good time was had by all as they sung us away from the dock.
Goodbye to Angola. The flag comes down and goes into the flag locker until the next time Insignia comes by west Africa.
We chose the tour of the Namibian desert via off-road vehicle. But first it was the nearby lagoon to see the flamingoes. Lots of brine shrimp keep them happy and in the pink (pun intended). As people walked closer, the birds moved further away. Yet people kept trying to get closer. It was difficult to determine the bird brains in the two groups.
We're off towards Swakopmund and there are lots of dunes along the highway. Since 1900 the Wright brothers, gliding down sand dunes in windy spots near the ocean has always been a fun thing to do.
Into Dorob National Park and we entered a moonscape. Plants are few and far between,rain comes at the rate of 15mm per year, and dusty rocks are everywhere. We need Greg Wheeler here to translate all of this -- although our driver Lawrence pointed out that most of this was granite, with some veins of marble and dolomite within. One group of rocks was particularly rich in iron, and when a guide banged a small rock into a big rock, it sounded like a bell sounding a note. Apparently some musician has been here and recorded a song using the different rocks.
The black streak running across the top of this ridge is dolomite, which is harder and therefore erodes more slowly than the lighter colored granite, leaving a dark stripe along the top. In the next picture you can see the veins of pink marble within the granite. And next you can see the folding that occurred when this area was still very hot and soft. Looks very pretty now.
A unique plant in the desert is the Welwitschia mirabilis, referred to as a "living fossil" since it has remained unhanged for the last 200 million years. And it just seems to grow that slowly. The bugs crawling around on the fruity part are essential to the pollination of the plants. The plants secrete a flavorful substance for these bugs and they travel the tens of meters from one plant to the next to get the goodies, taking pollen along with them.
Going back to the ship we passed the back side of the dunes, and stopped at Dune 7 (since it's seven miles from the ocean). Some tried to climb up the slope, but quickly tired in the very soft sand. And there's no value in climbing it, since the people who scooted down on their bottoms complained of how hot the sand was -- to say nothing of all the places the sand probably ended up.
In the afternoon back aboard there was a special presentation by the Makato Chorus. Think "Glee" in West Africa without show tunes but with African rhythm. A couple of the performers were both good singers and expressive performers. It was a wonderful performance. They sold CDs to further fund their activities and they left the ship with a fistful of dollars and handfuls of cookies from the Insignia bakery. A good time was had by all as they sung us away from the dock.
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