Namibia day 7 - Spitzkoppe

We woke up to another cool and foggy morning. We had breakfast and were packed and ready to leave by 8am. Before leaving Swakopmund we went to the German bakery to get sandwiches for lunch (I had my GF sandwich I made at breakfast) and to the supermarket to pick up some fruit and snacks for the journey. 

We drive north out of Swakopmund, passing another salt mine on the way. The clouds above the salt mine were pink, which was the reflection of the pink pools of water. The pink algae thrives in very salty water hence the pink pools at the salt mines. 

We stopped off to see and photograph the old ship wreck Ziela. This was on the skeleton coast where ships often got wrecked due to fog on the coastline. However Namibians say it also refers to skeletons of whales and seals. 

As we left the coast and drove westwards inland the fog disappeared and the temperature rose from 13C to 34C, so extreme. As it is the Easter weekend the Namibians like to go to the cooler coast for a weekend of fishing, so we saw many cars heading for Heinties Bay. 

We arrived at Spitzkoppe before lunch and went into the park to see the rock arch and plan the sunset shots. Then we had a picnic lunch at the camping site before going to our accommodation which was Spitzkoppen Lodge. It is so beautiful, the lodge is set against the huge granite mountains and the accommodation is little cottages on stilts dotted around the vast space. They are well appointed with a huge bed and mosquito nets draped over it, even though there aren’t mosquitoes here. 

This afternoon was just too hot to do anything so we sat in the shade trying to find a breeze.  We set out at about 5.30 to go photograph the arch at sunset. We watched the sun going down and then there was a sunset that was the most red I have ever seen, probably due to the dust in the air. A truly vivid red. 

There is no wifi here other than in the lounge, and it is very weak so I hope I am able to upload this blip tonight.