We spent 28 days in Walvis Bay, waiting for new friends to join Eidos and as base for few very interesting tours. It was much more than what we planned but at the end a nice experience.
Walvis Bay has a natural harbor more than five miles deep. Going to our anchorage near the yacht club we sail through drilling platforms, large fishing vessels, massive floating pontoons and any kind of commercial vessels. Walvis Bay is the most important commercial port for Namibia and many other countries in Africa. The town economy appears to be only based on the activity related to the harbour and it is not particularly attractive.
There are not many services for yachts, the only exception is Namib Marine Services that specializes in services for commercial vessels, however the owner, Steven, is a cruiser and he is well known to help yachts stopping here as possible. Namib Marine Services can provide diesel and water and Steven is very helpful in providing basic information on where to source basic things you always need on a yacht. The other source of information is the Yacht Club.
The Yacht Club is also one of the three recommend restaurants in Walvis Bay and it has the best internet available (even if not great). The other two restaurants are very close to the Yacht Club. The Yacht club can provide buoys but we decide to use our anchor that works fine other than for one night when the wind changed from north. In general, in this period of the year there is a strong wind from South East starting in the afternoon and dying before night, we recorded more than 30 knots many times during our staying there.
About 30Km north of Walvis Bay there is Swakopmund, a small touristic town with typical German architecture and a nice long waterfront. We visited Swakopmund few times just for a walk or for a change from the very industrial environment of Walvis Bay.
Few miles from the yacht club there is Dune 7, what locals claim being the highest sand dune in the world, we obviously went to climb, and moon valley near … oasis and all-around Walvis Bay there is the Namib desert, apparently the oldest desert in the world.
Close to our anchorage there is a large lagoon with a sea-side track of more than 5km ending in the desert, ideal for walks or runs. In the lagoon there is no shortage of birds, especially different type of Flamingos (white and pink flamingos). During the summer the Lagoon is ideal for kite surfing and windsurfing, but it is too cold now.
We really enjoyed a day trip to Sandwich Bay that needs a guide a 4×4 car.
Our main tour was two days to Etosha National Park, five hours from Walvis Bay.
In Walvis bay we meet two other cruisers, Wairima (a nice 45 foot yacht) from NZ and Phoenix 11 (a nice 62 foot catamaran) from Australia. Both are directed to Brazil with a stop in St. Helena.