Safe Arrival in Luderitz, Namibia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Thu 6 Dec 2012 15:17
| 26:38.406S 15:09.424E December 6, 2012 An interesting place, this Namibia. Luderitz exists because diamonds were discovered near here back in 1908. Not only does diamond mining still go on, but we've seen quite a few dredging vessels equipped with large pumps designed to suck up lots of mud off the coastal sea floor and presumably a few diamonds too. Yup, that's right, dredging for diamonds. Only in Africa. We arrived as planned in Luderitz's friendly, compact harbor this morning after another afternoon and night of mostly pleasant downwind sailing. Last night we had everything from moonless, clear and brilliant stars to completely overcast with a sea of white caps highlighted by bright patches of phosphorescing plankton. Quite a sight, all that phosphorescence spread out over in an otherwise completely black horizon. It looked like someone had painted the sea with bold brushstrokes of fluorescent paint, then turned on a huge black light from above (not unlike walking into the back of a Spencer's store wearing something white back in the 1970's….but on a slightly larger scale). It seems we moved from one surreal scene to another as we rounded the bend into Luderitz harbor, and saw rows of diamond dredging boats swinging on moorings with a backdrop of desert sand dunes. This part of Namibia is mostly desert, and known for its fantastic sand-scape. The Lonely Planet says sand boarding (think snow boarding, and insert sand where the snow would normally be) is the next big thing, and we can try it out if we are feeling brave. Hmmmm, maybe not, but a short hike up a sand dune mountain might be kind of fun. Next up: Cape Town to Luderitz passage summary, and catch-up blog entries for Simon's Town and Cape Town. Anne |