Playing with Seals

Clinging to the shore of the Atlantic, often under a blanket of morning fog, are the towns Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. While Swakopmund described as the one real holiday destination of Namibia offers old German architecture (to rival that of Luderitz) and comes along with nice little cafes and German bakeries, in Walvis Bay - just a 30 minute drive further south - the influence was Afrikaans with large grid shaped blocks stretching the town horizontally offering no real hub for visitors. Walvis Bay (meaning "whale bay") is, however, especially popular with birders as the large lagoon attracts huge flocks, numbering into the tens of thousands, of seabirds and migrant waders, including flamingos and pelicans.  Ornithology and architecture aside just the drive from one of the cities to the other is a coup, for here is nature at its most elemental, as white rollers from the sea crash right into the dunes of the Namib Desert.

Our one full day in these two towns turned out to be cold and grey.  We had heard of the infamous morning mist in the area - our guidebook recommends campers to treat themselves to a bed as camping on the large, open sites by the sea is likely to be very cold and uncomfortable - but this morning it seemed as if it had actually rained during the night.  Nevertheless we stuck to our plan to go on a kayaking trip to 'play with seals'.

Armed with our long woolen underwear and several more layers we met Jeanne at the harbour of Walvis Bay.  At 8am we were sitting in a 4x4, listening to our enthusiastic guide Jeanne who has been taking people out for kayaking for the last 15 years.  She knew everything about the wildlife we passed (different birds and jackals) as well as the huge salt plantations and kept us amused with some remarkable anecdotes.  Even the tiniest new developments on the new Mad Max film set that was being shot there (in top secret) did not escape her and we learnt more than we should about the film (none of it particularly life-changing though).  When we arrived at Pelican Point, most of the seals of the colony weren't bothered to go into the water as they don't need to control their body temperature on cold days.  But some of the seals - the younger ones - were already waiting for us in the water, impatiently observing us while we prepared the kayaks.

Out on the water it took us only a few moments and some whistling and encouraging words till the seals surrounded our kayak. They were looking at us with big eyes, exploring the kayaks, riding waves, diving underneath the kayak then shooting out of the water to splash back right next to us.  They even splashed at us with their flippers. After just a few minutes Vijay was soaked!

Some of them barked at us, others showed their teeth and one was cheeky enough to bite onto Evelyn's paddle.  What might sound like a hopeless attempt to defend their territory was one way how the young seals were playing with us.  When we paddled faster, the juveniles started racing us, jumping like dolphins, often many of them together in perfect synchrony.  Some of them laid on their backs and clapped with their flippers, others were diving with their tails sticking out of the water waving.

In the background we could observe the seal colony on the beach.  Many of them fighting in a playful manner by hitting their chests against each other, some biting, some scratching themselves and making funny poses, some cuddling and kissing ... and all baaing like sheep and stinking like hell. :-)

It was an amazing experience and we had a good laugh!