To Swakopmund
Sesriem to Swakopmund is a 300 km stretch of gravel roads. Well only the last 30km section along the Atlantic Ocean and between Walvis Bay and Swakop is tarred.
A large part of the journey is inside the Namib-Naukluft Park so you need a permit if you wish to leave the main gravel road to go explore sites.
I left Sesriem at 12.00 after a last visit to the sand dunes of Sossusvlei. The first part of the journey was spectacular. I stopped along the way at the Rostock Ritz Desert Lodge for lunch. This is such a remote place, but so beautiful, and located just on the border of the Namib-Naukluft Park. Their bungalows have a shape that resembles a Mongolian Yurt (see pictures below).
The last kilometers just before arriving in Walvis Bay were long and boring.
Between Walvis Bay and Swakop I stopped at Langstrand (Longbeach) to have a cold Tafel beer and watch the sunset. It was good to see they have re-opened the pub on the old pier. Unfortunately they do not serve as they used to the delicious oysters.
Langstrand has recently been made famous by the visit of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt who stayed there during the last stages of her pregnancy.
It was great to be able to rest in Swakop for an entire day. Being off peak season and with no school holiday either in Namibia or South Africa at the time, the resort was pretty quiet. Because of the cold microclimate found along this coast (due to a cold oceanic current coming from the Antarctic) and the German architecture of Swakopmund, you do not have the impression to be in Africa but rather in a resort in Europe along the North Sea. Just a few years ago all the main street names were German, such as "Kaiser Wilhem Strasse"... Namibia is a former German colony.
I stayed in the Deutsches Haus Hotel for a couple of nights.
Deutsches Haus is the hotel where I used to stay each time I came here on business. It was nearly like a second home to me when I would come to visit Rossing Mine.
It is a reasonably priced and pleasant small hotel located at a walking distance from the town center. Rooms are simple and clean. I would generally stay in the room all the way at the back (#21 if I remember correctly) which is a bit more spacious and with a bathtub. Most of the other rooms only have a shower. One thing that I found a bit annoying in the other rooms was the noisy fan in the bathroom. You could even hear it coming from your neighbor's room.
There is now a new management team and on this recent trip I met the new owners who are very friendly. Prices have gone up quite a bit but they are still reasonable and it follows a general trend which was apparently accelerated here in Swakopmund after the town hosted 2 famous Hollywood stars: Angelina Jolie and Bradd Pit...
There is a closed parking space and they provide a remote to access this area.
Inside the hotel building you will find a small swimming pool and, something important to most TravBuddies, free wireless internet!
I would definitely recommend this hotel.
