Fur seals in the morning...
The great thing about Namibia is that as you drive through the country the scenery changes constantly. And with the scenery also the weather. As we left the Kalahari and headed towards the coast, the weather got colder. Where cold air of the South Atlantic Benguela current mixes with the dry heat of Kalahari a dense fog forms. As a result hardly anything grows at the coast of Northern Namibia. The fog and the grey-ish sand reminded me of the coast of Peru, where a similar climate can be found.
The fog, coupled with the rocky coastline, have resulted in a huge number of ships were wrecked throughout the centuries. This has given the coast the name 'Skeleton Coast'.
And even with modern technology the coast and weather remains treacherous, as we would find out when we encountered a fishing vessel that had run aground somewhere in the past month.
At the southern end of the Skeleton Coast lies Cape Cross, named after the cross planted here by Portuguese explorer Diego Cão, the first European to set foot in Namibia in 1485. Said cross no longer exists though, it was nicked by a German explorer in the 19th century, and later replaced by a replica.
At Cape Cross one of the largest breeding colonies of Cape Fur Seals can be found. This species is endemic to southern Africa (and parts of Australia) and is characterised by having ears.
Another characteristic is the smell - blimey, 50,000 seals do produce quite a stench! The Cape Cross Seal Reserve contains a couple of wooden walkways where you can have a (very) close encounter with the seals and while the animals are lovely to see, it was the smell that made that we didn't stay too long.
Back at the truck Juliana had prepared some soup and snacks, but somehow not many people were very hungry.
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