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Traveling to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay in Namibia

swakopmund beach atlantic namibia
The Atlantic Ocean just outside of Swakopmund

Contents

  • Time to travel to Swakopmund!
  • Going to the beach in Swakopmund
  • Things to do in Swakopmund
  • Seeing some ancient plants
  • Traveling to Walvis Bay from Swakopmund

Time to travel to Swakopmund!

My next stop was Swakopmund, Namibia’s adventure town on the Atlantic coast. I had crossed the African continent and finally saw the Atlantic!

The strangeness of this town really lived up to its bizarre name. The colorful buildings, modern comforts, and super nice restaurants were all juxtaposed by the extreme barrenness of the desert just next door.

It was like waking up from a dream to find yourself in a pseudo Disneyland-like imitation of a little German town.

visiting Swakopmund Namibia1
I know, I am an amazing photographer.

It had a few handfuls of German tourists and lots of Namibians who spoke German as a first language. I was with a German traveler who had also traveled to Swakopmund independently.

He was shocked to see how the grocery stores sold German brands and played German music as if he were back at home.

The unforgiving atlantic outside of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay Namibia1
My dirty feet from walking on the beach for an hour!

Going to the beach in Swakopmund

Oh, yeah, although there are beaches the water is often cold even during the warmer months. This felt like the opposite of Tofo Beach! Don’t really expect to go swimming.

Things to do in Swakopmund

In Swakopmund itself, you can expect some good bars and restaurants and plenty of organized expeditions.

I think I had a protein deficiency when I traveled to Swakopmund (since I had been living off of instant noodles). I remember I ate a hamburger every day when I was there. I’m not really even into eating meat, much less stuffing my face with hamburgers, but I remember just craving burgers! Typical American, eh?

The walk along the beach is nice, and it’s perfectly possible to wander out of town and climb around the dunes.

I’m not so into organized adventures and so I opted out of the skydiving/4×4/dune boarding activities while I was in town. But those are things lots of people love to do there.

lunar landscape namibia1
The Lunar Landscape just outside of Swakopmund

Seeing some ancient plants

I did, however, take a tour of the Moon Landscape and see the Welwitschia Mirabilis plants that are super rare and awesome and live off the moisture in the air and can live to be 1000 years old.

They also look like something from an old monster movie!

Check out my other post on that experience here!

travel to swakopmund and walvis bay namibia1

Traveling to Walvis Bay from Swakopmund

I also think Walvis Bay is worth checking out. How do you get to Walvis Bay from Swakopmund?

Well, I hitchhiked there with a semi truck but there are a lot of cars going back and forth that charge 30 Namibian Dollars. They leave from the shared taxi stand a little ways outside of the tourist area of Swakopmund.

hitchhiking in namibia swakopmund
Traveling between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund in a big truck!

The trucks also expect some form of payment as well. There are a couple of restaurants, flocks of flamingos, and some very interesting architectural choices among the houses in Walvis Bay.

 

walvis bay namibia architecture1
Some houses in Walvis Bay
houses in Walvis Bay Namibia
Suburban scenes in Walvis Bay

I noticed that the houses around Swakopmund and Walvis Bay didn’t have the same security walls, fences, bars, and barbed wire in place that I saw in nearly every other city I had visited in Southern Africa.

I had become so accustomed to seeing walls along the more upper class residential streets that it was pretty striking to see neighborhoods with more relaxed security.

flamingos in walvis bay namibia1
FLAMINGOS

All in all, traveling to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay was a fun little escape.  There are plenty of things for tourists to do there!

Related posts:

  1. Independent Travel in Southern Africa : You can do it! Here’s my trip overview:
  2. Is Backpacking in Africa Expensive? Here’s my Africa travel budget!
  3. 12 Essential Things to Know About Taking Trains in Africa
  4. My Money Changing Nightmare in Southern Africa
Previous Article Namibia: How to go to Swakopmund from Windhoek
Next Article My day trip experience seeing the Welwitschia Mirabilis plants outside of Swakopmund, Namibia

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Hello and thanks for visiting! I’m Babeesh, a Michigander who loves solo and adventure travel. I spent several years living abroad in France and Norway and now I'm back in freezing cold Michigan. I’m obsessed with eating raclettes and I have had the honor of visiting over 100 countries. Want to learn more? Check out my about me page!

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