Swakopmund & Cape Town 23-24 March 2024 & Epilogue

March 23 Swakopmund – Cape Town

As our flight to Cape Town would depart at 5 pm, we had a morning tour of Swakopmund a pretty city on the coast of western Namibia, about 35km from Walvis Bay. Founded in 1892 as the main harbour for German South West Africa, Swakopmund with a population of about 50,000 has been a popular beach resort characterised by 19th century German colonial architecture. The city is inhabited by some indigenous people of Namibia including the San, the Ovatjimba, Ovatue, Ovahimba and other groups. We were taken to visit Mondesa, a suburb with performance by a local community. A group of children and teenagers sang and dance while a few indigenous ladies performed their traditional dance. I tried some local food including fried insects.

After lunch at the Tuc Restaurant by the seaside, we departed to the airport at 2 pm, departed for Cape Town at 5 pm and landed shortly after 7 pm. We were transferred to a nice modern hotel in the downtown area. Teresa and I skipped dinner and had a good rest on land after spending 21 nights at sea.

March 24 Cape Town – Hong Kong

My flight would depart for Doha at 7 pm. Having been to Cape Town several times, I was not keen to rush around. The only place I liked to visit this time was the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, a World Heritage Site. Acclaimed as one of the great botanic gardens of the world, it is located at the eastern slopes of the Table Mountain and home to over 22,000 different plant species and over 200 different species of birds have been spotted. After checking out at 10:30am, I went to the garden with Elita and Jimmy who are also from Hong Kong. We spent over three hours strolling in the garden taking photos of flowers and plants. Highlight of the day was when Jimmy spotted a beautiful sunbird. The photo he took can be found in the collage below.

We returned to the hotel before 3pm and had a quick bite at Macdonald nearby. Then I departed for the airport and checked in before 4:30pm. Also the security and immigration service at the airport is incredibly slow. By the time I got inside at the departure hall, it was almost 6pm! I was exhausted and almost could not stand. Something must be wrong with the system! I flew to Doha, spent two hours at the airport and then took seven hours to fly back to Hong Kong. I landed at 9:30pm and was out of the airport shortly after 10 pm and was home before 10:40pm. Efficiency of the Hong Kong airport, immigration service and transportation are unrivalled. I am glad to be back in my small but sweet home.

Epilogue

This 21-day expedition far exceeds my expectations. Though I have been to Port Stanley and South Georgia and sailed to the Tristan da Cunha Archipelago, I have not really seen much in the first two places and have not stepped ashore the archipelago. Hence, I looked forward to this voyage and feel blessed as I have been able to spend memorable time in all these places this time. There are several aspects that I would like to highlight about this most memorable expedition. First, the weather was perfect and the sea was calm. As a result, we were able to visit the places as scheduled. I had no uncomfortable feeling during the entire voyage. Second, the expedition team led by Claudia with team members mostly from the Apex Expedition did a fantastic job. The 34 lectures and the six ship/zodiac cruises are excellent and most enjoyable. i enjoy meeting Peter, Shirley, Johnathan, Ingrid (a good story teller), Dave, Matt (to name just a few). When Peter told me a coming expedition this October from Costa Rica to Chile on Silver Wind, I decided to join. Third, I saw lots of icebergs when sailing around South Georgia: this is not what I had expected. Fourth, the wildlife is amazing. Though I missed the grandeur of Salisbury Plain where I landed in 1999, I was thrilled to find King Penguins on iceberg and watched them swimming and jumping out of water when zodiac cruising off the Salisbury Plain this time. I also saw Gentoo, Macaroni, Southern and Northern Rockhopper, Magellanic and African Penguins. Albatross is impressive: I was excited to see Wandering, Southern Royal, Tristan, Sooty, Atlantic Yellow-nosed, Black-browed and Gray-headed Albatrosses. In addition, we found Blue, Fin, Sperm and Mike Whales, Orca, Pilot Whale, dolphins, and millions of shearwaters and fur seals in the Tristan Archipelago and seals and flamingos in Walvis Bay in addition to countless petrels, skuas, terns, gulls and shags we saw during the voyage. As I find the camera too heavy to carry, I have mainly used my phone. Hence I had no good photos of birds and wildlife. I use below some images provided by Silver Cloud.

The expedition on Silver Cloud is only part of my 78-day journey (8/1-24/3/24). When I first planned this journey, I intended to visit Africa and perhaps Europe after the boat trip. But in view of the hip problem, I decided to return to Hong Kong from Cape Town. As a whole I have had a wonderful time: knowing my limitations, I would only do what I can and should. I am glad I survived despite three minor falls without mishaps. I remained in reasonably good health without catching flu or Covid and had no seasickness.

In brief, I had my amazing close encounter with half a dozen Sperm Whales in Dominica that is enchanting. Due to walking problem at times, I had not done as much as I used to do: just a few hours of activities at snail pace with plenty of rest in the evening. Travelling through the Northeast Brazil opens my eyes to how enormous and powerful Amazon is and Brazil’s rich resources. Brazil has relatively good infrastructures in terms of air and national highway. I am however not impressed by Manaus, my jungle experience and the 5-day boat trip downstream to Belem. But Sao Luis, Recife, Olinda, Salvador and Boipeba are worth visiting. I hope to return to Salvador one day to watch the carnival when I can go on to visit French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.