Los Barriles to Loreto

Los Barriles to Loreto

We had a rest day in the resort at Los Barriles, it was great to sit back and recharge the batteries.  I tried my hand a SUP (Stand up paddle boarding).  I didn’t fall off which disappointed Andy but it’s a little boring by yourself.  They have a great little pizza/hamburger window by the pool.  The burgers were great and a welcome change.  I spied a workers cleaning up the palm fronds around the pool so that made for some interesting photos.  Other than a couple of quick snaps of the resort I didn’t take photos today.

Back on the Road.  A lovely cool start to the day as we head north on our return back to Los Angeles  Once again into the mountains, it then warmed up in the desert a little later.

The views coming down the mountain in Loreto were stunning as were the twisties or curves in the road. We arrived in Loreto just early enough for me to head to the marina, my aim was to capture the Magnificant Birds which have been flying around, unfortunately it was not to be.  I had to be content with the Brown Pelicans and the feeding behaviour.  Unlike our Australian Pelican who dip their bill in the water to catch fish, the Brown Pelican will dive for their meal.  Interesting to watch.

 

Palmas Hotel

Palm tree pruning at our hotel

Palmas Hotel

View to the Sea of Cortez and Loreto Golf Course

Winding mountain road

Brown Pelican

Los Barriles to Loreto

Brown Pelican Fishing

Back to the Coast

Back to the Coast

After visiting the sand dunes of Sossusvlei we headed back to the coast and the town of Swakopmund.  This is where the dunes meet the sea at Sandwich Harbour.  The flight in was spectacular as we took the scenic route up the coast and flew over two shipwrecks in the sand dunes and the incredible shapes and patterns of the dunes and ocean (more pics to follow another day).  I went for a walk around town when we first arrived in Swakopmund, bought some bangles from some tribal women that had a little stall set up, walked around the ornate and colourful buildings of German influence.  Our DMC (our Namibian Travel Agent) took our tour group out to dinner to a really popular seafood restaurant called The Tug.  Fabulous food, decor, architecture (just like a tugboat) and service.

4 Wheel Driving

The next morning a few of us went on a 4WD tour to Sandwich Harbour.  We stopped at the salt lakes then drove through the dunes for a while before heading along the beach to our destination.  On the way we stopped by a helicopter that had parked up on the beach.  They were setting up sets for the filming of Transformers 5. We also saw lots of baby seals who had been abandoned by their mothers as they were weak.  Evidently this is a very common occurrence, but as we noticed when we flew in the day before, the number of seals along this part of the coast is massive, so I guess the percentage that are abandoned is relatively small.  We saw lots of birdlife including two types of Flamingos and some migratory waders we see during the summer at home.

 

Black-backed Jackel Walvis Bay

Black-backed Jackal

baby seal Walvis Bay

Baby Seal

Pelican Egret Walvis Bay

Great White Pelican and Little Egret

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Greater Flamingo

Back to the Coast Salt Lake Walvis Bay

Salt Lake

Back to the Coast Salt Lake Walvis Bay

Salt Lake

The Wonderful Namibian Birds

Namibian Birds – Well how do I start.

Those of you who know me well know that I love to photograph birds.  I didn’t realise that birding would play such an important part in my trip to Namibia, but I was wrong coming home with more than just a handful of species.

There are about 600 birds species native to Namibia.  I think I managed to capture about 10% of these.  Most are just record shots but others I’m very happy with.  You could easily make birding your primary reason for a trip to this Namibia.

I should mention that 90% of these images were taken with a full frame camera and a 70-200mm f2.8 lens with a 1.4x converter attached.  I was resting my camera on the vehicle for most of the photos.  Because I can’t hold the camera steady with much over a 200mm focal length I really need to use a tripod when ever I can.

Bird

Great White Pelican

day-13-damaraland-9049

Ostrich



 

Aka Flying Banana

Yellow-billed Hornbill Aka Flying Banana

Namibian Birds

Kori Bustard

Namibian Birds

Greater Flamingo