Monday 28 July 2014

An aside...a trip to Sandwich Harbour


By Barbara Laesser - NDP Volunteer 2014

My trip to Sandwich Harbour was a wonderful experience. The adventure started around midday and we got picked up by a very friendly tour guide. On our way to Sandwich Harbour we crossed a variety of landscapes including barren salt pans and hummock dunes. These little dunes were covered by some vegetation, which give shelter to all kinds of fascinating animals that have adapted to the harsh conditions found in a desert. After a very short period of time, our tour guide became very excited because in front of us were the beautiful golden sand dunes, which he called his ‘outdoor office’. We were told that these sand dunes have reached an age of around 1 million years. So they are very old! Driving up and down these dunes was fun and around lunch-time we decided to stop on top of one of the dunes, where we enjoyed an incredible view of sand dunes lining up next to the Atlantic Ocean. Seeing all this dramatic nature made us very hungry, but luckily we were served with some fantastic food and drinks. When the wind decided to pick up we quickly hopped back into the vehicle and continued our journey. But this time we were heading towards the beach to drive into Sandwich Harbour itself. Along the way we saw not only wind-sculptured dunes, heaps of cormorants and seals, but also the remainders of the traders and fishermen community. Further inside Sandwich Harbour we witnessed a fluffy white baby flamingo in-between some other flamingoes in the freshwater lagoon. When it was time to head home we drove along another dune chain that ended in some hummock dunes, where we were lucky to find a small group of springboks and two ostriches. That was great! All in all, it was a very lovely trip.  

Thank you so much Katja and Naude :)
Barbara