Robbie and Other Animals

By Anne Rothwell

The biggest, fattest fur seal I’ve ever seen weighed down the small boat as he lolloped up the open steps at the back and plonked down along the narrow table in the middle of the boat, shaking us alarmingly. We were in Walvis Bay, Namibia and had gone out looking for seals, dolphins, pelicans and other seabirds. The seal, Robbie, was clearly a friend of the boatman as he opened his mouth in readiness for the fish which was waiting in a bucket.

Spotty, A Cape Fur Seal

Though alarmingly large, Robbie was not threatening, so we approached to stroke him. Instead of the wet, shiny feel we expected, he had lovely thick fur to protect him from the worst of the Atlantic weather. When he decided he’d had enough of the petting he left, not out of the back where he’d arrived, but over the side, almost overturning the boat in the process.

We were staying in Swakopmund on the coast. This is an attractive German-style town, due to its colonisation by Germany between 1884 and 1915. We had hired a car and were touring around this very varied country with its coastline, enormous, fabulously sculpted sand dunes and Etosha National Park filled with all the usual African wildlife.

We’d seen the 2,000 year old welwitschia plant, the beetles which do handstands to let the dew run down their backs into their mouths in the very hot desert and the prehistoric cave paintings. There were also the Herrero women who wore the crinoline-type dresses brought over by the missionaries and the more natural and beautiful Himba women with their skin and hair plastered with the rich, reddish-brown mud.

We drove up along the coast to Cape Cross where the seals gather in their hundreds upon hundreds and where jackals prowl amongst them, looking for pups they can snatch.  The smell was indescribable, but worth it for the view.  We’d hoped to drive further up the ‘skeleton coast’ where the wrecks of so many ships dashed onto the rocks, still stand, but without a 4-wheel drive, it was impossible to get so far.

It’s amazing the number of people, who know little about the country, who said, ‘You didn’t drive over there, did you?’, fearing that we would be pounced on by bandits or wild animals. In fact, although we went long distances, the roads are straight, quiet and well-surfaced and the animals in the main are limited to the National Park. Due to the size of the country, there aren’t large numbers of roads, just what are necessary to get from A to B, so we couldn’t get lost. It was so easy and fuel was not expensive.

On the last night of our trip, we stayed in a guesthouse off the beaten track. We had a comfy little cabin, but were some distance from the reception and dining room. We were the only people there and there was very little in the kitchen, but they managed to rustle up some supper, which was fine.

Unfortunately, there were no lights whatsoever outside, so we had to stumble along with our torch.

Before dinner, Marven sat down on one of the rickety chairs on the verandah in the dark in an area very open to wildlife. Suddenly he was aware that there was something very close as he heard the breathing before it leapt on him. I dashed out with the torch to see two large dogs wagging their tails and frantically licking his face.

First published in VISA 112 (December 2013)