Sperrgebiet

Namibia’s most famous and evocative ghost town is Kolmanskop, situated in the Sperrgebiet (restricted area) about 10 km inland from Luderitz. With a diamond found in 1908 the development of Kolmanskop reached its climax in the twenties. Within a span of 40 years Kolmanskop lived, flourished and died. Today the ghost town’s crumbling ruins bear little resemblance to its former glory.

Lüderitz is renowned for its old-world charm and distinctly German colonial architecture. Set around the bay, with their gables, winding stairwells, verandas, turrets and bay and bow windows, these buildings have a unique character of their own. One of the most striking is Goerkehaus on the slopes of Diamond Mountain, built in 1909. The Felsenkirche (Evangelical Lutheran Church) close by, consecrated in 1912, looks especially striking in the late afternoon when the stained-glass windows are illuminated by the setting sun.

The wild horses of Garub Pan, near the town of Aus, are said to be descendants of horses that escaped from farmers and troops following the First World War. Be prepared to wait a few hours at the viewing point and take a pair of binocs to watch for the horses as they come galloping over the foothills of the Aus mountains.