Lüderitz is one of southern Africa’s most peculiar and rewarding places. A German colonial port town on the Atlantic coast, it has been in a state of gentle decline since the diamond rush that created it ended. The Jugendstil architecture of the early 20th century is still standing; the port still operates; and immediately east of town, the diamond mining ghost town of Kolmanskop is being steadily reclaimed by the encroaching desert.
Kolmanskop is what most visitors come for. The former miners’ houses, with their parquet floors and Art Nouveau ceilings, are filled knee-deep with wind-blown sand. The wallpaper curls. The mirrors reflect drifting sand. The photographs it produces are among the most extraordinary interior desert images anywhere in the world.
Die Route
Sesriem → Maltahöhe → Aus → B4 west → Lüderitz
Total: 580km; allow 7 to 8 hours including stops.
Maltahöhe (190km): Logical refuelling and rest stop. The Duwisib Castle detour (30km south of Maltahöhe) is one of the stranger German colonial artifacts in Namibia: a fully furnished baronial castle built in 1908 in the middle of the Namibian desert, now managed by NWR.
Aus (380km from Sesriem): Small town; fuel; the Namib wild horses are found nearby (a small feral horse population descended from German colonial military horses, living without human support in the desert).
Lüderitz (580km): Overnight essential; Kolmanskop photography is best in the early morning before the harsh midday light.
Kolmanskop Photography
Kolmanskop is managed by the Namdeb Diamond Corporation, which charges an entry fee and requires a permit for photography in the early morning (07:00 to 09:00). The permit covers the pre-tour access when the morning light rakes through the sand-filled rooms; this is the only photography window that produces the definitive Kolmanskop images.
The afternoon tour is accessible without photography permits and covers the main buildings, but the light at this time is flat and the images less compelling.
The Sperrgebiet
The Sperrgebiet (Forbidden Territory) is the diamond-restricted zone south and east of Lüderitz that has been effectively closed to visitors for over a century of diamond mining. Since the establishment of the Sperrgebiet National Park, controlled access tours are now available to parts of the zone. The result is one of the most ecologically pristine sections of the Namib: completely undisturbed by agriculture or development for over 100 years, and now accessible as a specialist wildlife and geology destination.
From Lüderitz, the route north connects to Fischfluss Canyon for the full southern Namibia circuit. Contact Mat-Travel to plan the complete southern route.