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Free & Easy is an innovative accommodation voucher pass system, aimed at offering the independent traveler to Namibia the maximum flexibility and savings possible ... |
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| More About Free & Easy |
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The following descriptions of camps, lodges and hotels will help you to get
to know
more about accommodation ... |
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| more about Accommodation |
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Stone-Age artifacts found in the region confirm that Khoisan People knew
the area centuries before Europeans arrived. The Portuguese navigator
Bartolomeu Dias found ‘Little Bay’, or Angra Pequena in 1883.
A German merchant from Bremen, Adolf Luderitz, landed
at Angra Pequena.
In 1884 this land became part of the protectorate
of the German Empire, marking the beginning of German colonial rule
in Namibia, referred to then as Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika.
The town is renown for its old-world charm and distinctly German
colonial architecture. |
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| Kolmanskop |
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Namibia's most famous ghost town, Kolmanskop, is situated in the Sperrgebiet about 10 km inland from Lüderitz.
In 1908 the railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a sparkling stone amongst the sand he was shoveling away from the
railway line near Kolmanskop. August Stauch, his supervisor, was convinced it was a diamond. When this was confirmed,
the news spread like wildfire, sparking a frantic diamond rush and causing fortune hunters to converge in droves on
Kolmanskop. It soon became a bustling little centre with all the amenities of a European town - butchery, bakery,
furniture factory, soda water and lemonade
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production plant, four-skittle alley, a public playground and even
a swimming pool. The development of Kolmanskop reached its pinnacle
in the twenties. The lifestyles, modes of dress and social attitudes
of its inhabitants reflected those of Europeans of that
era. At this time approximately 300 German adults, 40 children and
800 Owambo contract workers lived in the town. In spite of, or
probably
because of, the isolation and bleakness of the surrounding desert,
Kolmanskop developed into a lively little haven
of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation to suit
the requirements of the affluent colonialists. |
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Large, elegant houses were built, and the well-equipped hospital
boasted Southern Africa's first X-ray machine. However, when richer diamond
deposits were discovered further south, operations were moved to Oranjemund.
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. The stately homes, their
grandeur now scoured and demolished by the wind, are gradually becoming
enveloped by encroaching sand dunes. In 1980 the mining
company CDM (now Namdeb) restored a number of the buildings and established
a museum for tourist viewing. |
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Namibia has a dry climate typical of a semi-desert country where
droughts are a regular occurrence. Days are mostly warm to very
hot. |
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about Weather |
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Namibia is a long haul destination with plenty travel options, so it's worth planning ahead ... |
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Namibia, the thirstland
wilderness, offers a selection of the finest photographic opportunities. |
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| more
about Photography |
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