From Aus… to Aus

“Dai diamanti non nasce niente,

dal letame nascono i fiori.”

F. De Andrè, Via del Campo

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Itinerary in pills
• Detailed itinerary
  • Halifax Island
  • Kolmanskop
  • Luderitz
  • Horses of the Namib
  • The Milky Way
  • Note: the rocky desert
• Conclusions

Introduction

After covering over 1,000 km in the first two days of our road trip, we have our first encounter with the Atlantic Ocean. From the Kalahari Desert, we moved on to the Namib Desert, considered the oldest desert in the world. During the course of the day, we encounter fairytale landscapes, ghost towns, and even a colony of adorable African penguins. It’s time to rest in preparation for the next few days, which are expected to be very intense.

Our Toyota Fortuner has passed with flying colors on the roads of the previous days, so it deserves a little rest. The kilometers we will cover on our third day on the road, which I will recount in this article, will in fact be fewer than on all the other days, but the emotions that will pervade us will be no less intense.

At this point in our journey, we find ourselves in the diamond rush region, which offers us the opportunity to add a little curiosity about the history of Namibia to our cultural baggage and to understand how much it has been influenced by European colonialism over the decades. As on every day of the trip, the sun shines as we walk through the desert, giving us the chance to appreciate its colors to the fullest and prepare ourselves for what is to come in the days ahead.

Itinerary in pills

Our itinerary begins and ends in Aus, a small town we arrived at after visiting the splendid Fish River Canyon. The town is not far from the Atlantic Ocean, but this allows us to fully appreciate the splendid backdrop provided by the Namib Desert.

The main attractions of the day are concentrated near Luderitz, a town founded at the end of the 19th century and characterized by colonial architectural elements reminiscent of Germany. The town and its surroundings were in fact the site of diamond mining and trade in the early 20th century, carried out by German settlers. Among the city’s surroundings, the most evocative part is undoubtedly Kolmanskop, a ghost town abandoned in the mid-20th century when the diamond deposits were exhausted.

Luderitz overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, which gives it a rugged and wild aura. Among the main points of interest directly accessible from Luderitz, Halifax Island deserves a special mention. You can find the map of the daily itinerary here.

Detailed itinerary

Halifax Island

The first stop of our day is Halifax Island (or Halifax Bay), a small rocky island that is part of an archipelago called Penguin Island. The reason for this name is easy to guess: the island’s main attraction is a colony of African penguins that inhabit the area. To see the penguins, you need to take a boat tour. The only agency that organizes the tour is called Penguin Catamaran, and you can book by sending a text message (including WhatsApp) one day in advance. The cost of the excursion is 650 NAD per person (about €33), and it also includes a nice hot chocolate 😊. It is worth mentioning that it is also possible to reach Halifax Bay by car, but you may end up parking quite far from the penguin observation point (visible only with binoculars).

The tour departs from the Luderitz pier at 8 a.m., and there are no tours at other times. This is because the current is weaker in the early morning hours, thus avoiding unnecessary risks. We therefore leave Aus at around 6:30 a.m., as we have to travel about 125 km on the B4, a paved road in good condition surrounded by desert landscape.

We set sail from the pier after the crew has checked that everyone who booked is on board. The first point of interest, located a few meters from the pier, is Diaz Point, the place where the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeo Diaz landed at the end of the 15th century during his exploration of the African coast. The point is recognizable by a small lighthouse visible from the boat. Near Diaz Point, it is also possible to spot seals and dolphins. Regarding the latter, it should be noted that they are a particular species, capable of withstanding the low temperatures of that stretch of the Atlantic Ocean.

Once you pass Diaz Point, you arrive directly near Halifax Bay. Penguins are easy to spot, but to see them up close you need a bit of luck, as they are not always found near the shore. We were only able to see them clearly with binoculars, although their presence was easily discernible with the naked eye. It should be noted that it is not possible to disembark on the island, both because of the difficult landing and because it is a protected area. Since this is the main attraction of the excursion, there is plenty of time to take some photos.

After observing the penguins, we return to the port. The excursion lasts about 2 to 2.5 hours in total, so we are back at the parking lot around 10:30 a.m.

Kolmanskop

At this point, we retrieve our car and set off for Kolmanskop, postponing our visit to Lüderitz until early afternoon. This is because we want to arrive in time for the guided tour (free, apart from voluntary tips) of the ghost town, which starts at 11 a.m. There are no other guided tours during the day, but you can access the site and visit it freely until 3 p.m.

We pay 900 NAD (about €45 in total, €9 each) for admission, which, as usual, includes the five personal fees plus the vehicle fee. We park in front of the Casino building, where the guided tour starts. Inside the building, there is also a small museum that tells the history of the city and displays a collection of diamonds (in the Diamond Room). The guided tour starts on time. Giving us some information is an elderly gentleman of German origin who is rather long-winded, so after a few minutes I start to listen selectively. However, I manage to pick up a few things.

First of all, the name ‘Kolmanskop’ comes from a man named Coleman, who died in a sandstorm after leaving his cart on a hill, which was subsequently named ‘Coleman’s Kop’ (meaning ‘Coleman’s Hill’) for this reason.

However, the story of the diamond rush is certainly more interesting. It all began in the early 1900s with a certain August Stauch, a German man who was diagnosed with a theoretically incurable disease and decided to move from Germany to Namibia to spend the rest of his days in peace. Miraculously, once he left Germany, not only did his illness disappear, but he even began a new life. In fact, after hearing that diamonds could be mined in the area where he had moved (precisely, in the vicinity of Kolmanskop), he began to invest in mining. The turning point came when one of his employees, a certain Zacharias Lewala, found the first diamond, triggering a long treasure hunt. Subsequently, the German colonial government decided to restrict access to the mining area until the deposits were exhausted, at which point the city began to be abandoned.

After the abandonment, many of the buildings where the miners lived were literally submerged by sand (the city is located right in the middle of the desert), a feature that makes the remains of the city particularly evocative. It is possible to freely enter all the houses that have not been submerged.

Luderitz

At the end of the guided tour, which lasts about an hour, we wander around on our own until lunchtime. At that point, we return to Luderitz to grab a bite to eat at the excellent Portuguese Fishermen Restaurant, which I highly recommend.

Once we have refueled, we wander around the city at random. It is a rather small town, characterized by German colonial-style elements. There are not many attractions, apart from a few monumental colonial buildings, which in my opinion are not particularly unmissable, a few picturesque houses, and the Felsenkirche, or Rock Church, dating back to the early 1900s. At the entrance to the town, there is also a Hollywood-style sign on a hill.

I had read on many blogs that it was a fairly modern town, but I must say that, apart from perhaps the port area, I honestly did not get that impression. It is certainly a little better off than other towns we have been to (Opuwo, for example, is much poorer), but you only have to wander around a little to find yourself surrounded by Third World shacks. In general, it is not a visit I would particularly recommend.

In the surrounding area, it may be worth visiting Shark Island, which in the early 1900s served as a concentration camp during the extermination of the Herero and Nama peoples, or taking a walk on Grosse Bucht, a wild beach near Diaz Point, where you can see the dunes overlooking the ocean (a bit like a poor copy of Sandwich Harbour).

Horses of the Namib

After visiting Luderitz, we return to Aus. We decide to use the time we have left before sunset to go and see the wild horses of the Namib. These horses have managed to adapt to the desert climate and live freely in the vicinity of Garub, a town located about 20 km from Aus. The visit is free and you can easily park in the area where the horses are located. There are no staff to welcome tourists; in fact, there are no people at all!
On the B4, you will find signs clearly indicating the area where the horses are usually found, but you may see some of them on the road (so be careful when driving). It is a rather large expanse with beautiful colors, particularly striking at sunset. I recommend wearing closed shoes, as the ground is rather littered with affectionate souvenirs left by the animals 😊. As we arrive, we enjoy the scenery along the way.

The Milky Way

We return to our hotel and decide to have an early dinner so that we can go out again after dark to look at the stars. Being in the desert, we don’t want to miss the chance to see the Milky Way lit up in the sky. As with the rest of the trip, there isn’t a cloud in sight. There are no designated places from which to observe the stars, nor are there any parking spaces available near Aus, so we stop at a random spot on the side of the road. The view is breathtaking.

After this moment of romance, we return to the hotel to rest, in preparation for the next two days, which will include the highlight of the trip: Sossusvlei. But that’s another story.

Note: the rocky desert

Among the nice-to-haves that I had thought of was some trekking in the rocky desert, easily accessible from Aus. In the end, we decided against it, but here is some useful information in case you are interested. To access the trails, you need to obtain a permit from the Klein-Aus Vista reception desk at a cost of 50 NAD per person (approximately €2.50). In total, there are six trails, with the shortest taking about an hour and a half to walk. You can find a list of the trails, with information on length, difficulty, estimated walking time, and starting point, here. In addition to trekking, you can also participate in other activities, including three mountain bike trails of different lengths (the shortest being 40 minutes).

Conclusions

In our minds, the day I described in this article was supposed to be relaxing. Predictably, in the end it wasn’t, even though the final number of kilometers traveled was significantly lower than on the other days of the trip. In my opinion, the stops we made were worth including in our itinerary.

The part I liked the most was Kolmanskop. Before visiting it, I was afraid it might be a bit of a “tourist trap,” but in reality, it turned out to be something else entirely. The buildings submerged in sand are very impressive, as is the history of the city, but what I found truly beautiful was the surrounding landscape.

The silver medal goes to the excursion to Halifax Island, although the African penguins are a bit far away (but we knew that you generally need to be lucky to see them up close).

Finally, the wild horses of Garub are worth a quick stop. To me, who am certainly no expert, they seemed like normal horses, but watching them immersed in the beautiful Namibian desert landscape gives the experience a different charm. The city center of Luderitz, on the other hand, was quite disappointing, with few, negligible attractions. In hindsight, I would shorten the city visit to try to include one of the treks in the rocky desert.

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