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Lüderitz: The Wild West Of Southern Namibia

We drove seven hours from Sossusvlei to Lüderitz, mostly on gravel roads. It was a terribly long drive, but the scenery on the way made the journey a bit more interesting. Namibia is huge, and you can drive for hours without seeing a soul or even another car. Amazingly, a lot of the land we passed through was private. What is being done with the land is difficult to say, as most of it is barren.

Driving closer to Lüderitz, the landscape changed drastically. If someone told us we were driving across the surface of the moon, we would have believed them! It’s hard to believe that there is a thriving town out here.

Lüderitz is pretty small, typical of many Namibian towns. It is right on the Atlantic coast, but has far more treacherous waters as the coastline here is rocky and the water frigid. It was a former mining town and was first visited by the Portuguese over 500 years ago.

Where To Stay

We camped at Shark Island Point. There is a small campground here with electricity, but it is not quite as luxurious as some other campsites we have stayed at. They do have bathrooms and showers with running hot water, and there are shared grills throughout the campsites.

Depending on your preference, it can be extremely windy here as it is right next to the ocean. We know some people who could not get their tents set up in the wind and had to look elsewhere for accommodation. We visited on a windy, but not unmanageable night. The electricity did not work at our site, but the campground was so empty we could have gone anywhere.

There is also a campground at Diaz Point if you want to stay further from town, and an AirBnB at Shark Point if you’d rather not camp. It’s best to have a backup option in case the weather is bad for camping.

Payment at our campground was very casual. A woman wandering around the entrance the previous day told us to pay whenever we wanted, and that it would be $N150 per person per night. We found a guy wandering around the next morning who we paid before we left.

During Covid times, it’s also fairly easy to walk into any hotel and ask if they have a room. Many are happy to help as they have really suffered from lack of tourists in the past year. When things pick back up again, we suspect it’s better to book in advance to make sure you have a place to sleep for the night.

Where To Eat

We were told the best restaurant was the Portuguese Grill. We had a very nice teriyaki tuna dinner here, with some excellent fried calamari rings. The owner is a Polish guy who was happy to chat and do what he could to make customers happy. Most of the people eating here were tourists.

There are also many small cafes and restaurants throughout the town to try. We had some really good burgers at the Cosy Corner Coffee Shop. 

The coffee shops in the town were a disappointment. We had read some reviews about the Diaz Coffee Shop, saying that the coffee was comparable to something you could get at a high end shop in Munich , however, Munich must not have very high standards for coffee!

What To Do

Between Aus and Lüderitz are the famous Namib wild horses. We saw a couple along the roadside, and apparently you can visit them at the trough at Garub, about 20km from Aus.

We suggest taking a stroll around the town of Lüderitz and taking in the weathered and beaten German architecture. It isn’t a pretty town, but it is much more local and alive than many of the other towns we drove through and visited in Namibia.

At the top of a hill overlooking the town is the Lutheran Church. It is fairly new and pretty, and has a great view of Lüderitz. We bumped into the caretaker who opens the church every day from 5-6pm. He told us that due to Covid, they only had services once every two months, and that the paster flew in from Windhoek.

Diaz Point

Around a 30 minute drive from Lüderitz you will find Diaz Point. Apparently, this is where the Portuguese explorer, Bartolomeu Dias, landed and erected a cross to St. James in 1488. There is a replica cross at this point today which you can walk out to. There used to be a bridge that made the walk easier, but it has been destroyed and there are signs saying to walk to the point at your own risk. It wasn’t too treacherous, but we visited during low tide.

It’s worth a visit purely for the views and to experience the power of the Atlantic Ocean. It is an entirely wild and rocky landscape. And if you want a coffee, there’s a coffee shop here, too!

It’s also here that one can use one of the best outhouses on this earth (in my opinion). The wind whips the smell away, and you can look out over the ocean and contemplate life. You could almost forget that you’re sitting in an outhouse …

Kolmanskop

Not to be missed is the famous ghost mining town of Kolmanskop. This little town was completely abandoned by 1956 and has nearly been overtaken by the dunes surrounding it. The houses are in an Edwardian style, and a lot of the wallpaper and paint has been well-preserved, although many houses you enter at your own risk. The desert is slowly swallowing this town, and it will be interesting to see how long it stays around before it will be too dangerous to visit.

Opening hours are from 8-1pm, with free tours at 9:30 and 11. We were unfortunately in a hurry but heard that the 45 minute tours are excellent and worth taking. On our way out, we bumped into the tour guide who excitedly told us as much as he could in just a couple of minutes, and we really regretted not having the time to stay and talk further with him.

Because Kolmanskop is within the restricted area of the Namib desert, you will need a permit to enter. The guide we met told us that it was possible to enter with a photographer’s permit during off hours. It is more expensive than entering during the regular opening hours, but might be worth considering if your timing doesn’t work out.

Off The Beaten Path In Lüderitz

We will undoubtably go back to Lüderitz when we get the chance to visit Namibia again. To us, this place felt like the Wild West of Africa. The desert sands swallowing old mining towns, the bustling seaside town of Lüderitz, the German architecture amidst the more simple Namibian style houses, and the view at Diaz Point of the wild Atlantic Ocean were all contrasting experiences that we would have never seen anywhere else in Africa. It is definitely difficult to get to and very far from Windhoek if you drive or want to take a road trip. If flights are more frequent on our next trip we may consider flying here versus driving as the long and lonely roads can get a bit boring.