7 day Mesmerizing South

This huge desert area is part of the large inland basin in southern Africa. Because of its porous and sandy soil, which does not allow water resorption, the Kalahari is still called a desert, but in reality it is a wilderness filled with life, on whose grass-covered areas many herds of game and other animals live.

The Kalahari is the former main settlement area of the San. The San are organized in small families and live as nomadic hunter-gatherers. The family is fed by the rich wild stock of the Kalahari and the fruits and roots found here. They obtain water from water-storing plants

The annual amount of precipitation in the south and west is around 150-250 mm, while in the north and east it rises to over 500 mm, so the climate there is sub-humid. The Kalahari, except for this area, is located in a continental arid climate zone. It is characterized by long dry periods.

The quiver tree is one of the aloes that are often photographed at sunset. The “quiver tree forest” on the Gariganus Farm is best photographed in the late afternoon or at sunset. The farm is located about 13 km northeast of Keetmanshoop. The access road is well signposted, but not asphalted. In the immediate vicinity of the quiver tree forest is the “Giants’ Playground” (“Playground of the giants”), which has been declared a tourist attraction by the farm owner. A bizarre natural wonder are the perfectly balanced accumulations of volcanic boulders, which have been smoothed over the years by wind and weather, and resembles the playground of the giants.  A circular hiking trail of just under an hour leads through a bizarre rocky landscape.

The dunes in the Namib Desert were formed over the course of many millions of years. Sand,which was constantly washed into the sea by the Orange River, was transported northwards along the west coast by the cold Benguela Current. The surf pushed the sand ashore. Coastal dunes were formed, which were shifted inland by the wind. The wind is still constantly shifting the sand of the shifting dunes

Namibia’s scenic highlight in the middle of the Namib Desert is the Sossusvlei in the Namib Naukluft Park – is a salt-encrusted clay depression surrounded by mighty sand dunes. In 2013, the area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The dunes in the Sossusvlei sometimes reach heights of 300 meters and more and are therefore among the highest in the world. The record is held by the 350-meter-high “Big Daddy” or “Big Mama”.

The Tsauchab River has created as a gorge millions of years ago with steep and almost vertical conglomerate rock walls rising upwards, sometimes up to 30 meters. The incision is only a few meters wide. This is the nearby Sesriem Canyon. The Tsauchab Rivier supplies the water after a good rainfall, especially from the Naukluft mountains through the canyon to the Sossusvlei. This event is extremely rare.

Lüderitz and its surroundings

The small village of Aus is located about 125 kilometers east of Lüderitz. West of Aus begins the “Dune Namib”, and here you can mostly see a herd of wild horses

Garup was once a small railway station on the railway line from Aus to Lüderitz, completed in 1906. The small station house and the remains of the railway tracks as well as the water reservoir for the steam locomotive can still be visited today.

For the visitor, the nostalgic Lüderitz reveals itself as a very colorful small town, due to the numerous buildings originating from the German colonial period and lovingly maintained in the then popular Art Nouveau and Wilhelminian architectural style. The Evangelical Lutheran rock church from 1911 on the highest level of the city is striking, as well as the Goerke House with its bright blue roof and its grandiose sundial.A visit to the Lüderitz Museum is very worthwhile

Kolmanskop (Kolmanskuppe)

Of particular interest is the ghost town of Kolmanskop, once the center of the diamond industry in Namibia. Within two years after the first diamond was found, Kolmanskuppe was created. A complete place with a school, a first-class equipped hospital, an ice cream factory, a casino with a bowling alley, bakery, butcher and other facilities, as well as exclusive and pompous residential houses. Today this place is abandoned, and dunes have taken over the buildings and give the place a spooky atmosphere.

Big Bay

A trip around the lagoon and Sturmvogel Bay and Große Bucht to the Lüderitz Peninsula with Diaz Point is recommended. There is a small penguin colony on Halifax Island.

Shark Peninsula

The little trip to Shark Island, where the Lüderitz monument is also located, is worth it. From here you have a wonderful view of the Atlantic Ocean, the harbour entrance and the city

The Fish River is the second longest river in Namibia with somewhat 650 kilometers. It originates in the eastern Naukluft Mountains and flows southwest of Ai-Ais into the Oranje River. Since the Fish River is already dammed in Hardap near Mariental, it usually carries only small amounts of water with it. In winter, during the dry season, you often see no water at all or only individual puddles.

The hike through the Fish River Canyon may only be carried out between 1 May to 15 September, i.e. in winter. In summer temperatures are too extreme for hiking.

The deep gorge of the fish River is not only an event of severe erosion, but at the same time a consequence of flexures and breakup of the shallow Nama layers.

From the Fish River Canyon it is only a short jump to Ai-Ais at the southernmost end of the canyon. Hot thermal water gushes from the springs of Ai-Ais. It is around 60 ° C hot and rich in sulfates, chlorides and fluorides. ‘Ai-Ais’ means ‘burning water’ in the Nama language.