Sossuvlei to Luderitz, April 2022

We have some unfortunate admin to do (we are trying to sell our apartment) and so need to find some civilisation. We decide to head to Luderitz with the reasonable thinking that there will be a lawyer there to witness some contracts.

The drive down south is through long forgotten farmlands and gumtrees. You expect to see an old mustacheoed man leaning on an ox cart wheel after every bend in the road. The Namibian gravel roads are again excellent and it’s easy going.

There is a campsite along the way between Sesriem and Luderitz called Mount D’Urban campsite. It is just north of Helmeringhausen which has a useful little shop. The campsite is imaginitively designed in a country that seems to excel in great campsites. There is a private shower and an ablution looking out on the beginning of the Namibian escarpment. There is also a swimming pool and small nature trails. The trails lead you past some memorial spots for one or two local people who spent their lives in this endless and forgotten piece of the world. We climbed a trail around Mount D’Urban the following morning before heading out to Luderitz. Highly recommend Mount D’Urban’s lamb if on sale as it was maybe the best we’ve ever had. They also have fresh dates and excellent home baked fresh bread.

After our morning hike we jump in the car and head for Luderitz. We stop in Aus for a snack. Highly recommend the russian and chips from the local shop and cafe next to the fuel station. The drive into Luderitz is over scrub land and the famous wild horses gallop in the harsh winds of the sandy plain. The surrounds are so windy that there appears to be a full-time dedicated team of people in work uniform shoveling and bulldozing piles of sand off of the road. We read later that the wind can get so strong that it actually sandblasts the paint off of your car. 

After passing the horses galloping over the sand and scrub land you drive alongside the historic but infamous Luderitz railway line which is still used today for harbour transport. A small train station office appears every few kilometres which was obviously the abode of the person responsible for clearing the railway tracks from sand a few decades ago. Finally, before finding Luderitz you pass the abandoned mining village of such ghost town legend. Old mine houses reclaimed by the Namib dunes waiting for earnest photographers to make their record.

We didn’t spend much time in Luderitz as it turned out there is actually no lawyer in the town. Possibly something we should have checked for more carefully. However, not a disappointment as by now we know that Namibia is just as much about the vast distances between as the places and landmarks on the map. 

Our hostess gives us some information on the area and Luderitz looks like a pleasant spot to hang out. Penguins, coastal drives, boat tours and ghost towns. The well meaning hostess also tells us about the infamous Shark Island which was used as a concentration camp in the early 1900’s by the Germans for the local population. 

She said: “The people were kept on the island but what they didn’t realise is that the water between the island and the main land was actually very shallow… shallow enough to walk across. They were told that there were sharks in the water that would eat them and so they never tried to escape. Which just goes to show that it is our fears which imprison us!”

I had mixed feelings about the story and the exact cause of said imprisonment but was thankful for an honest story from a lost land.

In Luderitz town, we enjoy dinner at the Portuguese Fisherman on aptly named Dias Road. I quaff some excellent lager on tap and we both dig in to some very freshly prepared seafood. The restaurant isn’t for every palate but if you enjoy well prepared and fresh seafood you won’t go wrong. It is Portuguese cooking with empanadas and olive oil drenched authentic fare. Definitely try some of the specialties. I wasn’t such a fan of the Japanese style dishes but maybe they have them worked out by now. Reasonably priced portion sizes so tapas lovers and platter creators can have some fun. The fresh oysters are very good also!