LUDERITZ, NAMIBIA
The country of Namibia is located on the south western coast of Africa, bordered by Angola on the north, Botswana on the east and South Africa on the south. The Nambid Desert stretches 1200 miles along the coast, it is arid, hot and there is very little vegetation. In places the landscape is similar to that of the moon and astronauts train here for their moon walks. There are sand dunes everywhere, some of them are up to one mile wide and 800 feet high.
Namibia means ‘place of emptiness’. It is an emerging country and gained its independence from South Africa in 1990. It was part of Germany until the end of WW1 through the Treaty of Versailles.
In 1883 the area was founded by a German merchant Adolf Luderitz who purchased the land from a local Nama chief. Luderitz was mostly a trading post.and the economy depended on fishing and guano-harvesting which is used to make fertilizer. Luderitz is a charming German village. Languages spoken are English and Afrikaans In 1909 diamonds were discovered here which resulted in a huge burst of prosperity. Kolmanskop which was the hub of the diamond mines is now a ghost town and is owned by the Namdeb Diamond Company. We were fortunate to have an interesting young man as our guide. His name was Leonard Namupala, a member of the South African Olympic racing team and he was 17th in the 42 km event. When he is not training, he acts as a guide to supplement his income.
We spent a pleasant day exploring the sights and in the late afternoon we set sail for Walvis Bay.
The country of Namibia is located on the south western coast of Africa, bordered by Angola on the north, Botswana on the east and South Africa on the south. The Nambid Desert stretches 1200 miles along the coast, it is arid, hot and there is very little vegetation. In places the landscape is similar to that of the moon and astronauts train here for their moon walks. There are sand dunes everywhere, some of them are up to one mile wide and 800 feet high.
Namibia means ‘place of emptiness’. It is an emerging country and gained its independence from South Africa in 1990. It was part of Germany until the end of WW1 through the Treaty of Versailles.
In 1883 the area was founded by a German merchant Adolf Luderitz who purchased the land from a local Nama chief. Luderitz was mostly a trading post.and the economy depended on fishing and guano-harvesting which is used to make fertilizer. Luderitz is a charming German village. Languages spoken are English and Afrikaans In 1909 diamonds were discovered here which resulted in a huge burst of prosperity. Kolmanskop which was the hub of the diamond mines is now a ghost town and is owned by the Namdeb Diamond Company. We were fortunate to have an interesting young man as our guide. His name was Leonard Namupala, a member of the South African Olympic racing team and he was 17th in the 42 km event. When he is not training, he acts as a guide to supplement his income.
We spent a pleasant day exploring the sights and in the late afternoon we set sail for Walvis Bay.
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