Swakopmund is Namibia's second biggest town and its summer capital. It was founded in 1892 as the main harbor for German South-West Africa, and many of its buildings stand as examples of German colonial architecture. Since the climate on the coast is cooler than the interior of the country, government traditionally moves from the country’s official capital, Windhoek, to Swakopmund for the hotter months.
Today, Swakopmund is a seaside resort. It is known to travelers for its adventure sports such as quad-biking, parachuting and sand surfing, as well as for the beauty of the surrounding desert. If you’ve been traveling for a while, Swakopmund is the place to rejuvenate. However, the town is not all tourism. Like every Southern African town of any size, it has its poor. Along with all the other activities, I highly recommend a guided tour of the Swakopmund townships. It is a rare opportunity to meet and spend time with some of the people who live there.
On our tour, a tribal elder invited us into his home for a chat and later we spent much of the evening watching children and families going about their evening. It was a pleasure to watch children dancing in the alleys and to hear singing coming from all over the township.
The next day we drove out into the desert to admire the arid landscape. On a dusty hillside rests the Martin Luther, a stream engine left there to rust since 1896 as a testament to the unforgiving terrain.
Nearby, there are welwitschia; ancient plants that can live for 2000 years and proof that life can exist even in the harshest climate.
Later, we returned to the hotel. We washed our clothes at a nearby Laundromat, ate dinner in a nice restaurant, and took one last shower. Tomorrow we would head back into the desert for our next adventure in traveling.
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