Luderitz & Aus

Luderitz & Aus holidays

Luderitz is a town lodged in one of the best harbours on the least hospitable coast in Africa. It was founded in 1883 when Heinrich Vogelsang purchased Angra Pequena and some of the surrounding land on behalf of Adolf Luderitz, a hanseat from Bremen, from the local Nama chief. It began life as a trading post, fishing and guano-harvesting town, but when diamonds were discovered in 1909 in nearby Kolmanskop, Luderitz enjoyed a sudden surge of prosperity. Now the diamonds are mostly found elsewhere and offshore, so Luderitz has reverted to its former self. Its appeal as a town lies in the fact that little has changed since the early 20th century (and in fact it has hardly grown at all). One of Luderitz’ main attractions is Kolmanskop Ghost Town; a previously bustling diamond town now abandoned and fighting a constant battle for survival with the sand dunes of the Namib desert.

Aus is a village in the Kara region of southern Namibia, about 125 km east of Luderitz. Located in the Aus Mountains above the plains of the Namib Desert, the climate is usually hot and arid. The village was formerly the site of a prisoner-of-war camp to house German inmates captured during the First World War but today the major attraction of the area is the Namib feral horses

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