Southwest of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, the 80,000 square kilometer Namib Desert stretches to the Atlantic Ocean. At the beginning of the 20th century, a railway line was laid through the hostile area to the port city of Lüderitz. The average rainfall in this part of the Namib Desert is only a few millimeters per year.
The route in what was then the colony of German South West Africa created a link between the sea and inland locations, intended as an alternative to the Windhoek-Swakopmund route further north in the colony.
Shortly after the construction of the Lüderitz railway, diamonds were discovered in the Kolmanskop area, about 30 kilometers south-east of Lüderitz, giving the region a huge boom which, however, only lasted until the early 1930’s.
Exclusion Zone and National Park
Diamond mining continued south over the years, where further settlements such as Elizabeth Bay, Pomona and Bogenfels emerged. These places are now also ghost towns that can be visited on a day trip from Lüderitz.
Elizabeth Bay and Kolmanskop are still in a no-go zone to stop diamond smuggling. The desert area encloses the port city of Lüderitz and stretches from the Oranje to the southern border of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The access restrictions in this part of the country on the Atlantic remain in place until further notice. Visits are only possible as part of guided groups.
The Robert Koch Institute in Berlin has listed the travel destination of Namibia as a region with an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. On pages with the travel and safety instructions of the Federal Foreign Office it says clearly: “There is currently a warning against unnecessary tourist trips to Namibia.”
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