Namibia — From Namib-Naukluft National Park to Swakopmund

Around noon on 14 March 2025 we continued our tour of Namib-Naukluft National Park. Refreshements and a bathroom break were about thirty minutes away, and the German town of Swakopmund awaited us beyond that. One of the sights I want to show you today is the fields of volcanic diabase (a.k.a., dolemite) that punctuate the Namib Desert.

One of the fascinating features of this high-density, finely grained rock is that it can ring like a bell when struck. Several of us tried this with various degrees of success depending on the size and shape of the dolerite boulder and how it was struck. No; these rocks aren’t hollow. They just sound that way.

Another look at female welwitschia cones before we head off:

After that we headed off to the Goanikontes Oasis Rest Camp for a brief respite from the day’s excursion. Here we found what one would expect at an oasis, trees:

Here we found a bar, restaurant, myriad picnic tables, the ubiquitous souvenir shop, picturesque rusted vehicles, and, hanging on the walls, grills from cars and pickup trucks. Old pickup trucks seemed very well represented:

After a brief rest it was time to load up and head west for a rather unique town. Swakopmund is located a short distance north of Walvis Bay. And if it has a distinctly German flavor, there’s a very good reason for that. The city was founded by Curt von François in 1892, and served as the primary harbor for German South West Africa colony (1884-1915).

German colonial influence never really waned in Namibia. German is still spoken here, 30,000 people of German ancestry inhabit the country, and the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation runs a German language radio station while television stations run news bulletins in German. Namibia even has a German newspaper — Allgemeine Zeitung. As for Swakopmund, the shops retain their German flavor, and German-style restaurants, cafés, and bakeries abound.

I’ll go more in depth on this fascinating town of 25,000 on Wednesday.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)