Luderitz

The hazy Atlantic-coast town of Luderitz has immense appeal for its barren beauty and solitude. It's well off the beaten track; you have to really want to go here - it's a one way road to the town.

The best view of Luderitz and the working harbour is from the peninsula of land that juts out and helps to form one of the best natural harbours along the Namibian coast. To the south of Luderitz along the coast is Diaz Point, where a big stone cross commemorates the Portuguese discovery of the area.

You might see African Penguins and Cape fur seals in the cold Benguela current which brings a chill to the wind too. Close by is an old whaling station, where the rusted blubber boiling pots look like beautiful bizarre sculptures standing stark amongst encroaching pale rippling sand.

Many charming and fine buildings reveal its colonial history as the first German settlement in what was then South West Africa.

Goerke House is the most impressive and sits with an excellent view, on top of Diamond Hill. It is open to the public and well worth a visit for its fine Art Deco interior of stained glass and wood panelling. Unfortunately the bride, fresh from Germany, for whom it was built in 1909, could not handle the bleak and windy isolation and left with her husband after only 2 years, never to return.

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