If you have already been to Swakopmund but not to Lüderitz, you would be excused if you had conjured up the image of the little town being similar to Swakop except it being a bit sleepier and cozier. If that is what you had in mind, then you will be highly disappointed.

Lüderitz lies on the Atlantic deep in the south of Namibia and was built on the granite rocks next to to ocean, which leaves it very exposed to the strong cold winds which blow almost all year round.

There is not very much to do in Lüderitz besides site seeing, which will take you a few hours to complete. Generally you would spend the night in Lüderitz to visit the Ghost town, Kolmaskop. If you do visit Lüderitz, make sure you do not get there on the weekend as everything closes and I mean everything. Even the bars and restaurants, so you would spend almost all your time at the hotel, which is obviously not what you want to do when traveling.

During the week, you can visit the museum and the churches, which are mostly built from the granite rocks gathered from the area.

Lüderitz was founded in 1883 by Heinrich Vogelsang who represented Adolf Lüderitz. He bought a small cove called Angra Pequena from a local Nama chief. Lüderitz was a trading post as well a a good source for fishing and guano farming until 1909, when diamonds were discovered in Kolmanskop, it blossomed into a surging city. However, since the diamonds ran out in the area and are now mined further south and offshore, Lüderitz has gone through a massive recession and now is once again reliant on its fishing and tourism.

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