We spent the morning venturing around Luderitz. We had to stop at the grocery store to resupply, but we also found some of the beautiful old German buildings. We checked out an old church as well as the home of one of Namibia’s richest diamond giants. One of the sites we went to was Felsenkirche or the Rock Church, which sits on Diamond Hill. It was built in 1912 and is one of the oldest Lutheran churches in Namibia. The location of the church was incredible. It was right on the water and up on a hill overlooking the rest of the town. It was locked so we couldn't see the inside, but I'm sure it was lovely. Another building was called Goerke Haus. It was built between 1909-1911 for Hans Goerke who was a manager and co-owner for the major diamond company at the time. The architecture was so interesting and different than anything I had seen in South Africa, or even in other parts of Namibia. Because of the colonial influences in Africa, it was neat to see all the different styles, from German in Namibia and Dutch/English in South Africa.
In 1487, when Bartolomeu Dias was returning from his voyage around the cape of Africa, his ships stopped along the coast of Namibia, in the bay that Luderitz is now situated. While there, he erected a stone cross, also called a padrao, on the mainland. In the 1980s, a replica cross was carved from dolerite and set in the original location.
The drive to the cross was incredible. The landscape was so interesting and different than anything else we had seen. During the drive we could see desert dunes, mountains and giant black rocks. Throughout all of Namibia, not just today, I was struck by the harshness of our surroundings and I often wondered how people, especially those living in isolation, could sustain themselves. We walked to the end of the point where the cross stood, enjoyed the sea breeze and even saw some seals and porpoises. After that, we got back in the car and headed east. We passed the wild horses again and stopped and watched them for a while before we turned off the main road to head south towards South African border.
Along the main road that brings you to Luderitz is Kolmanskop, a ghost town in the Namib desert. During the diamond rush in the early 1900s, it used to be rich mining village, as diamond supply decreased, the town was eventually abandoned in the middle of the 20th century. You actually need a permit to go into the town because it is in diamond mining territory, so we only saw the buildings from the road.
With only a few more days of our trip, we needed to start heading south with a little more purpose. We made our way back towards the Fish River Canyon National Park, which put us near the border with South Africa. We drove into the park, stopped the car to watch the sun set and listen to a really lovely but depressing song on Neil’s iPod, and then drove out to find a place to park for the night. We couldn’t find anything, so we ended up going back in and found an OK place a little ways off the road. The weather was lovely, so we hung out and watched the moon and stars come out.
Our typical campsite...though the view was not always this good.
Goerke Haus
Felsenkirche (Rock Church)
On the way to the Dias Cross...Neil and his baby.
Leading up to the cross. It's kind of hard to see, but at the end of the rock point, you can see the outline of the cross.
The lighthouse near the cross...
The ocean view.
The road heading east.
Kolmanskop in the distance.
The wild horses and their new friends.
** Around 85% of these pictures are Neils.
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