Swakopmund is the name of a municipality, an electoral district and the capital of the Erongo region in western Namibia. The city has around 34,300 inhabitants and is located in the Namib Desert, directly on the Atlantic Ocean near the mouth of the Swakop River. The city gained historical importance under the German colonial administration as part of the colony of German South West Africa and as the most important port for immigrants from Germany. The actually more suitable natural harbor of Walvis Bay was under British administration and the natural harbor of Lüderitz was too far off the routes into the interior of the country.
Namibia Slideshow 3: Swakopmund from Joerg on Video.
Although only about 101 percent of the inhabitants are of German descent, their influence on city life cannot be overlooked. Swakopmund is still considered the "most German" city in Namibia, and the renaming of a number of the originally German street names to "contemporary African" ones has done little to change this. The unique mixture of German-influenced seaside resort, African population and impressive dune landscape make Swakopmund a popular destination for tourists.
After everyone knows the “Big Five” (lion, buffalo, rhinoceros, leopard and elephant), we use the opportunity in Swakopmund to get to know the “Little Five”. These are the small inhabitants of the Namibian desert, specifically the chameleon, sand viper, a small spider called the “White Lady”, gecko and lizard. We are allowed to meet these small inhabitants of the sand dunes with Tommy's Tours and Safaris track down.
We are picked up from the guesthouse early in the morning at 8:00 a.m. and taken to the edge of the sand desert in an ancient 4x4 vehicle. There we let some air out of the tires so that the surface area of the tires on the sand is larger. Tommy also prepares the group, which consists of four vehicles in total, for the coming hours. We are lucky enough to be traveling with Tommy himself in the most ancient of the vehicles and so we learn a few interesting details along the way that may remain hidden from the others. Along with the seven of us, there is also a lady and a Japanese father-daughter team on board.
On the way we see all the highlights that you would expect. We can dig out the White Lady's burrow and admire the fine structure of the tunnels. Tommy also finds an almost transparent gecko that would die in the sun and therefore buries itself again as quickly as possible. We also discover a lizard that bites our daughter's finger and ear. After a short break with drinks and snacks we continue and find the missing "Little Five". The chameleon is delighted with the Tok-Tokkie beetles that we offer him to eat and while the sand viper is only a small viper, it does move sideways (English name: Sidewinder) and is dangerously poisonous despite its small size.
So the tour ends in the early afternoon after many impressions and creatures and we are taken back to our accommodation. Tommy's pithy sayings are certainly old-fashioned and take some getting used to, but the desert tour is certainly an experience that you won't forget in a hurry. This also includes the drive through the dunes themselves, which the children like to interpret as a rollercoaster.
In the afternoon, after a quick visit to the dentist - a filling was put back in the right place - we can explore the small town of Swakopmund. It lives up to its reputation as the southernmost North Sea resort and presents itself as a bizarre mixture of old German colonial style, African joie de vivre and American business sense. A mixture that is particularly strange for Germans, especially since half of the signs, shop names and street names are still in German - more than 8,000 km away from there.
With these impressions we spend the evening in what is probably the best restaurant in town, the “The Tug"Here we enjoy the local fish "Kingklip", which we all really enjoy. At the next table we meet some of the American film crew who are currently filming the fourth part of "Mad Max" in Namibia.
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