Travel Comments - Backpacker Guide through Southern Africa - Southern African Safari Highlights Swakopmund

Southern African Highlights

Swakopmund Swakopmund – "the most German town out of Germany". A sentence often said by travellers who came across Swaopmund. And indeed, Swakopmund is very German. The architecture in the centre of town, German traditions and German bakeries and butcheries all over the place. And you will hear people talking in German wherever you go. And not all of them are actually tourists... Lonely Planet is saying in one of their Namibia guide books: “This Teutonic atmosphere contributes to the town’s pervasive Gemütlichkeit (a destinctively German appreciation of comfort and hospitality)”. Although Swakopmund is quite known outside Namibia, the city is actually only the 5st largest in Namibia. It has only a little more than 30,000 inhabitants. Windhoek is obviously the biggest city in Namibia (and the capital of course) with roughly around 300,000 people residing there, followed by Rundu (in the North), Walvis Bay (just South of Swakopmund) and Oshakati (almost bordering Angola). But Swakopmund has more things to offer than this. The town is known as the "adventure capital" of Namibia. You can do skydiving, sandboarding, surfing (in the pretty cold Atlantic Ocean), quadbiking and much more! Check it out!
Beside the adrenaline sports, you can also join a tour to the Townships of Swakop, visit the brewery, the Namib, the museums or stroll through the streets and enjoy the pretty unique (for Southern Africa) architecture... NEW - Day Trips / City Tours - NEW Click here to book a daytrip and/or tour in Swakopmund - Ocean cruises, quadbiking, sandboarding, horse riding etc.! to get a streetmap (online) of Swakopmund click here.
How to get there? As always in Namibia, the easiest option to get around is by car - like in South Africa renting a car is no problem at all. It is slightly more expensive, but thats it. The drive from Windhoek to Swakopmund is pretty easy - no problem at all! If you don't want to rent a car you can also join an organised tour to get to see the beach town of Swakopmund. An other option is taking the train from Windhoek to Walvis Bay via Swakopmund (timetable 2008). If you want to go there by bus your can take Townhoppers - Namibia Shuttle. Hitchhiking might be an alternative too, but check with your accommodation staff/locals if it is ok to do. See the tra:mag routes tour suggestions! Where to stay? Swakopmund is a tourist town, so all kinds of accommodation can be found in town. From posh hotels to backpackers - all travellers will find what they are looking for.
Paragliding off the Dunes from Mutcluck on Vimeo.
Namib-Naukluft Park The Namib Naukluft Park is one of the largest nature conservation areas in the world, containing mainly arid and semi-arid ecosystems. It covers an area of nearly 50 000km², stretching along the southern part of Namibia's coastline from Walvis Bay to Lüderitz.
Spitzkoppe The Spitzkoppe, also known as the "Matterhorn of Namibia", is a group of bald granite peaks located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert . The granite is more than 700 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1784 meters (5857 feet) above sea level . The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains. The highest peak is about 700m above the floor of the desert below. The only available accommodation at the Spitzkoppe is the NACOTBA Spitzkoppe campsite.