Luderitz
Luderitz is namibia’s southern harbour town. It lies in the north-western tip of the winter rainfall zone in Namibia, just south of the main Namib sand sea. The town is encircled by the Diamond Area, to which entry is not permitted, so access to the surrounding area is limited. Visitors do however have access to Agate Beach, past the sewage works, where a great number of bird species can be viewed. An extended tour around the peninsular and the northern accessible areas is therefore worthwhile. Halifax Island is the offshore island closest to the mainland, only two kilometres from Dias Point at the southern entrance to Luderitz Bay. Penguin Island and Seal Island are the two largest islands after Possession Island, and are both situated in the Luuderitz Bay, close to the mainland. Interestingly, these islands never formed part of the territory of German South West Africa. On 5 May 1866, Charles Forsyth, Captain of Her Majesty’s steam frigate Victorious stepped ashore on Peguin Island and declared all the offshore islands, as well as some rocks, the sovereignty and dominion of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. On 27 February 1867 the bird and seal islands were formally annexed to the Colony in 1884, and the islands off the Namibian coast only became Namibian territory more than a century later, when Walvis Bay was also integrated into Namibia in March 1994. From the mainland you can see a small colony of Jackass Penguin that breed on Halifax Island. The name of this bird originates from its call, which is very similar to that of a braying male donkey, also known as a jackass. These birds were once very numerous but their population decreased dramatically, due both to guano scrapping. The offshore island were once covered in layers of guano up to eight metres thick, built up over the years by cormorants, Cape Gannet and Jackass Penguin. Luderitz is a slightly sleepy and maybe also bizarre place, which forms the basis of its appeal. Nostalgic Luderitz presents itself to the visitor as a very colourful town, due to the numerous lovingly maintained buildings in the Wilhelmina Art Deco from the times of German colonialism. 1908 Luderitz was plunged into diamond fever. People rushed into the Namib desert hoping to make an easy fortune and within two years a town complete with a casino, school, hospital and exclusive residential buildings, had been established in the barren sandy desert. The diamond bearing gravel was screened and washed in huge recovery plants. Over 1000 kg of diamonds were extracted before World War 1.
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