Swakopmund

Swakopmund was the German opposite of Walvisbaai. Walvisbaai, was a South African enclave in the German colonial time, and the only deepwaterport in on the coast of Namibia. The German administration has tried to transform Swakopmund in a deepwaterport for their use. BUt after many attemps, they never succeeded. When the Germand administration gave the control of Namibia to the South African government in 1915, a second deepwaterport was useluss, Swakopmund was only used for recreational purpose in that time.
You can still see the German architecture in Swakopmund, especcially the old building in the city centre.
Nowaday's Swakopmund is only used as a tourist and recreational city. In the Namibian summer holiday (December - January) a lot of the locals from Windhoek have their summer holiday in Swakopmund, Swakopmund is around that time truly overcrowded.
But also in the weekends, when the weather is fine, it can be very bussy in Swakopmund. It is only a 4,5 hour drive from Windhoek to get in Swakopmund, that is relatively close for Namibian standards.

The most special charactaristic of Swakopmund is the combination of both the South Atlantic Ocean and the Namib Dessert. There are only a limited places on earth where you find a dessert nest to an ocean.
Swakopmund became famos through an other reason, nearby is a very small village (Long Beach) where wealthy people have there second house. This was the place where Angelina Jolie gave birth to her child.
But Swakopmund (the dunes and the dessert) is often used for Hollywood movies. So you will find a lot of activities in and around Swakopmund.

City centre
The city centre offers you everything you will need during you stay. All shops and supermarkets can be found in the city centre, however the city centre is still very small, you can easilly walk through the centre in half a day.
You can also find a NWR office in Swakopmund, here you can get your permit for the Welwitschie drive and other permit required area's.
Most of the car rental companies can be found in Swakopmund, if there are any problems with your car, this is the place to let it checked before you head in to the dessert.

Activities
Swakopmund is really poppular with young people. There is a large variety of activities which can be done in Swakopmund: quadbiken, sand-boarden, sky-diving, and many more adrenaline activities.
But there are plenty of places of interest for the more relaxed persons: the dunes between Swakopmund and Walvisbaai are really stunning to see, the moonlandscape just outsite Swakopmund is beautifull and desolate. There are also several tour operators who offers sea tours from both Walvisbaai and Swakopmund, if you are lucky you can spot several species of dolfins and sometimes (in the right season) whales.

Accomodation
Swakopmund has lots of different accomodation, from very expensive hotels to the cheaper backpackers and bed & breakfasts.
During summertime the campming places are fine to stay, during winter the temperature can get really low, so a camping place can be a bit cold.
Most of the bigger hotels and lodges are to be found in the city centre, the smaller, but often better bed & breakfasts can be found in the residential areas just outsite the city centre.

The suburbs of Swakopmund (especcially at night) are completely desolated, but in the city centre you will always see activities going on.
Please do remember that Swakopmund is a popular city with tourist, the locals (streetkids i.e.) do also know this. Always stay alert for crime and theft, and never leave something behind in your car, if you do so, you almost know for sure that one of your windows will not be as it was used to be before, even if you parked your car close to a car gaurd.

Restaurants
There is a large variaty of restaurants in Swakopmund, many of them serve seafood as their maincourse (The Tug i.e.). But many restaurants also serve meat and vegetarion dishes (The Lighthouse i.e.)
If you like to have a braai, almost all the smaller bed & breakfasts can organize one for you, you only have to buy the meat, the rest will be taken care of. With some other guests this can be a truly special experience.