Excursion Luderitz walking exploration tour at Luderitz

Lüderitz is an isolated town built on a windswept, rocky hillside beside the bay, and is located on the only part of the Namibian coast with a rocky shore. A peninsula with numerous coves juts out of the coast to form the bay. Twelve islands, collectively known as the Penguin Islands lie in Namibian waters north and south of Lüderitz. The most recent name for this bay, Angra Pequena (Narrow Bay), describes the locality well, a narrow bay dotted with little islands.

For nearly 400 years after Bartolomeu Dias first dropped anchor, Angra Pequena remained an obscure anchorage on the African coast. However, things changed forever after Adolf Lüderitz, a tobacco merchant from Germany, purchased the bay and adjacent land in 1883. Within months, Imperial Germany placed his acquisitions under its "protection" and proceeded to colonize the future South West Africa. Being the only natural harbor, Angra Pequena remained the principal port for German South West Africa. It was renamed Lüderitzbucht (Lüderitz Bay), eventually shortened to Lüderitz, after Adolf Lüderitz was drowned at sea in 1886. A plaque in his memory is located on Shark Island.

Join a 2,5-hour guided walking tour through the town's barren streets, passing many colonial German-style buildings, with their domes, towers and turrets, steep roofs, oriel windows, embellished gables, bay windows and Wintergärtens (sunrooms), which provide shelter from the wind. Pay a visit to the Luderitz Museum with its flora, history and ethnology exhibits.

Other notable buildings visited include the Goerke Haus and Felsenkirche. Goerke Haus is a grand residence or "diamond palace" built in 1909, restored to its former glory and furnished with period pieces. Felsenkirche (Church on the Rocks) is the name given to the German Evangelical Lutheran Church built in 1912. The stained-glass windows and the woodwork inside the church are impressive. The fine proportions of the church and its verticality of form represent the Vertical Gothic-style, which was popular in the Victorian era, rather than the neo-Gothic-style which was preferred in the German Church at the time.

Time permitting, explore the town on your own after the guided tour before returning to the ship.

Note

Please note: This is a walking tour that entails moderate activity of at least 1.2 miles (2km) of walking for a total of two hours. There are 20 to 30 steps to negotiate in total. Guests are recommended to wear their walking shoes.