Swakopmund

I. Swakopmund travel guide

Location of the town of Swakopmund
Population : 35,000 inhabitants

It has around 35,000 inhabitants.
This is probably the city of Namibia, where most people speak German (Germanic large community) and Afrikaans.
It is also considered to be the whitest city in Africa.
Main tourist town of Namibia (Windhoek to the exeption), Swakopmund is Namibia's seaside resort and a base for a growing number of tour operators.

The city that stretches along the coast is pretty and surprisingly pleasant because of its desert environment.
It provides indeed a good starting point for the Namib-Naukluft Park and Damaraland but match the centrality of Windhoek.
It will easily take two days en route to Swakopmund Damaraland via the Skeleton Coast or to the Namib southern Namibia .
Mecca of extreme sports in the open, it's a must to try it at sandboarding, quad or in the free fall.

» Getting to Swakopmund

- By bus :

The journey to Windhoek - Swakopmund and about N $ 120, you can take a ride in a minibus crowded.
The journey takes about 4-6 hours. Pay immediately and try to get a seat beside the driver for a little more space.
Although the mini-buses are a little cheaper and are an experience, they have no fixed schedule and are often overloaded.
So check these operators:
- Intercape : Intercape operates service from Windhoek via Okahandja. It also extends to South Africa and Zimbabwe.
- Econolux: Tel: 264 64205935.

- By train :

Desert Express
Luxury Rail Safari

» History

- Originally, nomads live in the valley of Swakopmund.
Chief of the Herero Tjiponda also pass through the region and called Otjozondjii the mouth of the river current Swakop.
Other ethnic groups visit the site but not installed, including American whalers in the early 1800s.
The first written Valley Swakop back to 1793.

- In 1884, the German gunboat "Wolf" hoisted the flag of the Reich at the mouth of the River.
Ludwig Koch, representative of Adolf Lüderitz, signed a surrender agreement with the Central Coast Haibib Piet, a local chief.

- Swakopmund is officially founded on 4 August 1892, when Captain Curt von Francois erected the first infrastructure.
It is destined to become the main port of the colony since the deepwater port of Walvis Bay, thirty miles south, was a British possession administered by the Cape Colony.

- In 1896, Swakopmund is a district of German Southwest Africa, and the shipping company Woermann establishes a connection bi-monthly between Germany and Swakopmund (who becomes monthly from 1899).

- The city is developing rapidly due to industrial fisheries.
Of 32 residents in 1895 to 617 in 1902, the city reached 2792 inhabitants in 1910.

- In 1909, Swakopmund is one of six German colonial cities to acquire the status of municipality.

- In 1914, construction of a jetty metal begins to replace the wooden one.
She is interrupted by the debut of the First World War. Swakopmund, attacked by the British navy, was evacuated.

- In January 1915 it was occupied by Union troops from South Africa.

- In July 1915 alone, Swakopmunders obtain permission to return home.

- In October 1923, paragraph 8 of the London agreements seal the future of Swakopmund, now destined to become a seaside resort.
The creation of infrastructures are adequate is funded by the government.
The port area is then transformed waterfront with beach, promenade, bandstand and restaurants.
The economic activity is reinvigorated.
Swakopmund becomes the first resort and holiday village of South West Africa.
The discovery of uranium at Rossing, 70 kilometers from the city, and mine also contribute to the economic development of the city and its infrasctructures.
This is one of the most modern cities in Namibia.

- After independence in 1990, the city continues its tradition of international tourism, and becomes a favorite destination for Germans in Africa.

- In 1992, Swakopmund has its first black mayor.