About the Ghost Town Kolmanskop and Wild Horses
About the Ghost Town Kolmanskop and Wild Horses
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We highly recommend driving all the way down to the South to visit the abandoned town Kolmanskop! After we explored Sesriem we were not sure if the long car ride is worth it, but it was the best decision going there! We crossed beautiful landscape and drove along the famous and most beautiful gravel road D707 of Namibia. You will see beautiful steppe with Oryx antelope and incredible mountains around you.
1. Through steppe and on the D707 – How to get there?
If you are coming from Sesriem the roads towards the dream road D707 are a little bit bumpy. We highly recommend renting a 4×4. On the crossing to D707, we found a lovely family with 8 kids, who loved taking pictures with us. A little tip, the kids were so happy when we gave them some bananas. The following dream road D707 is in a really good condition, although it is a gravel/sand road. The landscape is so beautiful, you shouldn´t miss it. We passed fields with Oryx antelopes, big mountains and long roads with no other car on it. You will need around 2 hours for the 120 km long D707.
2. First stop Aus – Seeing Wild Horses
After a little rest under a beautiful tree and some more kilometers in the sunset, we finally arrived in Aus in the darkness. We booked a last minute campsite on a hill called Klein-Aus Vista Campsite. It also has some lovely rooms and a restaurant. We had a wonderful starry sky and a very remote campsite for us. The campsite is very close to the viewpoint of the the wild horses.
In the next morning we drove for sunrise to the wild horses near Aus. The exact viewing platform is called Feral Horses Lookout/
3. Exploring the abandoned town Kolmanskop
From Aus to Kolmanskop, we drove around 1,5 hours through beautiful steppe and mountains followed by the meager and rocky desert landscape. Suddenly we saw the ghost town in the middle of the desert next to the main road. Kolmanskop is open from 8 am to 1 pm, you have to drive through the barrier. We´ve been there at 9 am and there were only a few other tourists.
The abandoned houses are a wonderful photo location! There is so much to explore and most buildings are accessible. Kolmanskop was built for Diamant mining. 1909 Kolmanskop was one of the wealthiest towns in Africa. They even built apartments with bathtubs, a bakery, a lemonade factory, a primary school, police station, post office, a hospital, a gym, a ballroom, and a theater. Since 1956, Kolmanskop became a ghost town due to dwindling deposits. Despite the sandstorms, the elegant art nouveau villas with the glazed verandas are still in a very good condition.
4. Driving to Lüderitz?
If you have enough time, you can easily combine visiting Kolmanskop with Lüderitz at the cost. It is only a 15-minute car ride and we heard it is a very cute town. Friends told us, that you can book a boat tour to visit a little island with penguins and dolphins. However, we decided to drive back to the North and skipped Lüderitz to save some time.
Prices and the best time to visit Kolmanskop?
You can visit the ghost town from
What about the temperatures?
We’ve been there in April and we had temperatures around 25-30 degree in the day. Keep in mind that Lüderitz at the coast can be a lot colder, sometimes around 15 degrees. It is stunning, how the temperatures change from the desert to the coast. There can be more than 20 degree difference.
Where can I stay? Where to go next?
We drove all the way down from Sesriem to Aus. It’s a lovely town on the way to Kolmanskop, 1,5 hours away from the ghost town. We stayed at Klein-Aus Vista Campsite. We had a fantastic night under a beautiful starry sky and a calm and remote campsite for us.
Your next destination could be Sesriem with all the beautiful red dunes. You could also drive to Keetmanshoop to see the beautiful quiver tree forest. Or you are heading further South to the Fish River Canyon.
⤖ Read our full Namibia Itinerary to see all places
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