Swakopmund, Orientation

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Nestled against both the Atlantic Ocean and the Namib sand dunes, Swakopmund is Namibia's holiday resort town.


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The town is small and can easily be walked -  it's basically a large rectangle with three main roads.


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The B2 coming from Windhoek takes you straight to the heart of town where the road becomes Sam Nujoma Avenue.

Moses Garoeb Street (C34) heads north towards Henties Bay and Nathaniel Maxuilili Street (B2) takes you south towards Walvis Bay.


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Swakopmund (5)

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Swakopmund reemerged after Independence and is today one of Namibia's most modern cities.

Its infrastructure is superb due to its beautiful location and also due to the discovery of uranium at Rossing - 70 km outside of town.


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Rossing, the world's largest uranium mine, employs many Namibians and had a large impact on Swakopmund's development.


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Swakopmund is also a popular Namibian resort town.
Tourists and Namibians alike flock to the Swakopmund's coast to relax on holiday and partake in its many adventurous sport.


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Tracking Satellites

In 2000, the People's Republic of China and the Namibian government agreed to build a satellite tracking station at Swakopmund.

The site was chosen because of its alignment on the orbital track of a manned spacecraft during its reentry phase.

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Swakopmund (4)

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In a short period of time, the Mole filled with silt and in 1905 work began on yet another attempt to create a functional landing site with a wooden jetty.


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This proved to be inadequate, so in 1914 an iron jetty was built (the remains of which can still be seen today).

With the end of the First World War, the Germans surrendered control to the South Africans and all harbor activities were diverted to Walvis Bay.


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After this transfer, Swakopmund's businesses ceased and with them the town's inhabitants diminished.


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Swakopmund (3)

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The first settlers were 120 members of the Schutztruppe - or the German armed forces - and 40 settlers.

The settlers erected two beacons in the vicinity of today's lighthouse, officially marking the founding of Swakopmund.


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Originally, the settlers built shelters on the beach to protect themselves against the unfavorable wheather.

Breakwaters were built, creating an official harbor, and were commonly referred to as The Mole.

With each year more and more traffic flowed into Swakopmund's harbor.


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Swakopmund (2)

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Officially, Swakopmund was founded in 1892, only two years after Windhoek, by Captain Curt von François.

The area was intended to be German South West Africa's main harbor, as the trafficking of people and goods between Germany and its colony increased steadily.


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It was essential for Germany to establish a port as, only 30 km due south, Walvis Bay was a fully operating British port.


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The Germans chose the port to be on the north of the Swakop River because of the readily available source of water even though it offered no protection to ships just off the coast.


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Swakopmund (1)

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The Nama word Tsoakhaub, meaning "an excrement opening", referred to the waters of the Swakop River when it flooded, carrying mud, sand, pieces of vegetation and animal corpses into the Atlantic Ocean, and was the first known name given to the area of what is today Swakopmund.


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The Nama name was changed to "Swachaub" with the arrival of German settlers and with the official proclamation of Swakopmund as an independent district of German South West Africa in 1896.


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This name transformed into the present way of writing Swakopmund, a German word meaning an estuary of the Swakop River.


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Usakos

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Nestled in the valley of the Khan River and developed around an old railway station at the turn of the 20th century, Usakos acted as Namibia's rail capital before the industry moved to Windhoek.


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Usakos is  a Nama word meaning "grasp by the heel".
This is a tiny town catering to visitors filling up their vehicles and taking a quick stretch of the legs on their journey to Swakopmund.


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Catch a quick glimpse of Locomotive nr. 40 (built in 1912 by Henschel and Son in Kassel, Germany), or the Trekkopje Battlefield (the site of very important battles fought between the South Afican Forces and the Germans in 1915).


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On the eastern side of town there is a camping area and if needing to relieve the days hunger, be sure to browse the Pop In Take Away, near the petrol filling station.


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