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Lüderitz

Namibia

Africa modest ~$60/day
How to get there

Fly to Windhoek, rent a 4x4, and drive the gravel highways south — the emptiness is the attraction.

Where to sleep

A Bavarian-looking guesthouse wedged between the Atlantic fog and the dunes.

What to expect

A German colonial town marooned on the Skeleton Coast's southern edge, wild horses in the desert, oyster beds in freezing currents, and Kolmanskop — a diamond boomtown being swallowed whole by sand.

First move on arrival

Kolmanskop at first light, when the dunes pouring through the doorways glow orange and you have the ghost town alone.

When to go

April to October

One phrase to carry

Moro — good morning, in Namibian German-inflected slang.

Read before you go

The Sheltering Desert by Henno Martin — two geologists hiding in the Namib through WWII.

Getting weirder nearby

Fish River Canyon, a half-day south — Africa's largest canyon, hiked by almost nobody.

One honest warning

Distances between fuel stops are serious — fill up at every opportunity and carry water.

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