I've always been a fan of taking advantage of long weekends, and the Easter holiday was no exception. Falconer and I have been wanting to visit Southern Namibia for some time, and last weekend was the perfect opportunity. We took off on a 7.5 hour drive to Luderitz, a small harbor town in south-west Namibia. Aside from some interesting colonial architecture, there is not a lot to see in this town. This was fine for us, however, since our two main purposes for this trip were simply to 1) visit a new place and 2) relax!

We also enjoyed seeing some sites around the town including Diaz Point which features a small coffee shop and a replica of the cross erected in 1488 to serve as a reminder of the 15th-century Portuguese explorations. We even had some time on the beach, although our second day of sunbathing was cut short due to the wind whipping sand all around us.

By far our favorite excursion from Luderitz was to Kolmanskop, once the site of a bustling diamond mining industry, now a ghost town tourist attraction. See my next post for more information and photos from this town.

After spending a few nights in Luderitz, we headed east to Fish River Canyon--passing some wild horses on the way. I think I may have been more excited about our accommodation than I was about seeing the canyon. We stayed at Cañon Lodge, in one of many natural stone chalets built between huge granite boulders. (And we got a huge discount for having work visas. Yay!) The landscape was absolutely stunning. We climbed some of the boulders and watched the sun set over the African plains. The next day we went to see the canyon, second in size to the Grand Canyon. I've seen the Grand Canyon and this was just as incredible. We drove to several different lookout points scattered all around the area.