South Hotels

The climate in the southern region of Namibia is usually hot and arid but snow has been recorded in winter.  Keetmanshoop which is located on the B1 national highway to Windhoek,  is the largest town in the south of Namibia.  One can find remnants of German architecture in this town.  The well known 'kokerboom' wood, which consists of a thick copse of quiver trees, is home to the north of Keetmanshoop on a private nature reserve named Gariganus which is open to the public.

 

Aus is a village in the Karas Region in southern Namibia. It is situated on a railway line and the B4 national road, 230 km west of Keetmanshoop and about 125 km east of Lüderitz. Trains from Keetmanshoop terminate in Aus but formerly continued on to Lüderitz. The small Namibian village of Aus is tiny but has a number of amenities including a hotel, police station, shop and garage. It is located in the Aus Mountains above the plains of the Namib Desert.

 

Aus was formerly the site of a prisoner-of-war camp established by the South African army in 1915 to house German inmates captured during the First World War.  The region west of Aus is famous for its herd of feral horses living in the desert. Their origin is uncertain but today there is a population of between 150 and 200 individuals which have adapted to the harsh environment. Feral horses can live five days without water. They drink at an artificial water hole at Garub Pan where a blind has been erected to enable tourists to watch the animals without disturbing them.