Their origins steeped in mystery, the wild horses in the Namib Desert have captured imaginations and touched hearts. These resilient animals have survived in the desert for more than a century and over the years have become a major tourist attraction in southern Namibia.
The book ‘Wild Horses in the Namib Desert’ (now out-of-print) is the outcome of a collaboration, revealing the little-known history and behaviour of the wild horse population. Manni Goldbeck sheds light on the horses’ origins, taking the reader back to the tumultuous time of World War l and exploring the more plausible theories, while Telané Greyling (PhD Zoology) shares her knowledge of the intriguing behaviour of the Namib horses gleaned from her many years of research and life amongst the horses. Freelance writer, Ron Swilling, created a text from the material giving it a breath of life. Finally, from the love for the horse and all things wild, the book was born.
An equine biography of the Namib wild horses, the book traces the beginnings of Equus groups on the sub-continent, following their journey over time to Namibia and the present day.
Join us every Sunday as we share the wild horses’ journey with you.
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐛 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭
In south-western Namibia, the icy Atlantic Ocean fed by the Benguela Current lies in an intimate embrace with the golden sands of the ancient Namib Desert that languidly stretches up the country’s coastline.
Scattered archaeological remains reveal that the Khoisan people had visited this bleak area through the centuries. The renowned Portuguese explorer, Bartolomeu Dias, docked at the ‘little bay’ now known as Lüderitz in 1487, calling it Angra Pequeña. Although the Dutch East India Company attempted to initiate trade with Nama groups in the area in the late 1700s and in the mid-1800s whalers, fishermen and guano collectors visited the natural harbour to reap her marine riches, it remained a desolate, barren coastline without fresh water. In the late nineteenth century however, this inhospitable corner of the country began the transformation that would culminate a decade later in a hive of colonial activity with settlements, soldiers and the excitement of a diamond rush. The colonisation of the south began in 1883 when the German trader Adolf Lüderitz visited the bay with an employee, Heinrich Vogelsang. In the following months Vogelsang, acting on behalf of Lüderitz, purchased the bay, a coastal belt running from the Orange River and an area into the interior from Nama captain, Joseph Frederiks. According to some sources, the price paid was £500 in gold and sixty Westley-Richards rifles. The deal was conducted in German geographical miles, geografische Meile, which are more than five times longer than English miles, a fact that Frederiks was apparently unaware of, subsequently disputing the agreement.
Lüderitz returned to the Cape Colony to find the rights to his newly acquired land challenged. After lengthy negotiations and the arrival of a German gunboat in the bay, the British conceded that Germany could found its first colony there, a move that ultimately led to the establishment of German South West Africa. With the German flag hoisted, the settlement began to grow. Adolf Lüderitz is said to have made little from the deal and eventually disappeared while on a prospecting trip in 1886. It is thought that he drowned in the Atlantic Ocean somewhere between the Orange River mouth and Angra Pequeña, departing the arena of history and leaving the land tagged with his name to the colonial scramble for Africa.
Lüderitzbucht (Lüderitz Bay), as it was referred to in the late 1890s, developed slowly as a trading post. A transport route across the desert from Lüderitzbucht to Aus, 125 kilometres to the east, was established. Although a small sea water condenser was installed in the town, it was inadequate for the town’s requirements and fresh water still had to be shipped in from the Cape. Without a railway and before the advent of the motor vehicle, horses and ox-wagons were indispensable for transport and the development of the town. Lüderitzbucht became an important supply post for the Schutztruppe in the 1904-1907 war against the Nama people and traffic along the route increased. The troops used this ‘Bay Road’ (Baai Weg), which was little more than an ox-wagon track, to advance from Lüderitzbucht to Kubub, Aus and Keetmanshoop. It was renowned as the most difficult stretch through the desert. Ten thousand horses, mules, oxen and camels, and 2 000 to 3 000 men are said to have used this road during the war. With only a few water installations along the route, the shortage of water and grazing made this an arduous journey, and the Bay Road was littered with animal skeletons.
Because of the harshness of the terrain and the necessity of transporting supplies to the troops, a railway line between Lüderitzbucht and Aus was deemed imperative. It reached Garub station, 25 kilometres west of Aus, in September 1906. There was still a shortage of water. People, the railway and locomotives were dependent on the condenser at Lüderitzbucht and the wells at Aus. Water in the Namib Desert was a scarce and expensive commodity. It was therefore essential to secure other water sources. The first boreholes were sunk at Garub in 1907, providing water for the steam trains and supplying water to the settlements at Aus and Lüderitzbucht. Garub was one of the first water sources in the desert and a boon for the arid area.
The diamond rush began in a frenzy of excitement when on 14 April 1908 a railway worker, Zacharias Lewala, found the first sparkling stone at Grasplatz, near Lüderitz, which was passed on to his superior August Stauch. The area glittered with adventure and promise and the town boomed with people arriving to try their luck and hoping to change their fortunes. Small mining towns sprang up in the desolate sands of the desert. It was told that in Idatal (named after Stauch’s wife), also known as Märchental and referred to as Fairytale Valley, diamonds were picked up by the handful as they glittered in the light of the moon. Photographs of the time reveal men crawling across the sand on their bellies searching for the prized stones. There was an enormous demand for workhorses, mules and donkeys for the bustling diamond industry and recreational horses for the new and wealthy elite of Lüderitzbucht. The diamond towns shipped in their material from Europe and the Cape Colony, and built fine houses, theatres, skittle alleys and hospitals. It is said that at Kolmannskuppe, on the outskirts of Lüderitzbucht, champagne was cheaper than water. Colourful stories are recounted of the time, one especially entertaining about a fierce German shepherd dog called Moritz belonging to Madame Zimmer of the Lüderitzbucht brothel. Moritz’s duties included frightening away customers who were not willing to pay and guarding the diamonds that were hidden in the false floor of his kennel.
By September 1908, the German colonial government had proclaimed a prohibited diamond area or ‘Sperrgebiet’, a hundred-kilometre-wide area between the Orange River and the 26-degree latitude, restricting prospecting and unauthorized entry into its borders. Five million carats were found in the proceeding years before production was interrupted by World War l.
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