- Gondwana Desert Collection/ News



		News 2007News 10.04.07


		The first Train arrived 100 Years ago - 10.04.07 From Good Friday to Easter Sunday this quiet little village in south-western Namibia turned into a hive of festive activity, complete with marquee, stalls, music and dancing. The theme of the celebrations was 'Aus – a century later'. Some 100 years ago the German colonial administration established a railway link between Aus and the harbour town of Lüderitz. A highlight of the festivities was the contest 'Man against Machine': cyclists raced the train for about 20 km from Aus station to the stop at Garub, where the Wild Horses of the Namib come to drink at the trough. The cyclists won the day – thanks to the fact that they pedalled downhill for 18 km whereas the railway line runs in a wide bend to cope with a 500 m difference in altitude.



		The theme for the festivities was chosen deliberately: Aus – a century later. Because on the one hand the first train already pulled into the settlement on 1 November 1906, and on the other hand Aus already existed before the railway line was built: Bushmen and !Aman Oorlam (related to the Nama) had stayed or settled at the spring, which once existed there, long before the Germans arrived. The place was, however, somewhat out of the way of the transport route 30 km further south via Kubub which was used for ox wagon journeys between the interior and the coastal settlement of Lüderitz. Thus Aus started to flourish with the advent of the railways.

		By now Aus takes the position of gateway to the Diamond Restricted Area (Sperrgebiet) which has been declared a national park and is due to be opened up for tourism shortly. Largely untouched by man and seen as one of the last wilderness areas, it offers the grand natural scenery of the Succulent Karoo, the most biodiverse desert on earth.


		- See a more extensive item at - gondwana-sperrgebiet-rand-park