Hiking the Schutztruppe Trail – wild horses and a desert in bloom

 

Blogger on viewpoint
Schutztruppe Trail, Klein Aus Vista
Namibia 2026

One of the great attractions around Klein-Aus Vista, on the edge of Tsau Khaeb National Park (Sperrgebiet area), is the choice of hiking trails, ranging from relatively easy walks to more demanding mountain routes. There are also numerous mountain-bike trails winding through the rocky landscape. The trails are clearly marked with different-coloured arrows, and information reception is available at Klein Aus Vista which can provide maps and details of the individual routes.

We are given an overview of the various possibilities on arrival and decide on the yellow-marked Schutztruppe Trail.

Schutztruppe Trail
Namibia 2026

According to the Klein-Aus Vista guide, the trail is 10.8 km long, takes approximately three hours and is graded Easy to Intermediate. It is described as a particularly varied route through the Aus Mountains, combining spectacular scenery with the fascinating historical remains of the area.

The trail starts at the Klein-Aus Vista campsite – a place that brings back memories, as we stayed here with our children back in 2009. From the campsite, we climb towards one of the high viewpoints. The trail initially follows the same section as the Vista Trail, which climbs gradually before reaching a junction and then continues up to the viewpoint. The final 400-metre climb is rewarded with a magnificent panorama over the desert plains, with the vast horizon stretching seemingly forever. From here you can also look down towards the Stone Horse, the large land-art sculpture galloping across the desert floor.

It is the perfect place for our first little break.

Wife and family
Schutztruppe Trail viewpoint
Namibia 2026

We return along the trail to the junction before continuing on the yellow route. Soon we reach a gate and enter a landscape of enormous granite boulders and dry riverbeds. A particularly beautiful section takes us through an almost alley-like row of (Pappea capensis) trees, providing some welcome shade before the trail winds onwards through the rocky terrain.

Eventually the trail joins one of the old Schutztruppe support roads. These historic tracks once connected the German positions on the western side of the Aus Mountains with water and supplies further east. During the First World War, soldiers, horses and mules used these steep and winding routes to cross the mountains.

We pause in the shade of a huge boulder for a while, enjoying the extraordinary surroundings. It is one of those places where the scale of the landscape makes you feel very small indeed.

The route then continues upwards – considerably longer and somewhat steeper than we had expected – before eventually beginning the descent towards Geisterschlucht, or Ghost Valley.

The route then continues upwards
Schutztruppe Trail
Namibia 2026

The Hudson in Ghost Valley

At the bottom of the valley we come across one of the area's strangest historical relics: an old, completely rusted Hudson Terraplane car, its bodywork still peppered with bullet holes. The story is worthy of a desert legend. 

Rusted Hudson Terraplane car
bodywork peppered with bullet holes
Namibia 2026

According to the local tale, the 1934 Hudson Terraplane car belonged to two diamond smugglers who had stolen diamonds from the nearby Sperrgebiet. They were pursued by the police and eventually caught in Geisterschlucht, where a gunfight took place. Both smugglers were killed, but the diamonds were never recovered (we did not find them). According to the legend, their ghosts still return to the valley on moonlit nights, searching for their lost treasure. The rusty, bullet-riddled car is therefore said to be the very relic of that dramatic encounter.

Whether the story is entirely true is another matter. As with so many old Namibian stories, fact and legend have become rather inseparable over the years. But standing beside the rusting Hudson, deep in this isolated valley, it is remarkably easy to believe that there might be something to the story.

Blogger and wife
Rusted Hudson Terraplane car
Namibia 2026

The wild horses of the Namib

Just after leaving the old Hudson and emerging from the valley, we suddenly spot Namibia's famous wild horses.

And what a sight.

We encounter Namibia's famous wild horses
Klein Aus Vista, Namibia 2026

They are standing in absolutely magnificent light, with the mountains and the immense desert landscape behind them. It is one of those completely unexpected wildlife encounters that makes you stop in your tracks. How lucky can you be?

The horses of the Namib are not indigenous African wild horses but descend from domestic horses introduced by Europeans. Their precise origins have been debated for decades. The two strongest theories connect them with horses from the Kubub stud farm near Aus and with horses belonging to the South African Union forces stationed at Garub during the First World War. In 1915, a German aircraft bombed the Union camp at Garub, reportedly scattering around 1,700 grazing cavalry horses. Some of the horses may have escaped and never been recaptured.

The Kubub theory is particularly intriguing. Emil Kreplin, a former mayor of Lüderitz, operated a stud farm at Kubub and bred both workhorses and racehorses. Historical photographs show striking similarities between some of these horses and today's Namib horses. Over time, abandoned and escaped horses are thought to have moved towards the permanent water supply at Garub, where they gradually established the free-ranging population we know today.

Namibia's famous wild horses
Klein Aus Vista
 Namibia 2026

Their survival in such an extreme environment is remarkable. They have adapted to an arid landscape where water and grazing are both scarce, and the population has repeatedly been reduced by severe drought and predation. The Klein-Aus Vista booklet notes that the population declined dramatically during a period of drought and spotted-hyena predation, from around 190 animals to only 74 while the Stone Horse land-art project was being created.

The horses have therefore become much more than simply an unusual attraction. They are a symbol of survival and adaptation in one of the harshest environments imaginable.

And seeing them here, unexpectedly and in such perfect light, makes the encounter all the more special.

A desert in bloom

Flowers on the  Schutztruppe Trail
Klein Aus Vista, Namibia 2026

The walk takes us considerably longer than the three hours suggested in the booklet – although that is hardly surprising. We stop constantly to enjoy the view and take photos.

The landscape is simply too beautiful to hurry through.

Following good winter rainfall, the normally austere desert can be transformed almost beyond recognition. Tiny succulents and other desert plants burst into flower, creating carpets of pink, purple, yellow and white between the rocks. The area around Aus is exceptionally biodiverse despite receiving only around 80–90 mm of rain annually. It lies at the meeting point of three biomes – the Southern Namib Desert, Nama Karoo and Succulent Karoo – while differences in rainfall, slopes, soils and rock formations create an extraordinary diversity of habitats. Many of the plants and animals are endemic to the region. 

Flowers on the  Schutztruppe Trail
Klein Aus Vista, Namibia 2026

This is the famous Namibian desert flower spectacle, and we are lucky enough to experience it at its best. We take far too many photographs of flowers that are tiny and easy to overlook under normal circumstances, but which, after rain, transform the entire landscape.

It is one of the great pleasures of travelling in Namibia: learning to look down as well as across.

A landscape shaped by time

For the nerds, the scenery around Klein-Aus Vista is not simply beautiful – it is extraordinarily old.

The Aus Mountains form part of the ancient Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex, with geological formations dating back roughly two billion years. Around Klein-Aus Vista, the rocks include granitic gneisses, pink quartz-feldspar rocks, quartz veins, biotite schists and amphibolites. The rounded granite boulders are particularly characteristic and have been shaped over immense periods by weathering.

The desert climate continues to shape the landscape today. Strong winds carry sand from the surrounding plains, while intense temperature differences between day and night cause rocks to expand and contract. Layers of rock gradually peel away in a process known as onion-skin weathering, producing the rounded boulders and sculptural rock formations that are so characteristic of Klein-Aus Vista. 

Eagels Nest, Klein Aus Vista
Rounded boulders & sculptural rocks
Namibia 2026

The result is a remarkable combination of bare rock, dry riverbeds, mountain slopes, isolated trees and succulents – seemingly barren at first glance, but actually supporting a surprisingly rich ecosystem.

And this is perhaps what makes walking here so rewarding. The landscape is vast, but the really interesting things are often very small.

After 11 kilometres of walking, countless photographs and more stops than we can remember, we finally make it back to the campsite and our car before driving the 7 km to Eagels Nest.

It has been an excellent way to get some exercise after all those hours spent sitting in the car.

And after a long walk through the mountains, our grilled dinner tastes especially good that evening.

Blogger and wife relaxing at The Boulder
Waiting for braai and sunset
Namibia 2026

Sunset from the terrasse The Boulder
Eagels Nest, Klein Aus Vista
Namibia 2026