We
are in Luderitz, Namibia today. We
tendered in to the port and caught our buses to take us out into the desert.
Our
destination is Kolmanskuppe, a not so old ghost town. Kolmanskuppe was a settlement for a German
diamond mining operation. Diamonds were discovered
in the area around 1909 and the town was founded shortly thereafter. At its peak the town had a hospital, ice
factory (everyone got a daily half block of ice for their ice box), power station,
theater, swimming pool, bowling alley and the first x-ray machine in the
southern hemisphere.
They have kept one home in good repair and furnished with furniture from the period.
The diamonds supply eventually declined and the world’s largest diamond deposits were discovered in the Orange River area 270 km south of Kolmanskuppe. So everyone abandoned town and headed to the new diamond fields.
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| Ice Making molds |
The diamonds supply eventually declined and the world’s largest diamond deposits were discovered in the Orange River area 270 km south of Kolmanskuppe. So everyone abandoned town and headed to the new diamond fields.
The
desert is gradually taking over the area with the buildings now sporting broken
windows and sagging roofs and doors.
Some of the buildings are quite full of sand. And some of the abandoned household items were used for display.
While
the tour was very good we had very little time to actually explore the
town. Apparently a lot of people complained
so we got a partial refund on the tour.
Unfortunately that still doesn’t make up for missing all the interesting
photo opportunities.
Some of the buildings are quite full of sand. And some of the abandoned household items were used for display.
In
the afternoon we took a walking tour of Luderitz, founded in 1883. The harbor was pretty quiet.
It was Saturday and it was surprising how totally devoid of human activity the town seemed to be. There were a few people at the landing pier with their merchandise to sell, we saw a few at a couple of stores, and a very few cars driving through town.
It was Saturday and it was surprising how totally devoid of human activity the town seemed to be. There were a few people at the landing pier with their merchandise to sell, we saw a few at a couple of stores, and a very few cars driving through town.
Many
of the town’s buildings are in German Colonial style.
And others were very colorful.
There was a particularly elegant mansion, the Haus Goerke, that was built for a young German bride around the turn of the 20th century. She hated the town and the couple headed back to Germany after living in the home for only two years.
We had great views of the town and ocean beyond from the balcony of the house.
There was a particularly elegant mansion, the Haus Goerke, that was built for a young German bride around the turn of the 20th century. She hated the town and the couple headed back to Germany after living in the home for only two years.
We had great views of the town and ocean beyond from the balcony of the house.
We
also saw the Catholic church of St. Peter and Paul…
and
the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Felsenkirche.
After getting back from the tour we decided that ice cream was needed. So we stopped in for milk shakes. While waiting for our shakes we started
talking with a gentleman waiting for his.
It turned out to be Eugene Robinson, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and
a regular commentator on MSNBC. We are
so excited as he is one of the lecturer’s. Can’t wait to see what he presents.
Later
in the afternoon we went to a lecture on the area called “Ships, Sand and
Skeletons”. A nearby area of the coastline in
Northern Namibia is called the Skeleton Coast due to its many shipwrecks and
the talk described some of the wrecks. Rescues
of shipwreck survivors were incredibly difficult because of the remoteness of
the area, the rough seas, and the massive sand dunes.
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