Diamonds are forever - but not the miners

Mon 20 Jun 2016 - Kolmanskoop ghost town

This morning was cloudy at the Alte Kalkofen lodge - the first clouds we’ve seen in Namibia and when Glenn remarked on this to Frikke he slapped him on the arm and said “ya, strange weather”. He did, however, promise that they would break in the afternoon and he was right.

The B4 is one of only 8 primary tarred roads in Namibia and as we set off at 0830 - the rush hour? - one might have expected to encounter some traffic, however, in the 2 hour, 230km drive we saw 26 cars and two lorries. What we would give for a rush hour like that at home! The journey itself was a real surprise. Who’d have thought that desert and semi desert could be so scenic - it really was quite stunning. Vast open plains of sand or rock with the road, a single railway line and a couple of power lines marching in dead straight lines towards the distant hills and the odd Oryx wandering across in front of us. This place is just so empty we just couldn’t imagine what possessed the early settlers to think of leaving the coast to take a look.

Our objective for today was Kolmanskoop, a ghost town in the middle of the desert. In the early 1900’s a German railway inspector working on the line from the coastal port of Luderitz to Aus found some diamonds literally lying beside the railway line. For a while he kept his discovery secret from his employer and the German government but eventually word got out and then most of the men from the nearby town of Luderitz and many from Germany descended on the area to make their fortune. Most did. At first all that was necessary was for them to crawl on their hands and knees and scoop the diamonds from the surface (that’s my sort of mining) but as the initial hoard was hovered up digging and sieving were required, which is when the town and it’s associated mine buildings were built. 

As you can imagine it soon became a wealthy place with grand houses with fridges; an ice factory producing free ice for everyone; a social club; a bowling alley; a shop, where the currency was diamonds, making the shop keeper an extremely wealthy woman; and a little mule drawn train to move people and goods around. Some years later an even greater hoard of larger diamonds was found to the south, and still produces a significant portion of today’s gems, and Kolmanskoop’s fate was sealed. By 1956 the town was deserted, as it were, and the desert sands began to reclaim it.

It was this ghost town that we came to see and after taking a guided tour we were left to wander around the buildings, many of them filled with sand, and marvel at the luxury these folks lived in back in the day. There was an interesting museum with photos of the town in its prime and an intriguing section on all the ways that employees have tried to smuggle diamonds out including strapping diamonds to carrier pigeons. Unfortunately many pigeons were intercepted and relieved of the booty and then followed as they flew straight back home to the thieves. Currently pigeon owning is banned throughout the state.

At 1300 the town closed for the day and after a roadside lunch we made our way to Luderitz, the original German settlement bought from the local tribal chief for a pittance. Today it’s main industry is fishing and we drove around the relatively charmless town centre trying to find a cafe with internet so Glenn could finally make a skype call to get his credit card unblocked. While he was glued to his phone and laptop Yvonne had a chat with the waitress, the first black person we have conversed with in Africa. She asked why we did not have any children and when Yvonne stated that she was too old the young lady assured her that children are a blessing - I’m sure there are many of us who may not entirely share this sentiment. The young lady was due to celebrate her 21st in August along with her two elder sisters, 27 and 29 both, unusually, still unmarried. These women had no parents as both had passed away and we wondered if HIV/Aids had touched this family as it is a massive problem for Namibia, especially for women.

With Glenn’s credit card back in action and with one eye on the time we started back for home in a race against the setting sun, which falls from the sky around 1700 here. The return journey was even more stunning in the low sun’s cherry hued rays and we stopped several times to try to capture the vast desert vistas, alas in vain. Some things just can’t be captured by a camera. 
As we drove along the B4 the stiff afternoon breeze was blowing sand from the neighbouring dunes across the road in delicate sheets which, along with the countless mirages, created a strangely disorientating effect. The traffic was more noticeable but still very light yet on the two occasions, just two in 240km, we needed to overtake a lorry another one was coming in the opposite direction - how does that happen!

Back at the Alta Kalkofen we arrived just in time for another glorious sunset/moon rise whilst taking sundowner drinks with Frikke and discovering that he used to be in banking until he bought this place 7 years ago - something he regrets leaving so late in his life. 

The sands have all but taken the old school 

Inside the single mens' quarters

Probably the toilets

Kolmanskoop 

No way !

Power lines

Desert panorama