Kolmanskop Ghost Town Namibia
Abandoned mining town at the edge of the
Sperrgebiet about 10km east of Luderitz
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You'll drive past
Kolmanskop on your way to
Luderitz.
It lies about 10km inland on the South side
of the road, nearly opposite the small Luderitz Airport. I strongly recommend
you pay a visit as this is where an important
part of Namibia's commercial history was played out, but first:
Coleman's Kop
or Kolmanskop - What's in a
name ?:
The road outside of
Luderitz is, at certain times of
the year, plagued with high winds and sandstorms. There are occasions
when the road becomes unusable owing to the depth of sand coverage. The
accumulated sand then has to be removed with large mechanized loading
shovels. It was in 1905 that transport driver Johnny Coleman
was caught in such a storm and
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had to abandon his oxen wagon
near a rocky outcrop about 10km outside of
Luderitz. The place was
referred to as Coleman's kop Kolmanskop or Kolmanskuppe (Kop meaning a hill or rocky outcrop). Kolman being the German way of spelling Johnny's name.
Kolmanskop Ghost Town Tours:
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Tours of the town can only be done with Ghost
Town Tours and commence at 09:00 and 11:00 Mondays to Fridays. The muster
point is at the mine's old Entertainment Centre Building, which now serves
as the tour company offices where you buy your tour-ticket, plus coffee bar,
curio shop and even a shop where you can buy diamonds. They tell me that
they are cheaper here, but as I wasn't in the market for buying diamonds
that particular day, I can't really pass a comment.
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SPERRGEBIET
Restricted Area |
Entrance gate to Ghost Town Tours |
View of Ghost Town from the B4 road |
In the 'good old days' this building housed a
gymnasium, a theatre, a skittle alley, a casino etc. all adding to the
quality of life for the miners and their families, but those days have long
gone. I have to give credit to those old miners. Look at the springboard in
the below gymnasium photo. It's powered by a couple of truck springs, for a
guaranteed lift. The old houses
of
Kolmanskop have long ago been
abandoned to the desert ands stand as a silent testament to the
grand lifestyle that the staff were accustomed to living in this
remote, dry and wind-swept place. Life for the diamond
diggers in the desert was made as comfortable as possible. One has
to consider as to how many homes in Europe and America had
'refrigeration' facilities in those far off years. Each house came
equipped with a 'cooler cabinet' for storing food. Narrow gauge rail mounted cars pulled
by horses transported the people around the town and made daily
deliveries of drinking water and ice to every house.
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The lifespan of the town was
miniscule in geological terms. The sand-sea of the South
Namib Desert moves relentlessly Northwards and eventually
will completely cover the site on which the town stood.
Presently, it affords us an opportunity to snap some unusual
and memorable photographs. But, and please take note of this
warning - be careful where you walk. Some of the floors in
the buildings are not too safe.
The Kolmanskop
Museum:
This is where the tour guide
will give you a fascinating history lesson on the diamond fields of
the area during the early part of the last Century, and
the diamond rush of 1908. There's a
yard with a variety of equipment that was used
by the early diggers for
sorting the diamonds from the sands.
Acknowledgements and further reading:
H3, H5, M4, P1
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Old Kolmanskop
Of Interest: Even to this day, if you wander across the fence
into Diamond Area no 1 you are liable for prosecution.
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