Lüderitz is a coastal town of Southern Namibia. It was founded by the Germans at the beginning of the twentieth century, following the discovery of diamonds in the region. Its architecture reflects its Germanic roots, and you feel anywhere but in Africa when wandering in the colourful streets of the town. As the mining activity migrated in other part of the region, Lüderitz remains now a quiet and charming touristic town.

Kolmanskop the ghost town

The main attraction, at least the main reason for us to come here, was Kolmanskop located 15 kilometres away from Lüderitz. Kolmanskop is an old diamond mining town, which has been completely deserted since the fifties, and has been swept by elements and invaded by sand dunes.The day before, energised by the crisp blue sky we had since we had arrived, I jokingly told Eff that I didn’t know when we would see a cloud again. Well… I should have shut my mouth because we woke up under a cloudy and grey sky. Never mind, we headed to the ghost town, and were there shortly after the opening hours. There were very few people there. The vibes, the sand everywhere and the broken houses mesmerized us straight away. We started by the master houses on the hill, entering the premises through broken doors. There was nothing left inside. Only the faded wallpapers let us imagined there was once life here. The atmosphere was unreal. We went into all houses, entering sometimes through broken windows, passing from one room invaded by sand to another, contemplating all those open doors and faded colours, being the witnesses of old days. There were some tours we could have joined, but we didn’t. There was something very special to be alone in those houses, taking pictures, avoiding the crackling roofs, breaking in by the windows, getting lost in the long halls of the old hospital. The cloudy sky reinforced the ghostly atmosphere when we were inside, but it all cleared out and from outside, the buildings stuck in the sand dunes stood proudly and beautifully under the sun and the blue sky. We enjoyed it so much that we stayed for four hours. We stopped by the exhibition inside the former entertainment hall. It was quite informative and interesting, especially the section about smuggling out diamond tentatives. It is funny to see the resourfulness of people to take their share out of the mines, and how even today the same techniques are used by smugglers. Only downside is that the resources and technology evolved so much that it became barely impossible to take even one diamond home.We had to leave eventually, but did not regret a second the time it took us for this detour. It is very unique and photogenic. We went back to Lüderitz, had lunch and visited the town. We wandered in the colourful streets, walking up the hill to see the church and have nice views over the town and the harbour. Then we picked the car again to go and visit the surroundings. Our visit of Agate beach was quite disappointing. The beach was dirty to say the least and quite unwelcoming, so we left straight away. Luckily we saw some flamingos to give a bit of interest to our little excursion. The second stop at Shark point was much nicer. On top of being a campsite, it is an historical place as one of the concentration camp from the German war with the Herero tribe was located here. Only some sign boards and the story told by the guard are reminders of this sad past, there are no other remnants. We had dinner at a nice seafood restaurant, and had our last night in this incongruous town.

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