Visiting Kolmanskop- the real life Namibian ghost town

I really love old, abandoned things and places.
Especially if the residents of a place just packed up and left overnight, so to speak. What would make them do such a thing, we ask? Quite simple: money. More specifically, diamonds.

My husband and I were lucky enough to visit Luderitz, Namibia on business and grabbed the opportunity to do a guided tour around Kolmanskop, the real life ghost town not far away.

In 1908, a railway worker clearing the tracks just outside of Luderitz in southern Namibia made a discovery that would lead to hundreds of German settlers rushing to claim the diamond-rich area. And rich it was. In 1912 alone, it is estimated that more than 1 million carats of diamonds were mined. Miners would literally crawl across the sands on their stomachs at twilight, when the moonlight would glint off the diamonds lying on the desert sands, filling glass jars with precious stones as they went.

The 1300 residents of Kolmanskop revelled in their new-found riches and lived a life of luxury that meant they wanted for nothing. Anything their hearts desired was shipped from across the globe and brought to the desert oasis. Lush gardens abounded, kept green and fertile by water shipped in from hundreds of kilometres away. A school was built along with a hospital that housed the first X-ray machine in the southern hemisphere. A butchery followed, as well as a bakery, an ice factory, a bowling alley, casino, shops and a hall for foreign opera singers and gymnasts to perform in. The first tram in Africa ran between Kolmanskop and Luderitz. The professionals that ran these facilities needed nice houses to live in. Kolmanskop flourished in the Namib desert.

Sadly, World War I wasn't so kind to the town. By the time normal mining activites resumed, the glory days of the big finds were over and the town was in decline. Further south near the Orange River, even bigger diamond reserves were discovered, putting another nail in the coffin of Kolmanskop. Eager to catch the next big thing, miners and their families packed up and headed for greener, richer diamond pastures, leaving their homes and possessions behind to travel south.

Lucky for us, the dry desert air has preserved the abandoned settlement. But Kolmanskop is slowly being reclaimed by the desert sands which blow in through doors and windows no longer protected by glass.

Photographs can't capture the feeling that you get as you ascend the creaking, splintering stairs of the old schoolmaster’s house. Hairs stand up on the back of your neck as you realise that these houses were once home to families that ate dinner together, where children chased each other down the halls and through the gardens. Wives cooked dinner for their miner husbands, did the grocery shopping and socialized with friends; neighbours visited for tea. Until one day, they didn't.

But it feels like they’re still there, watching you.

A visit to Kolmanskop is highly recommended if you ever find yourself in southern Namibia or if you're a lover of abandoned places like I am. Kolmanskop is also a photographers dream! You do need to book a day or two in advance, but any info or tourist office in Luderitz will be able to assist and photographers will pay slightly more for a permit. The German apple cake at the coffee and curio shop is also worth a visit in its own right.

Have you visited Kolmanskop? Please share your experience or comments!