Namibia – Luderitz
8th April 2014
Today we arrived at the Namibian coastal
town of Luderitz, which was a tender port for an excursion entitled Kolmanskop
Diamond Ghost Town.
It was back in 1908 when a railway worker
found a sparkling stone amongst the sand near Kolmanskop in the Namib Desert,
and the rest is history. However because
of a drop in diamond sales the town, over a span of 40 years, lived, flourished
and died. Today it is a ghost town with
the buildings enveloped by the encroaching sand dunes.
The ghost town was built to house the
families of the rich German diamond mine owners, equipped with electric power,
social clubs with a skittle alley, bars, swimming pools, shops etc.
After spending an hour walking around the
ghost town in temperatures in the mid 30’s with not a breath of wind we
returned to the port area where there was a welcome sea breeze and a hotel
selling nice ice cold beers. Here we
spent time strolling around the brightly painted colonial German-style
buildings.
Doreen found a small shop where she was
introduced to the local “gemstones” – not ones to wear – and I spent hours
picking out a selection (see photograph).
They include Jasper, Amethyst,
Tigers Eye, Unakite, various
forms of Agate, Sodalite, plus many, many more, all very beautiful. Quite what I am going to do with them I am
not quite sure yet.
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