Luderitz, Namibia

 

April 14th:

Namibia is a new country.  Independence from South Africa was gained in 1990. Originally, this was a German Colony called German Southwest Africa.

The coast line showed us one of the major features of Namibia, desert.  Namibia claims the title to having the tallest coastal sand dune in the world.  The desert extended right down to the Atlantic Ocean.

Entering the harbor we were treated to what looked like a small European Village with a Church located on the top of the hill.

       

The tour for this morning was to the Kolmanskop ghost town located about 15 miles inland from Luderitz.  Kolmanskop was the town supporting a diamond mining operation in the area.  This town started in the late 1890’s and was finally abandoned when the diamond operation moved elsewhere in 1940.  We expected to see something like Bodie, California, or some of the old Arizona towns.  What we saw instead was a series of brick, stone, and stucco buildings.

Water and its delivery was an important  activity in the town since there was no source of potable water in the area.   The small train (only a few cars are left) shown below was used to deliver 40 liters (about 11 gallons) of water to each home in the community daily.  Besides general deterioration of the buildings, sand encroachment was a major problem.

                  

These two building were the homes of the chief engineer and the quartermaster for the diamond mining operation.

 

While the front of the buildings didn’t look too bad, as we walked around to the uphill side of the quartermaster’s home, we saw the effects of the movement of the sand.

As we walked through the community, a small water basin attracted some small birds.  While many looked like wrens, this one was a Weaver Bird.   It was similar to a variety of Weaver Bird we saw in Tanzania last fall.