Around the World in 128 Days - Lüderitz, Namibia - Kolmanskuppe Abandoned Mining Town

 

Travel Day 109 - April 21, 2024 - 13,196 Steps

The Zuiderdam was moored at the mouth of the bay when Lüderitz, Namibia was situated with the sun just below the horizon at the moment this photo was taken.

The are is rocks and sand with very little vegetation. The reason for the sparseness of vegetation may have something to do with the fact the average amount of rainfall per year is a meniscal 0.67 inches. 

It's a convoy! Not really, five 14 passenger vans with 8 people in each heading out of town for the 15 minute drive to Kolmanskuppe.

The mined material was diamonds, but mined in completely different way than the deep mining that is the typical method of mining diamonds.

Very, very few of the buildings in the town had to with the diamonds. The reason being the diamonds were simply scooped out of the sand in the surrounding area. But you say, diamonds are found in the vertical tubes of long extinct volcanos of a certain type. True and those volcanos are located some distance away in South Africa. However, millions of years ago a river washed diamonds eroded from those volcanos into the sea. this area all being covered by that sea at the the time. Currents carried the diamonds to this area and when the sea level dropped here they were waiting for someone to find them simply by digging in the sand.

Most of the buildings were to support the men who were employed to pick up the diamonds. When the easy ones near the surface were gone they used machines to sift the sand down to about 15 feet and when all the sand was sifted the "mining" operation moved to other locations leaving the buildings behind.

I thought it made for a good photo.

Ice plant because when you live in the desert you and everything else gets hot.

Curious Bob.

What I was looking at. My Dad spent his entire working life with electric meters, so I am always drawn to them.

Not all the buildings were strictly utilitarian in design.

Inside the large meeting room that doubled as a gymnasium.

The farther away the fancier they were.

People who wear shoes get sand in them in the desert. Those that wear Tevas know the sand is cold in the shade and warm in the sun.

And she said to me, "Had to video it, didn't you."

Yup, she's got to have her rock.

One row of chairs in the shade and one in the sun. But Linda is in the shade of the van.

I took a chair over here when she was deciding that sitting in the sun would be no fun. It turned out there was a cool breeze blowing around the front corner of the van and she was a very happy camper sitting here.

Instead of sitting around, I walked around discovering the bowling alley.

Three pins still standing.

As we were waiting to board the tender we spied a couple of friendly faces aboard a catamaran leaving on an excursion.

Not a very big town, but a very nice town.

The Namib Desert comes right down to the water just north of town.

There have been many shipwrecks along those waters over the years.

I'm guessing they are cormorants.

Gull taking flight with something red in its bill.

The only fishing boat we saw as it returns to port.

And a few more photos of gulls taking flight to end the day.