Paul Simon is running through my head as I trudge through the sandy streets of Kolmanskop.
 “People say she's crazy,
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes.
Well that's one way to lose these walking blues.
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes.”
It's unlikely that the shorter half of Simon & Garfunkel ever wandered the windswept hills outside Lüderitz on Namibia's southwest coastline, but his song couldn't have been more fitting.
In 1909 railway workers laying tracks to the interior literally stumbled over diamonds lying loose on the white sands of the desert stretching east, giving rise to Lüderitz's remarkable boom and inevitable bust. Fortune-seekers came from across the globe and transformed the small trading town first settled in 1883 by one Adolf Lüderitz.
Enterprising young miners became millionaires overnight, but as the diamonds became harder to find and two World Wars took their toll, Lüderitz slipped slowly into the quiet little spot it is today.
Fishing and rock lobster took the place of gleaming gems as the source of the town’s wealth, but even those are dwindling. The diamonds of Kolmanskop may be long gone, but the source of that great wealth has brought a new goldmine to the town: tourism.
Kolmanskop and the diamond ghost towns
Lying 15-kilometres outside town, Kolmanskop was once one of the most prosperous towns in southern Africa. Home to 300 German diamond workers and nearly 1000 local labourers, the town was a bustling centre which boasted its own swimming pool, school, bowling alley and even attracted European opera stars to perform in the entertainment hall!
Such was the wealth that water for the residents was shipped all the way from Cape Town, and the town was home to southern Africa’s first X-ray machine. The jury's still out on whether it was intended for uncovering smuggled diamonds or medical emergencies!
Today the village has become a ghostly reminder of the bustling diamond days. Guided tours of Kolmanskop take place daily, with well-informed guides bringing the ruined buildings to life. However, it is well worth exploring on your own for an hour or two, so get there early and wander the deserted streets before the crowds arrive. You might even spot the town's only ‘permanent’ resident; a wandering Brown Hyena. Do stop in at the small museum with its entertaining display of the ingenious ways miners tried to smuggle out diamonds, and end off with a tasty scone from the tearoom.
Kolmanskop is certainly the most famous of the area's ghost towns, but a number of other villages lie crumbling in the desert, and can be visited on day-tours from Lüderitz.
If ghost towns are your thing, a number of local tour companies combine a Kolmanskop tour with a trip to Elizabeth Bay, an even more spectacular deserted town deep in the Sperregebiet – 'forbidden zone' – to the south of Lüderitz. Because this is still a restricted diamond-mining zone these tours need to be booked in advance, but are worth planning ahead for. Most tours also include a visit to the spectacular Bogenfels Arch.
Goerke Haus
The houses of Kolmanskop may lie desolate and deserted, the relentless wind blowing sand through doorways and ripping shutters from window-frames, but some of the magnificent Art Nouveau homes built by wealthy diamond barons still stand proud in the city streets today.
The most famous of these is Goerke Haus, which sits regally on Am Diamantberg Street. Hans Goerke, once the Inspector of Mines, was a powerful man in Lüderitz and his multi-story mansion offers a wonderful glimpse at the way life was lived when diamonds were plentiful and the world was Lüderitz's oyster.
Goerke Haus is open to the public most days of the week except when executives from De Beers, who still mine in the area, use it as their Lüderitz home away from home. Keep an eye out for the magnificent stained glass windows on the staircase.
Church on the rock
A few steps away from Goerke Haus, the Felsenkirche dominates the skyline above Lüderitz.
Built in 1912, the Felsenkirche is grey and brooding from the outside, but it’s a stern outlook that is transformed the moment you step through the doors.
Stained glass windows of Martin Luther (this is a Lutheran church after all) and passages from the Bible dominate the walls, casting a luminous yellow and red light across the pews. Look out behind the altar for the family crests of the German aristocracy who donated many of the windows.
The Felsenkirche is open for an hour each afternoon: this changes according to the season, so it’s best to check the church door for times. From the Felsenkirche, be sure to climb the eponymous ‘rock’ for the best view in town. A 360-degree vista falls away below you; windswept Second Lagoon to your left, the bustling fishing harbour dead ahead and the sweeping curve of Agate beach to your right. In the far distance, the towering dunes of the Namib Desert held at bay by the Atlantic.
Wild horses of the Namib
Being the wild, inhospitable places they are, deserts are good at keeping secrets, and one of the best Namibia has to offer is to be found where the Namib peters out to the east of town.
Nobody’s quite sure where the wild horses of the Namib came from, but after years of research the commonly accepted theory is that they are descendants of South African army horses that escaped during the First World War.
Decades later the horses have adapted to their harsh life in the desert, which often entails walking up to 70-kilomeres a day to find grazing. To ensure the continued survival of the herds a waterhole has been set up on the road from Lüderitz to Aus, and the ‘hide’ there makes it easy to get close to these magnificent creatures.
Head out to sea
From the desert to the deep blue sea, Lüderitz is perched between the Namib and the icy Atlantic and when the wind calms (Autumn and Spring are best) a trip onto the big blue is a must.
A popular option is one of the regular sailings on the heritage schooner ‘Sedina’, which runs daily charters out past Dias Point and on to Halifax Island, home to a colony of African penguins. If you’re travelling in a group, local tour guide Günther Berens offers charters on his sailing yacht 'Sturmvogel', and sunset cruises can also be arranged. Both boats leave from the revamped waterfront development, which has become a popular spot for shopping and dining.
Diaz Point
The seas off Lüderitz have a rich maritime history, stretching back to the 1400s when the Portuguese stopped off here en route to India. Explorer Bartolomeu Dias erected a padrão at Diaz Point on his homeward voyage to Portugal in 1488 after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, and a replica of the cross can still be seen on the Point today.
It’s a stormy, windswept place, but makes for a wonderful excursion from town. A well-marked self-drive route takes you out past Radford Bay – named for an English trader who lived here in the mid-1800s – and on to Second Lagoon.
This is the first of a number of excellent bird-watching spots, and you’ll find Curly Sandpipers, Grey lapwings, flamingos and myriad waders here at various times of the year. Thanks to its flat water and strong summer winds this is also a favoured spot for high-speed kite- and windsurfing!
On the exposed Atlantic coastline, Grossebucht (Big Bay) is a wild and woolly spot for walking, and the dunes just inland are home to a breeding colony of the endangered Damara Tern. Take your binoculars for as spot of bird watching, but don't drive off-road!
Where to stay
After a windswept day you’ll want somewhere comfortable to retreat to. There are a number of hotel and family-run B&Bs in Lüderitz, but far and away the best place to stay in town is The Nest Hotel.
Perched right on the water’s edge all of the rooms are sea facing, but the best bet are the ground floor rooms which have sliding doors opening right onto the water and offer magnificent views across the lagoon. Lüderitz is home to a sizeable fishing fleet and you’ll find a variety of fresh seafood, including the famous Lüderitz oysters and Rock Lobsters, in the hotel’s Penguin Restaurant.
Other good options are the Protea Hotel Sea-View Zum Sperrgebiet or the low-key Bayview Hotel in the centre of town.
Sea views are unavoidable in Luderitz, as are desert vistas. Crowded between the icy Atlantic and hostile Namib desert, Lüderitz is perhaps not unlike the gems which gave the town life exactly 100 years ago this year. Tough on the outside, yet gleaming and enchanting when you take the time to discover and polish your find. A rough diamond, lying quietly in the sands, just waiting to be discovered.
First published in Explore Namibia; Winter 2009
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