Kolmanskop

In 1908, at Grasplatz station in the middle of the rock-strewn desert between Aus and Luderitz, the railway line inspector, busy keeping sand off the track, picked up a stone that turned out to be the first diamond in the region.

Kolmanskop, on the outskirts of Luderitz, became a diamond boom town with a casino, a skittle alley and a theatre of great acoustic renown. The stage and décor still appear ready for an evening show, should anybody turn up, which is highly unlikely.

Diamonds were so plentiful here that they could be picked up off the ground. Five million carats (about 1000 kilograms) of diamonds were found here between 1911 and 1914. But the town suffered from severe water problems and a constant, sand-blasting wind so, in 1926, when larger diamonds and a richer field were found further south at the mouth of the Orange River, Kolmanskop began a slow decline to its current, utterly deserted and ghostly state.

Take a guided tour around this eerie and fascinating town, whose buildings are being swallowed, slowly but surely, by the shifting sands.

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