Ghost Town

Today we had a very interesting walking tour at Kolmanskop, a deserted diamond mining town several kilometers outside of Luderitz, Namibia.

A diamond was discovered in 1908 by a railroad worker, and shortly afterwards the town developed.  For several years it prospered, and the residents enjoyed facilities such as a casino, bowling alley, restaurant, and hospital -- home of the first X-ray station in the southern hemisphere!  By 1928 the town was in decline as the diamond field started to become depleted, and a much larger deposit was discovered 170 miles south near the Orange River.

Today the wind blows the sand through empty homes and offices -- now home only to snakes, beetles, and other desert creatures.  It is certainly a very atmospheric place, and also quite eerie to wander the hallways of abandoned houses now filled with very little other than several feet of sand in some places.