Latitude: 26° 38.4852′ S
Longitude: 15° 09.2238′ E
Today we made our first stop on the trip: Luderitz, Namibia.
I had been looking forward to Luderitz for one reason: the Kolmanskopf Ghost Town. I had seen photos taken by other photographers that blew me away. Kolmanskopf is a German diamond mining town just outside of Luderitz that was established in the very early parts of the 20th century and abandoned about 50 years ago. The buildings and some of the furnishings are still in place and are slowly being reclaimed by the desert.
My goal was to get several images of the abandoned buildings, half filled with sand. To that end, I’d say my mission was accomplished.
That being said, I would have gladly stayed in Kolmanskopf for several more hours if I could, however, I was probably the only person on the ship who really wanted to spend that much time with a bunch of dilapidated buildings. Our Luderitz stop was only four hours. While that is pretty short, there also really isn’t that much to see or do in Luderitz. Luderitz is notable because it is pretty much the only thing between Cape Town and Swakopmund. It is a small town whose signature trait is its German Colonial buildings.
We did a walking tour of the town which took a bit over a half and hour and managed to cover most of what can be seen in the town, which gives you an idea just how small the town is.
We arrived in Luderitz a bit ahead of schedule which meant we were able to leave early and will spend more time tomorrow in Walvis Bay/Swakopmund.
Walvis Bay/Swakopmund is the only stop on the cruise which visits a place I’ve been before. I hope to at least get a brief bit of wifi to upload some photos before we head further up the coast. I did manage to upload the photo on this page from the ship, but it is really slow and difficult to do. If I can upload one photo a day during the trip, I’ll be pleased.
Next Stop: Walvis Bay/Swakopmund, Namibia
That’s a sweet shot. It’s actually what caught my eye to check out this post. Are you planning to publish a photo essay of this town somewhere? Here or another site? I would love to see more of these. Ghost towns are wicked.
I was there… Very nice.
Really looking forward to seeing from of these photos… hopefully more of these buildings too :-)
Derelict buildings are fascinating by themselves, let alone when being engulfed by the desert. I can see why you would want to stay longer!
~ K
Great image,great impact.
I work in black and white and have some images from outback Australia depicting deserted ,derelict scenes. The temporary nature of things.
I have been actually doing a lot of B&W so far because of the harsh sunlight I’ve had most days.
I once took a photo “safari” to an abandoned town in South Dakota and got similar photos, but instead of sand, the buildings had been taken over by weeds.
There is no special permit required to visit Kolmanskopf.
Your Messags far as we heard, due to its location within the restricted area (Sperrgebiet) of the Namib desert, tourists need a permit to enter the town. Is it stil true?