Kolmanskop, Namibia: What Happens After the Sparkle Fades Out

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Kolmanskop is a little town of Namibia that was once the oasis of diamonds, a few bustling center for people who aspires to get rich and a warm, glowing place for anyone who wants to take shelter against the harsh conditions of Namib Desert.

Now, the place was stripped down of its former glory, a lonesome little piece of land amidst the vast desert, standing in a forgotten place to be a tourist destination serving as a monument of what was life after the sparkle fades out.

LOCATION

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Kolmanskop, an Afrikaans terminology for Coleman’s hill, or also known as Kolmanskuppe in German is a little town that lies in the Sperrgebiet National Park or also known as the Diamond Area 1. Sperrgiebet, a German term for “prohibited area” makes up only three percent of the total Namibia land mass at 26, 000 square kilometers. It faces the Atlantic Ocean with the little town of Kolmanskop located at this edge.

The nearest place to Kolmanskop is Lüderitz. Further down south is Oranjemund, where the diamonds truly abound, and to its southeast lies the Fish River Canyon.

CLIMATE

The temperature in Kolmanskop is unsurprisingly arid. Based on the data collected from years 2000 to 2012 indicates that the coolest month in this town is during August where the minimum average temperature is 10 degrees Celsius, while the maximum average is at 19.

From there, it starts to heat up until it reaches its hottest months, which happens from December to March where the minimum average temperature is at 14 to 15 degrees Celsius while the maximum average of 23 to 24. The town is also very dry where the maximum average rainfall only peaks at two days from the months of April to May. Precipitation is only at 14.9 mm during April.

TRANSPORTATION

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The Windhoek Airport serves different flights all across the globe. Once you are in Windhoek, you can fly through their domestic flights towards Luderitz Airport if you plan on going directly to Kolmanskop.

The flight from Windhoek to Luderitz lasts for one hour. At Luderitz airport, there’s a car rental that will take you to Kolmanskop through the 12-kilometer B4 road.

On the other hand, it is better if you have a guided tour that will take you to the town of Kolmanskop, as permits are needed to access the town. Luderitz Tour & Safaris at Bismarck Street provides tickets for guided tours that costs N$60 per person. You also need your passport in order to see the town since it is located in a restricted area.

ATTRACTION

TOURING THE GHOSTTOWN OF KOLMANSKOP, NAMIBIA

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Named after the transport driver Johnny Coleman, Kolmanskop is your perfect little setting for any horror or gruesome movies.

In fact, this little town has been featured in many different movies, episodes, and photo shoots for its eerie surrounding with an added appeal of its history.

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This line of abandoned houses was just a part of the settlement that sheltered more than a thousand people who has also once brave the fate in order to gain the wealth they thought Kolmanskop holds. It’s in the early 1900, in the year of 1908 specifically, that the first diamond was dug in this spot by the man named Zacharias Lewala.

It was because of this event that this houses were German-type houses were built. People rushed in this area for what they hope was turning point of their lives. The people may have not acquired that turning point, but that event was enough for the place itself to gain some life and shine on its own – even just for forty years.

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Looking around now, you’ll see nothing more than a few bushes surviving the heat of the dessert and a some desolate structures slowly being buried by swathes of sands, but looking past those is a piece of the past you would love a glimpse of in the form of fading, peeling paint and slowly crumbling furniture left behind millennium ago.

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Apart from hospital, power station, theater, school, ballroom, casino, and ice factory that has taken foundation in this land is another structure that signifies the former wealth of Kolmanskop. The train station has been the witness when this town was still the center of trade and commerce.

But now, the witness itself was already decaying and soon, it will be overtaken by the sand as well and there’s no more solid piece of evidence that will echo the former glory of Kolmanskop.

GHOST TOWN TAVERN

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Exhausted? The Kolmanskop was run by a joint firm NamDeb who built establishment for tourist’s benefits. There are a number of pubs and restaurant around 12 kilometer radius ready to serve you. But there is one in the vicinity itself named Ghost Town Tavern that serves baked delicacies and light lunches. It is open from Monday ‘til Saturdays and closed on Sundays and public holidays

PHOTOGRAPH TAKING

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If you’re planning on taking photos from sunset to sunrise, you need to pay an extra N$200 more or less – and this is for non-commercial photographers only – apart from the usual rate to access the town.

They only allow tours from morning to noon, so the payment is for extra hours.

Images:
(1.) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/01Kolmannskuppe.jpg
(2.)http://typo3.p232710.webspaceconfig.de/fileadmin/templates/images/Namibia_Map_01.jpg
(3.)http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/83243820.jpg
(4.)http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/100124374.jpg
(5.)http://www.lovethesepics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Kolmanskop-in-L%C3%BCderitz-Namibia.jpg
(6.)http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get2/I0000E_bo.lQRw6s/fit=1000×750/Eschers-Palace.jpg
(7.)https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/6e/d6/80/6ed6804c9043d17c52ea48a394c034c9.jpg
(8.)http://stories.namibiatourism.com.na/Portals/165392/images/inside%20station.jpg
(9.)https://libbiesummers.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/main-table-only-seated-10.jpg
(10.)http://afri-culture.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Kolmanskop-Ghost-town-in-Luderitz.jpg

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