Friday, April 20, 2007
Namibia Road Trip: Day Six
Sunday 8th April - 1044.6km
Today we had the earliest wake-up of all, leave before 4am. We had a whole lot of driving to do, and we were planning on reching the Namibi-South Africa border before we slept, and we were at the most Northerly place we had stayed. We drove back down the same road we had on Friday, this time South towards Aus. We were heading past Aus (literally past Klein Aus Vista) and Westwards towards the coastal town of Lüderitz.
About 10km before you reach Lüderitz, there is a tiny town called Kolmanskop. It was formed in the very early 1900s when a single diamond was discovered on the rail tracks, and since grew quickly into a small mining town. The town was deserted in the mid 1950s when the last families moved out. The miners had all moved further South as there were bigger diamonds and better opportunities there. Kolmanskop is now a ghost town.
I had been looking forward to visiting Kolmanskop the most out of anything we'd done on the trip. Ghost towns are really interesting - being able to walk around the place (nearly) as it was 50 years ago when everyone left. The place was great. There was a large town hall with a small bowling (or 'skittle') alley, a few dozen houses, the mine, an ice factory and a bakery. We walked around the hall and up to the bigger, two story houses which were on a rise behind the town. This is where the mine manger, the book keeper, and the more important residents lived. The houses were broken, full of sand and probably quite dangerous to be in! The 'Minenverwalter's (mine manager's) house had, we think, been recently renovated, as it was a lot less run down and had nice painted walls.
(See more in the set 'Kolmanskop Ghost Town')
We walked around for maybe an hour or so, and then got in the car and headed West to Lüderitz. It is a small, coastal town with a harbour and a population of near 13,000. We scouted round for a while trying to find somewhere to have lunch, but as it was Easter Sunday, we didn't have any luck. We got lunch from a supermarket instead.
On the drive back East towards Aus and beyond, we stopped and looked at wild horses. Their ancestors were once brought to the area by Germans when they rules the country, who had then escaped to the wild. The place we stopped at is the only source of water in the area for them, so we were guaranteed to see them. There were also oryx and ostriches there drinking.
Then started the long drive to the border. We drove for hours, this time taking a different route back. We drove along some dirt roads, through some towns, and then finally reached the Orange River, which runs along the border between the two countries before reaching the sea. We followed it East for what seemed like forever, and by dusk we reached the border crossing.
The officer there was called Heikki, can you believe. Finnish missionaries first came to Namibia in the 1870s, and the names, and even in some parts, the language, have been carried on to this day. He had given his daughters Finnish names.
We drove for another hours or so, back to the same motel we stayed at on the first night, but this time with freshly baked take-away pizza from town (Springbok). We slept well.
Today we had the earliest wake-up of all, leave before 4am. We had a whole lot of driving to do, and we were planning on reching the Namibi-South Africa border before we slept, and we were at the most Northerly place we had stayed. We drove back down the same road we had on Friday, this time South towards Aus. We were heading past Aus (literally past Klein Aus Vista) and Westwards towards the coastal town of Lüderitz.
About 10km before you reach Lüderitz, there is a tiny town called Kolmanskop. It was formed in the very early 1900s when a single diamond was discovered on the rail tracks, and since grew quickly into a small mining town. The town was deserted in the mid 1950s when the last families moved out. The miners had all moved further South as there were bigger diamonds and better opportunities there. Kolmanskop is now a ghost town.
I had been looking forward to visiting Kolmanskop the most out of anything we'd done on the trip. Ghost towns are really interesting - being able to walk around the place (nearly) as it was 50 years ago when everyone left. The place was great. There was a large town hall with a small bowling (or 'skittle') alley, a few dozen houses, the mine, an ice factory and a bakery. We walked around the hall and up to the bigger, two story houses which were on a rise behind the town. This is where the mine manger, the book keeper, and the more important residents lived. The houses were broken, full of sand and probably quite dangerous to be in! The 'Minenverwalter's (mine manager's) house had, we think, been recently renovated, as it was a lot less run down and had nice painted walls.
(See more in the set 'Kolmanskop Ghost Town')
We walked around for maybe an hour or so, and then got in the car and headed West to Lüderitz. It is a small, coastal town with a harbour and a population of near 13,000. We scouted round for a while trying to find somewhere to have lunch, but as it was Easter Sunday, we didn't have any luck. We got lunch from a supermarket instead.
On the drive back East towards Aus and beyond, we stopped and looked at wild horses. Their ancestors were once brought to the area by Germans when they rules the country, who had then escaped to the wild. The place we stopped at is the only source of water in the area for them, so we were guaranteed to see them. There were also oryx and ostriches there drinking.
Then started the long drive to the border. We drove for hours, this time taking a different route back. We drove along some dirt roads, through some towns, and then finally reached the Orange River, which runs along the border between the two countries before reaching the sea. We followed it East for what seemed like forever, and by dusk we reached the border crossing.
The officer there was called Heikki, can you believe. Finnish missionaries first came to Namibia in the 1870s, and the names, and even in some parts, the language, have been carried on to this day. He had given his daughters Finnish names.
We drove for another hours or so, back to the same motel we stayed at on the first night, but this time with freshly baked take-away pizza from town (Springbok). We slept well.
Dan | 
12:16 
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