Luderitz shouldn't be overshadowed by its neighbouring ghost town

24 January 2016 - 02:00 By Paul Ash

Although most people head to Luderitz in order to visit Kolmanskop, a nearby ghost town, Paul Ash discovers that this small and sleepy Namibian town offers plenty of other interesting diversions The first thing you notice about Luderitz is how quiet it is. "Nice pictures, but where are the people?" asked my friends when I returned from a brief sojourn in this lovely little town.It's true - you can walk the streets of Luderitz and feel like you're trudging around a ghost town, described by travel writer TV Bulpin as "an atmospheric, faded little place whose early bustle is a past dream".And yet, scratch below the surface and you will discover a rough, unpolished diamond, just like the prospectors did at the turn of the last century, which, for a brief moment, put Luderitz at the centre of the world stage.story_article_left1WHERE AND WHAT IS IT?Luderitz, a small port roughly 430km south of Walvis Bay and 300km west of Keetmanshoop, started life as a guano mining town, founded by German trader Adolf Luderitz in 1883 in a private business venture - which enjoyed the considerable backing of the German government. The German flag was raised over the settlement on August 7 1884, marking the beginning of Germany's first colonial ambitions in Africa.By 1908, the settlement was linked to Keetmanshoop by a railway forged across the shifting sands of the Namib - even today, engineers grapple with the daily problem of dunes covering the tracks. It was one of those track workers, a man named Zacharias Lewala, who in April 1908 changed the course of the settlement's destiny when he picked a shiny stone out of the sand near a place called Kolmanskop.Lewala, as Bulpin tells the story, had worked in Kimberley so he knew what a diamond looked like. He took the stone to his boss, August Stauch.In the ensuing diamond rush, Stauch would end up prospecting in Pomona, where one of his servants found so many diamonds lying on the ground he filled his hands and stuffed more into his mouth.The port's diamond days are long gone. Now it survives on fishing and tourism, although there are big, if unrealistic, plans to upgrade the harbour for mineral exports.WHAT TO SEENow for the delights. For such a small and sleepy place, Luderitz is not short of interesting diversions. Your first stop should be Luderitz Safaris and Tours (9 Bismarck Street, e-mail udsaf@africaonline.com.na) to get a map and have a chat to Liz Swoboda, who knows everything about the town, and check out the tours on offer.Then head to the Luderitz Museum (7 Diaz Street) which is stuffed full of animal, human and other natural artefacts, especially relics of the town's colonial history. One of my travel companions, a man who has worked as a demolition expert in Afghanistan, was startled at the sight of a 3-inch artillery shell on display which he said might, in fact, still be "live".Then it's up the hill to the lovely Felsenkirche - you can't miss it - with its beautiful stained-glass windows, some donated by Kaiser Wilhelm II. A short walk from there is the wonderful Goerke House, one of the town's most extravagant buildings and which dominates Luderitz from the looming rock on which it is built. The house was built in 1910 for Lieutenant Hans Goerke of the German Protection Force. It has been lovingly restored and while it appears to be used as a guesthouse for mining officials, you can get inside and walk around and look down on the town like the good lieutenant must have done.If you have a car and the inclination, take the 22km drive to Diaz Point, where Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Diaz made landfall in January 1488. When he sailed away again, Diaz left behind a padrão in honour of St James. The original has long since been replaced with a replica but when the wind is howling - as it often does here - it can still be quite a spooky place.full_story_image_hleft1THE MAIN ATTRACTIONMost people come to Luderitz to visit Kolmanskop, the abandoned diamond mining town 30km into the desert on the road to Keetmanshoop. This is a place stuck in time. When the diamond rush began and fortunes were made, a town sprang up overnight amid the shifting sand. The town had a bakery, a butchery and an ice factory. There was a music hall with a stage, bowling alleys and a vast hospital where one of the doctors, Bulpin writes, believed in the curative powers of wine and champagne. The local orchestra played at tea dances. Ornate houses were built on the dunes and, while the good times lasted, Kolmanskop was a whirl of parties.Now all that is left are the buildings through which the sand shuffles with the moaning wind. Old machinery and bits of railway track - the mines were served by one of the longest narrow gauge mining railways in the world - appear sporadically out of the sand. Kolmanskop is highly atmospheric, if not a bit creepy. Close your eyes and you can hear laughter and the clinking of ice cubes. Or can you ...?Luderitz Safaris and Tours runs daily visits to Kolmanskop for N$75 a person.story_article_right2WHERE TO STAYAs befits its improving status as a tourist destination, Luderitz has accommodation which ranges in comfort and price, from the Luderitz Nest Hotel (from N$1,200 per night) to basic B&B establishments. I stayed at the marvellous Kratzplatz (063-202-458, from N$400 per night), a shaded and funky rambling oasis of a lodge in the middle of town. It adjoins Barrels Restaurant, which has great beer, good food - the pizzas especially - and is pretty much the epicentre of Luderitz nightlife. Expect to join the German sing-along if you're there on a Saturday night.GETTING THEREI arrived by sailing ship, which was cool - but apart from cruise ships, few ocean-going vessels call at Luderitz these days. Most visitors drive there along the B4 national road from Keetmanshoop. If you do drive, make the short detour to Garub railroad siding, where wild horses - said to be the descendants of horses let loose in the desert by retreating German troops in 1915 - come to drink at the water tanks.Air Nambia offers direct flights from Windhoek a few times a week and fares are reasonable considering the small aircraft used on the route. I paid N$1,800 one-way to Windhoek. The alternative would have been paying for a private shuttle to Keetmanshoop and then taking the Intercape bus (fares from R342) or the overnight TransNamib Starline train (061-298-2032) which is, in fact, a pair of passenger coaches attached twice a week to a Windhoek-bound freight train. It's simple but it works...

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