10 kilometers before the town Lüderitz there is an abandoned mining town Kolmannskuppe or Kolmanskop by the roadside. The town was founded in 1908 while during the railway construction the first diamond was found there. In Kolmanskop was a school, theatre, sports hall, bowling alley, casino and hospital, there was also the first x-ray machine in the southern hemisphere. Due to the discovery of new and richer diamond regions the town was abandoned and the last resident left in 1956.
The town is open to visitors from 9 to 13, and the price of the visit is 55 Namibian dollars
(N $). And in the price-list there is also all day ticket, which is called Photo Permit and costs 160. N $. And this "Photo Permit" means that one is allowed to stay in the town from sunrise to sunset and take pictures.
On weekdays there are two guided tours a day ( 9.30 and 11.00) and the guide service is included in the price of the ticket. On the weekends there is one tour that begins at 10 am. The visitors can choose either English or German-language service. The guided tour lasts for 45 minutes and after that there is time a look around by oneself.
The tour starts in the restored gym.
The bowling.
This is a refrigeration-room. This means that once the room was here, now only some rusty hooks are the proof of that.
Africa's first tram line - the barrels on the left were used to transport drinking water.
A few hundred meters away up on the hill, there is even a big swimming pool, and very special as the salty sea water of the pool was pumped there through a long pipeline from the Gulf of Elisabeth, 28 kilometres away.
The sand is taking power.
The house of "Quartiermeister" or the manager of the supplies.
Closer.
"Buchhalter" house, or the accountant`s house.
"Minenvewalter" or the house of Hans Hörlein, the manager of the mine.
In two hours everything can be looked over. I end the tour at a little cafe beside the gym. The weather is quite warm and a cool drink sounds nice. In Africa , everywhere, in every African country, even at the smallest cafes - one can get Coca Cola products. Directly from the refrigerator.
In the cafe there are photos on the wall about the golden times of the town
A cash register from the beginning of the last century.
Some minutes past one o`clock, I am again the last person to leave. Kolmanskop is left behind.
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