The second stop on our 2014 Namibia Photo Tour will be the port town of Luderitz. We will be staying at The Nest Hotel where every room has an ocean view.
A few km inland from Luderitz lies Kolmanskop, Namibia's most famous ghost town. Kolmanskop is situated in the strictly controlled area called the Sperrgebiet, (Sperrgebiet is German for 'Prohibited Area')
In 1908, diamonds were discovered here and caused a rush of people to converge on the area. Kolmanskop became a bustling little German town in the Namib Desert complete with hospital, theater, school, casino, skittle bowl alley and beautiful homes.
The development of Kolmanskop reached its peak in the 1920's with it's population around 300-400 people, but the town declined after World War 1, when diamond prices crashed, and when richer diamond deposits were discovered elsewhere.

Made photographically famous by Freeman Patterson, it is a location filled with a multitude of creative story-telling photographic opportunities.


Pictures made here tell a story from the past, showing the once bustling buildings and houses slowly filling with sand. If only walls could talk...
We will be spending a full day shooting at this location with a special permit to gain access early in the morning prior to tour groups. The permit also allows us to stay until sunset, long after the 1:00 P.M. closing time for general tourists. There is a cafe on the grounds for a lunch break, and a museum which tells the history of Kolmanskop and the diamond rush.
In addition to the gallery of images made on my first visit to Kolmanskop in 2009, I have posted two new galleries from my 2013 visit to Kolmanskop showing the crumbling EXTERIORS and INTERIORS of buildings and homes from another era. The new galleries can be seen HERE.
For more information and details regarding our 2014 Namibia Photo Tour, please visit Strabo Tours.
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