Tuesday, Day 94 - Apr 10 - 8AM to 4PM, Luderitz, Namibia

Luderitz was founded in 1883 by a wealthy German merchant of the same name. Although Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias landed here in 1488, the area remained unsettled until German tobacco merchant Adolf Luderitz purchased much of the surrounding land nearly 400 years later. The sleepy port soon became an important supply post for Germany’s colonization of southwest Africa, and Luderitz grew accordingly, especially after diamonds were discovered in the nearby Namib Desert. It offers colorful colonial architecture along with the beautiful Atlantic coastline.

Kolmanskop, a ghost town that was once a bustling center of the diamond trade, is part of the regions past. Colonial Luderitz’s spectacular architecture was built during the town’s heyday at the beginning of the 20th century, when diamonds were discovered nearby at Kolmanskop. The recently restored waterfront offers lovely Art Nouveau architecture, and the coastal waters are home to penguins, dolphins, sharks and seals. Local beer is brewed in compliance with Germany’s strict beer purity laws. This is another new port for us though we visited Namibia in 2015 on the Queen Mary 2.  At that time, the weather was too windy for the Queen Mary 2 to enter the port of Luderitz.

We have a required face to face with the authorities this morning and the tours are scheduled to leave soon after we dock. So Jamie sets up the immigration meetings by tour groups and we get our passports stamped as we line up for bus tickets. It actually works well. Our tour leaves at 9:15AM for a two hour tour out to the Kolmanskop Ghost Town. We go for breakfast as soon as the dining room opens at 8AM and then we are called for the meeting with immigration at 8:45AM. Our tour get away at 9:25AM. There are four-10 passenger vans and ours is not full. 

We drive to Kolmanskop, a veritable ghost town in the Namib Desert, not far from Luderitz. While it has been uninhabited for decades, the town wasn’t always so desolate. In 1908, a railway worker found a diamond in the sand here and the news soon spread, sparking a diamond rush and creating the boom town of Kolmanskop. In its heyday, hundreds of people lived in the German-influenced town, which boasted a hospital, ballroom, casino, bowling alley and the first x-ray station in southern Africa. 

Bowling

General store and train that delivered three liters of water to each person and a block of ice to each household daily.

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Walking through town, we see many of the original buildings, which were abandoned at the end of World War I when diamond sales plummeted. The exteriors have been scoured by the wind, sand dunes fill in the interiors, and little remains of the buildings’ former glory. Yet, it is fascinating to see the desolation as the desert slowly tries to bury Kolmanskop.

Several movies have been shot in this dramatic setting, including, “The King is Alive,” which was shown at the famed Cannes Film Festival. After the guided part of the tour we can walk around for up to an hour if we want, before returning to the pier. It is hard for Dick to walk in the very soft, mini-sand dunes so after a few pictures we catch a van back to the pier.

There seems to be one going back as soon as it fills up. This part of the tour was not explained very well, but it turns out to be a plus for us. Carolyn had really wanted to see some of the town of Luderitz, but the only tour was a walking tour and there was no shuttle listed.

Our driver asks if there is anywhere we want to stop. Several people want to see the church and a couple want a drug store. So he asks if we would like a mini-tour and we all agree. Our driver takes us by the Goerke Haus, one of the most extravagant mansions built during the boom at the start of the 20th century. Renovated and full of period furnishings, the estate was built for diamond entrepreneur Hans Goerke in an Art Nouveau style with German and African themes. Then he actually makes a stop for us to visit Felsenkirche, another outstanding Diamond Hill landmark. The Evangelical Lutheran church was built in 1912 with private donations from German citizens and is renowned for the stained-glass panel above its altar, which Emperor Wilhelm II donated. Finally, we drive on through Luderitz and back to the pier with the driver pointing out various things. This is perfect for us as the town is hilly and there is no way we were going to be able to go back in and walk it ourselves.

 Goerke Haus

 Felsenkirche,

Back on board, we go up to Deck 12 and take some pictures around the harbor with Dick’s long lens and go to La Veranda and order hamburgers to eat on the outside back deck where we watch a fishing boat being unloaded of the days catch and several dolphin and harbor seals playing.

We spend the afternoon working on the blog and our pictures, some of us play on the computer and others read (nap) on the balcony. It is a stellar day as long as one is out of the wind.

We sail for Walvis Bay at 4PM. The seas are a little bouncy, but it is so pleasant outside Carolyn stays and watches the wind knock the tops off the white caps and make mini-rainbows.
 
Our friends from California have asked us to have dinner with them in Compass Rose at 6:30PM. The block party is at 6PM so we step out to meet the new people around us then head for dinner. The wine flows freely; Regent brought on some really nice South African wines and also restocked the Cline red we enjoy.

Dick has Dover sole and Carolyn has scallops and we finish with another great Grand Marnier soufflé.

All around it is pleasant day and a nice port.