Klein Aus Vista camp to Luderitz back to Klein Aus - Wednesday 2nd March

Caught quite a few scorpions last night - body count was 6 

Bacon and eggs with toast for breekie then on the road at 8am for the 120km trip to Luderitz with our first stop being the ghost town of Kolmanskop which is 10 kms short of the port town of Luderitz .

Jan's driving tips for the day was  too watch out for the feral horses, high winds near the coast and drifting sand. Didn't take long to get to the first one just around the corner from the campsite

They are very strict with anyone getting out of their cars to search for diamonds along the way

Got to the ghost town just before the first tour started at 9.30

Kolmanskop which is Afrikaans for Colemans Hill ,  a ghost town in the Namid desert and was named after the transport driver named Johnny Coleman who,during a sand storm abandoned his or wagon on a small incline opposite the settlement.

In 1908 the worker Zacharias Lewala found a diamond whilst working in the area an showed it to his supervisor, the German railway inspector August Stauch. Realising the area was rich in diamonds, German miners began to settle and establish the township.

Driven by the enormous wealth of the first diamond miners,the residents built the village in the architectural style of a German town, with anemities and buildings including a hospital,ballroom,power station,bowling alley,casino,ice factory and the first X-ray station in the Southern Hemisphere ,as well as the first tram in Africa. It also had a railway link to Luderitz.

The town declined after WW1 when the diamond field slowly exhausted and was ultimately abandoned in 1954.The  geological forces of the desert mean that tourists now walk through houses knee deep in sand and is very popular with photographers for its settings of the desert sand reclaiming this once thriving town.Due to its location within the restricted diamond area a permit is needed to enter the town- something that took some time with the guy they had on the front entrance gate - more of a customer prevention officer.

This house is held up by the sand

The old tram line that used to transport the people around the village and also drop off their daily supply of ice,lemonade and milk for free.

The bowling alley

 Ice works with the guide and the old fridges they used at the forefront. Ice goes in the top and then the food in bottom cabinet

Finished the guided tour and then headed out to Luderitz when we hit the wind and shifting sand so took the 10km drive very carefully.

They have been building a new railway track between Aus and Luderitz for some years with lots of stop signs at the crossings however they will need to clear the line of the sand dunes at some stage before there is any trains running

Given its a port town they are well known for their oysters so we did a 20km drive out to Diaz Point, named after a Dutch explorer to find the shop had closed last year so back into town and the local tourist office to locate an other venue which was just up the road. Enjoyed a lunch of fresh oysters, crayfish tails and chips.

Headed back into town for the drive around and drop into the bank to change some money which is a whole experience in itself, then to the shops for some groceries than hard home to arrive just before 5 to what seemed to be a big storm brewing. A quick pack up then await tro see if the storms eventuates

As normal we pack everything and then get a couple of spits so unpack everything again then followed by a beaut sunset with the storm clouds

Enjoyed a nice seafood dinner of mussels and prawns that Amanda cooked on the BBQ with salad followed by an early night to bed as the fun police told me to get some brains with no catching scorpions tonight whilst drinking vodka!