What Is The Name Of The Famous Desert Ghost Town In Namibia?

You are probably thinking of Kolmanskop, a now long abandoned diamond mining town that is gradually being reclaimed by the sand dunes of the Namibian desert.

Kolmanskop sits within a hostile desert area in the Namib Desert, which is characterised by its relatively repaid shifting dunes that are known as the 'sand sea'.

Kolmanskop was little more than a remote railway junction village until 1908 when the first diamond was found by a railway worker. Almost overnight, a thriving community sprang up, transforming the sleepy desert settlement into a bustling town of grand colonial style houses and public buildings. At its height, Kolsmankop was home to 700 diamond workers, their families and an army of shop keepers and merchants.

Despite its location, Kolmanskop enjoyed a high standard of living, having a social club, skittle alley and free milk and chilled soda deliveries.

By the late 1930s, the diamonds were drying up and Kolmanskop gradually leaked people and was eventually abandoned to the sand dunes.

Kolmanskop