Deserted Ghost Towns | Full Episode

Deserted Ghost Towns | Full Episode

This is one of the most important habitats for wildlife on earth. Many of the animal and plant species inhabiting this region cannot be found anywhere else. This place could be considered sacred for the natural history of the world. But Namibia is much more than that for our planet. This geography

Is older than most other places on the planet. This helps explain the high diversity of species in geological formations. The scenes here are mesmerizing. However these landscapes are the result of geological activity of breaking, bending, eroding and sinking. It is not a coincidence that this area is rich in diamond deposits,

A precious stone that takes billions of years to form. Human history is relatively short. However, humans have left our mark on our aging planet. Unfortunately most of these marks are upsetting scars. In Namibia, it is diamonds that have created the biggest of human scars. This is the story of Namibia’s diamond rush

And the eerie ghost towns that were left behind. Our planet is about 4.5 billion years old. On the other hand, Namibia’s geological history dates back to 2.5 billion years. The world was completely different back then. Oceans were larger and the continents were yet to break up. Atmospheric oxygen was insufficient.

Life on earth was limited to various bacteria and algae. The world was a challenging place for life forms to prosper. Namibia is home to some of the largest minefields in the world. Valuable minerals and semi precious stones are found in all corners of the country. To understand why the world’s highest quality

Diamonds are so abundant in Namibia, we need to take a closer look at the country’s geological past. “Well this is the the Fish River Canyon in Namibia. This is the largest or the deepest canyon in Africa. And also just the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon in America.

What makes this place really special is the age of the formation of the Namaqualand sequence which is pretty much what you can see right down at the bottom. And that is a a folded sedimentary layer that has been metamorphosed completely so it has been twisted up and that probably took place about

A thousand million years ago so that’s one billion years ago approximately.” Fish River Canyon is one of the most impressive geological formations of Africa. It has witnessed the evolution of the planet and the formation of the African continent. The Canyon is 161 kilometers long, reaching 27 kilometers at its widest

And 560 meters at its deepest. This is actually the merging of two separate canyons formed in entirely different periods. “What is very interesting about this particular canyon is it’s formed a double canyon in many ways. We have a lower canyon and an upper canyon. And the reason for that is

The very top layer that you can see around the back and the bottom layer that we can see down over there those two flat tops so that dark section as well as the top layer is actually the same layer. And it shows a very

Very clear line of where this one has been cut completely off and you can see that in the upper canyon right at the back where that has been pushed up and you can see it in the lower canyon where it is dropped down. So it is basically a double canyon because of that.”

Spitzkoppe… There are no diamonds here. But it is a rich field for semi precious coloured stones. These iconic granite mountains of Namibia rise 700 meters from the ground level and lie 1,584 meters above sea level. It is hard to conceive but this gigantic mass was once meters below the ground.

Granite is harder and more resilient compared to the materials around it. Millions of years of physical and chemical erosion have stripped the softer soil and rocks around Spitzkoppe revealing this visual wonder. A landscape that looks like an alien planet, the Palmwag region. You do not need to be a geologist

To make distinctions between different formations, colors and eras. These lands have witnessed the African continent breaking away from the supercontinent Gondwana. The Namib Desert is one of Namibia’s most enchanting natural treasures. And the most unique place in the desert must undoubtedly be Sossusvlei. Some of the crimson sand dunes reach 370 meters high.

This is home to the largest sand dunes in the world. The summit of Sossusvlei’s hills are star shaped. This is caused by wind, a power equally influential as water in the creation of the desert. But how do these canyons, dry river beds, tectonic mountains in the desert

Explain the rich diamond fields found across the Namibian coastline. It is thought that the diamonds extracted here are a few billion years old. Made of pure carbon, diamonds can only form under very high temperatures and pressure. Diamonds are some 200 meters below the surface where these conditions can occur.

These stones were formed at a time when the planet was very hot and the layers under the crust were extremely active shifting closer to the surface with violent volcanic eruptions. Tectonic movements thrusted certain areas upwards. The diamonds hidden underground were eroded by winds and rain and carried to the coast by rivers.

Scientists agree that the diamonds extracted from Namibia’s Atlantic coast originate from the central parts of the continent. These riverbeds might be dry today. But it was these rivers that carried Namibia’s diamonds here millions of years ago. The inhabitants of this house once lived in plentitude and prosperity.

But now the building is slowly being reclaimed by sand. The gigantic Namib Desert is seeping in from open doors, broken windows and the collapsed roof. These once bustling streets, buildings that surpass their time, all are submitting to mother nature. There is not much that can be done. Like a sinking ship

They wait for the day they will be submerged. Kolmanskop… One of Namibia’s ghost towns. The deafening silence of the settlement is breached by the howling sand grains blown fiercely around by gusts of wind. One of the diamond mining centers of the world is in a battle with a desert…

And the winner is evident. “Kolmanskop got its name from a transport driver named Johnny Coleman. Who transported commodities between Keetsmanhop and Lüderitz with its oxwagon. Sometime in 1905 after spending his oxen he was trapped in a vicious sandstorm. He lost all his oxen he was fortunately rescued but his wagon however

Remained for a number of years, hence the name Kolmanskop.” The discovery of diamonds around Kolmanskop goes back 100 years. “Now in 1907 Agust Stauch was sent from Germany he was employed as a railway supervisor. As Agust was very interested in this area and he asked all his co workers to collect

Any unusual stones and come and show it to him. Now in April 1908, Zacharias Lewala found the first shiny stone at Grassplatz about 10 km from here. And he gave the stone to Agust Stauch. Stauch was very clever, took the stone tested against the glass of his watch and with great foresight

He immediately started to pack off claims before letting the government know. In the process he became a millionaire practically overnight.” This region prospered very quickly after the discovery of diamonds and the establishment of mining companies surrounded by sand dunes in the middle of the desert Kolmanskop looked like a small German town.

“Now the death of Kolmanskop came in around 1927 when extensive diamond deposits were found on the north of the Orange River mouth. The diamonds they found there were six times bigger than the diamonds they found there at Kolmanskop. So by 1928 most of the diamond workers and the equipment were sent to Oranjemund.

But it was only 1958 that the old hospital closed and the last of the inhabitants left Kolmanskop.” Kolmanskop has a rather brief history. Having thrived in the 1920s the town gradually lost significance in the wake of World War 1 triggered by a fall in diamond prices

And the discovery of larger fields in the south. After 50 years in the limelight the buildings and everything in them were abandoned. The homes of the architects and engineers who constructed the town and the mining facilities are in ruins. The hospital closed two years after the last inhabitants left in 1956.

Once the only medical facility in the entire region this building is certainly one of the creepiest landmarks of the ghost town. The desert has now taken over the town. Mother Nature is slowly reclaiming what belongs to her. The fate of Elizabeth Bay, just south of Kolmanskop is a familiar story.

This mining town was also abandoned after rich diamond fields were discovered further south in Oranjemund. Hans Schmidt was only 2 years old when he came here with his family. He lived here until the town was completely deserted. He is one of the few people alive

That have witnessed the abandoning of Elizabeth Bay. “I’m born 27… 27 yeah 29 yeah 29 you’re right… Two years later I came to Elizabeth Bay. My second Christmas I had in Elizabeth Bay I think.” The machinery at the factory in Elizabeth Bay was taken to the new facility in Oranjemund.

What remained was broken down and sold for scrap. Hans feel sorry that this town was not preserved as historic heritage. “The steel arches around here the arches and the rails on top there, you can see running right through. They should have left it, never cut off for scrap.” The gigantic diamond sorting facility

Located down by the ocean once had a glass ceiling. Hans recalls how this facility had the latest technology that was available in Germany. “If I’m not mistaken this was a little bit higher up this was all under roof here, glass roof yeah… And this was

This had to be filled twice a day for production. Twice a day nearly. That’s why the trains were running the whole time.” Elizabeth Bay spreads out on an area larger than Kolmanskop. The facilities and miners accommodations cover a much larger area. While manual labour was sourced locally

Most of the engineers and managers were German. “Most of them came from Germany, I would say mostly of them were German. The same was in the power station in Lüderitz, the same. And when you came there even if you were English or Afrikaans you had to learn German. otherwise

You could cannot converse with anyone.” Hans tries to explain how the facility worked. Sand from the seabed was pumped here to screen for diamonds. “This was full of water then on top here behind was a lake full of water. And where we view the pump house which we saw this morning

From there the water was formed into here there was a lake actually here behind…” Hans talks about the tall columns that decorated the entry to the casino and the globe decorations dangling from the ceiling. Unfortunately, nothing has survived… “This was a hall actually here this was a hall actually here,

The main hall here…” Hans tells us that the hall access through this main entrance occasionally functioned as a cinema. The projector located above the door would reflect images onto the wall. This was accompanied by music from the 6 record gramophone. If Hans remembers correctly Africa’s first silent movie screening happened here.

“Smoking was not allowed in all the rooms. You had your special room for you allowed to smoke.” Memories captivate Hans… However it is not easy to find what he is looking for in the rubble. “How could everything fall down…? What can you see?

Is there something you can see on top here still here? Can you see something there written?” Hans recalls that there were brown hyenas here when he was a child. Families would warn their children not to go out alone at night and never touch the hyenas. “I know yeah…

We had one of those hyenas coming close to us here when we stayed in Lüderitz Bay. I nearly could touch it no no no, don’t touch it. don’t touch, na na na na na na! Got rabies!” Brown hyenas are more comfortable these days. They are free to roam the streets of Elizabeth Bay

As they please. Instead of burrowing between rocks in and caves, they prefer to take shelter in the empty and abandoned buildings of this ghost town. Hans remembers his childhood house like yesterday. 90 years have passed. But memories are still vivid. “Little houses, bigger houses all around here. Those are the small houses here.

They started the two rows of houses here and further on your big houses there. And we stayed one… The first year, very first year when we came from Europe we stayed one of the small houses. There were two families four rooms and there was a divide door in the middle.”

But Elizabeth Bay has changed a lot since he left in 1954. He wants to find his home and the garden he played in. But this will not be easy. Hans is confused about the location of his house. However he can clearly remember the wall painting in their living room

Depicting views of the sea and palm trees. It will be a miracle for the painting to have survived in this derelict town worn down by sea salt, wind, sand and the sun. After wandering around for a while Hans thinks he has found the house. The back garden is submerged under the desert sand.

He is almost sure that the garden he played in as a child is by this wall. With his wife Gisela next to him, Hans walks into the house he left 64 years ago. This must be an emotional moment for Hans… Time… Both creator and destroyer. It has taken hundreds of millions of years

For diamonds to form and an equally long time for them to reach the surface. But for humans it took only a century to rapidly deplete the reserves. Human presence has led to the creation of bustling towns. But their absence has left behind ghost towns. Towns that were once famed for their affluence

Are now mentioned in history books. Nature reserves the right to reclaim what has been taken from her. Everything living will be defeated by time. Just like Kolmanskop, Elizabeth Bay and other mining towns…

Time… Both creator and destroyer. After a formation process lasting hundreds of millions of years and an equally long journey to the surface, diamonds have been consumed rapidly by human beings for only a hundred years. People who created towns full of life with their presence have turned these into ghost towns with their absence. Towns prospering in abundance are now only the subject of history.

Nature has the right to take back what was taken from it. Everything that lives will succumb to time. Just like Kolmanskop, Elizabeth Bay and other mining towns.

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