Tag Archives: Kolmanskop

After five weeks, my break is over. This Week 5, Fun Photo Friday 5 concludes my Ghost Town Series. In case you were stumped by what town was featured in this series, it is Kolmanskop (German name: Kolmannskuppe), and it is located 12.5 kilometers/7.8 miles east of Lüderitz in southern Namibia. The photos presented to you over the past five weeks were taken on 5 February of this year (2026) during our second African cruise out of Cape Town in just ten months. Next week, since I’m showing you this area, I will present to you our images of Lüderitz. But right about now you’re probably wondering about Kolmanskop, so I’ll give you more information in a moment. First:

Kolmanskop (Afrikaans for “Coleman’s Peak”) is a ghost town in the Namib, a desert that stretches from South Africa to Angola. If that sounds like a long stretch, that’s because it is — 1,200 miles/2,000 kilometers from south to north. It also reaches as far as 100 miles/160 kilometers inland. And if the town looks and sounds German, there’s a reason for that as well.

The town was built by Germans in what at the time was known as German South West Africa, and it was constructed to support diamond mining. But the diamond fields started petering out after World War I, and by the late 1920s other mines had superseded its importance. By 1956 the last residents gave up the ghost, so to speak.

By the way, I promised one non-B&W image from this fascinating ghost town, and here it is. I’m including it because you’ve seen it numerous times in this series. This yellow-flowered bush below is the grey dune saladbush (Didelta carnosa tomentosa) and it’s a member of the daisy family:

I hope you enjoyed this excursion into black and white photography. Next week I’ll show you the nearby town of Lüderitz, since we’re (metaphorically) out here anyway with this series.

Black & White photo tips:

Black & White Photography—It’s All in the Color!

More Fun with Color Filtering for Black & White Photography

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