Diamonds Aren't Forever
Boogying In The Bogenfels, Namibia
Hello, this is Waterhole Wednesday
“Everything is in constant flux on this earth. Nothing keeps the same unchanging shape, and our affections, being attached to things outside us, necessarily change and pass away as they do. Always out ahead of us or lagging behind, they recall a past which is gone or anticipate a future which may never come into being; there is nothing solid there for the heart to attach itself to. Thus our earthly joys are almost without exception the creatures of a moment...” Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The desert surrounding the small town of Lüderitz is rich with diamond history. Legends of diamond smuggling and intrigue fill the air, as the sands of time continuously cloak and unveil the remnants of the lives of the daring individuals who braved the remote, parched landscape to inhabit the small mining settlements scattered across Namibia’s Diamond Coast.
This forbidden expanse boasts a breathtaking landscape, ranging from rugged rocky formations to the vast expanse of the Namib desert. To the west, its sand dunes meet the unforgiving waters of the cold Atlantic Ocean. This untamed shoreline serves as the final resting place for numerous shipwrecks.
But our trip this time was rather dedicated to the exploration of the historic ghost towns of the Sperrgebiet, ending with a boogie at the natural wonder that is the Bogenfels Arch.
So how did it all begin? And who were these courageous souls who sought to make a home in these desolate, gravel plains? Come join us on our trip to the Sperrgebiet.
August Strauch (15.01.1878 - 06.05.1947) was born in Ettenhausen, Germany - the third child of a family of seven. His father was a railway worker and he followed suit as a young man but he continuously suffered from asthma. On medical advice that a drier desert climate may be better for his health, he set sail for Luderitz in 1907, landing a job as chief railway foreman on the Luderitz-Aus railway line.
Rumours were rife that there lay diamonds in the desert where they were building the railway line, and it was there that he developed a fascination for diamonds and took up mineralogy as a hobby.
“Look out for unusually shiny stones and bring them to me!” he would remind his workers daily.
On 10 April 1908, only months after his arrival in German South West Africa, one of his aids, Lewala Zacharias, hit the jackpot! While scouting near the Grassplatz railway station, he stumbled upon several shiny stones and dutifully handed these over to August.
“Look Mister, mooi klip (beautiful stone)”.
Strauch verified the stones as diamonds but chose to keep it hush-hush until he established his claim of 75 acres at Kolmanskop. With his newfound riches, August Strauch found himself in a position of considerable wealth.
And then, boom, the whole diamond rush frenzy started!
Strauch tried to increase his wealth by investing in other companies but, by 1931, he had lost everything. He returned to Eisenach and died of stomach cancer in 1947.
Little is known about Lewala. "Lewala's name entered history but not much more, the man had nothing of his find, no one paid him for it or showed any kind of gratitude, others made the big business and they made it quick." German magazine Der Spiegel
Who died the happier man?
The German government soon realised that the area was full of diamonds and prohibited entry to almost all of Namibia’s southern coast, declaring it a forbidden zone (Sperrgebiet). Fewer mining licenses were issued and diamond taxes were introduced.
The arrival of World War I brought an end to all private mining in this area. When Germany lost the war, Namibia (German South West Africa) became an annex of South Africa and De Beers purchased the mines in the Sperrgebiet.
The Sperrgebiet was renamed Tsau//Khaeb (‘deep sandy soils’ in the Nama language) National Park in 2008 and offers a one-of-a-kind experience due to its pristine, untouched habitat. Spanning 26,000 square kilometers of semi-desert, this area harbours 800 plant species, including 234 that are found nowhere else. It's no wonder the park has earned recognition as one of the world's top 25 Biodiversity Hotspots.
But don’t just show up and visit! Most of this zone is still off-limits to the public due to ongoing diamond mining activities, so we had to sign up for a guide who had a permit and a vehicle. His knowledge of the area, and its untamed beauty, left us speechless.
Cruising through breathtaking blue and white marble vistas unfolding on both sides, with gemstones glistening beneath our tyres (yes, really!) for kilometres on end, we began our adventure to uncover the mysteries of the abandoned ghost towns.
We had to change our course many times along the way because of the shifting sand dunes that cover the tracks. These crescent-shaped dunes are called barchan or barkhan dunes and are a common landform in sandy deserts all over the world. They face the wind, appearing convex, and form because of strong winds blasting them from one direction. With two “horns” that face downwind, and the steeper slope (slip face) facing away from the wind, these dunes can reach heights of up to 30m (98ft).
But there’s more: these dunes move! From 1 meter to 100 meters a year.
As these dunes move, or if the wind changes direction, new barchans are spawned from the horns. These smaller dunes then outpace the larger ones, and then appear to punch through the larger dune to appear on the other side.
In reality, when a smaller sand dune catches up with a larger one, the wind starts adding sand to the back dune while blowing sand off the front dune without replacing it. Eventually, the back dune grows to be similar in size to the former dune, which then becomes a smaller, faster-moving dune that races off with the wind. And away it strides, the desert advancing relentlessly.
Some kilometres later, we turned off the gravel road and went proper off-road driving - up and over large sand dunes. Until KAPLOP! We were stuck! Time to earn our tea and cookie break the hard way:
There is something profoundly dark about abandoned places and the decay they exhibit, particularly when there's a hint of human tragedy involved. So, it was time for some Urbex - short for ‘urban exploration’ - it’s all about forgotten places, even if they are in the middle of nowhere.
These photos and this video really capture the essence better than any written description.
The Boogie Has Been Cancelled
Our final stop was a trip highlight. This was the spot where I'd set my sights on doing the Bogenfels Boogie. Right at the base of this 55-meter (180-foot) rock arch, with its one leg in the icy waves of the Atlantic Ocean and the other on the sandy shore 80 meters away. Welcome to the Bogenfels Arch (translates ‘bow rock’).
But the party had to be cancelled. The icy winds were howling up to 60km/hr and we were being sandblasted from every angle. Somehow, we toughened up and managed the strenuous walk down to the coastline and were rewarded with the beautiful profile of the arch, carved out by wind and weather. It was totally worth it!
Driving back to Lüderitz with the blood-red African sun setting up ahead and a gale force wind pummelling our Land Cruiser from behind, my thoughts turned from August Strauch and those early prospectors to Dr Russell Herman Conwell who inspired thousands from 1869 to 1925 with his lecture “Acres of Diamonds”. It is believed that he delivered this speech more than 6000 times all over the world and raised $6 million with which he founded Temple University in Philadelphia fulfilling his dream to build a university for poor men and women.
I’m sure that you are as familiar with the story as I am, but it isn’t the story that’s so important in itself, but rather that we apply the principle of the message to our own lives.
“There was a farmer who lived in Africa at the time diamonds were discovered there. When a friend told him of the millions being made by men who were discovering diamond mines, he immediately sold his farm and left to search for gems himself. For many years he wandered all over the continent and suffered great hardship but didn’t find a single stone. Finally, penniless and in poor health, he threw himself into a river and drowned.
Meanwhile, the new owner of the farm had found a bright and shiny stone in the creek and put in on his mantelpiece. A visitor spotted the stone and exclaimed, “That’s the biggest diamond I have ever seen!” The owner found out that it was worth a fortune and, EUREKA, his entire farm was covered with diamonds of that sort.
Turns out the farm that the first farmer sold so that he could go look for diamonds held one of the richest diamond deposits in the world.”
This is where Dr Conwell would make his point that the first farmer had owned acres of diamonds but made the mistake of not examining what he had before dashing off to do something he hoped would be better.
We're all a bit like that first farmer, aren't we? No matter where we find ourselves, there's a good chance we're surrounded by diamonds - we just need to open our eyes to see them. Sometimes they don't seem like diamonds at first, but if we dig a little deeper and polish them up, we might uncover some incredible opportunities or talents we never knew we had.
Pause. Examine. Then stake your claim.
‘Safari Njema’ until next time when we’ll visit the mighty Zambezi River in Zimbabwe in search of the Nyami Nyami.
Evocative writing. And I appreciated the explanation about sand dune formation. Dankie.
Sounds like a trip my husband would totally be up for! And good advice, we all need a reminder occasionally to open our eyes and see whats around us.