Diamonds & Rust (& Hospitals)
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2010
1
77
159
Trip End
Nov 29, 2011
Luderitz, Namibia
Monday, March 14, 2011
While pitching camp, Roger, whom I had travelled with on and off since Morocco, succumbed to a nasty knee injury, requiring surgery back in the UK. You made it as far as southern Namibia mate – that’s as good as South Africa.
Our second day here was spent nursing Roger, figuring out what the rest of us should do given one of our main drivers was down. I sweet-talked the rental company into a renegotiation of the deal which would see the remaining drivers pooled into both vehicles.
On the morning we left for Sossuvlei, we visited the ghost town of Kolmanskop. This deserted town became the epicentre of the diamond rush which began after their discovery in 1908. Abandoned in the 1950’s, it is slowly being reclaimed by the surrounding desert. I kept my eyes peeled for diamonds. I don’t think there’s any left.
