The Hills of Namibia Revisited

In 2009 I posted this pic of a derelict building. I had snapped it from a moving car on the desert road between Aus and Lüderitz.

It was one of hundreds of photos I had taken that day and I didn't know exactly where it was located on the road.

On my recent trip to the coast I was looking out for it because my Friend and fellow blogger, Aurora, had incorporated the building into one of her paintings:


Monica named her work 'Hills of Namibia'.

I love the image - the house in the distance through the window - and, I was intrigued by the Crow and Red Onion on the window sill.

Because I'm not a 'food' person and I don't cook, I couldn't recall ever having seen a Red Onion - well, I've now discovered that they do exist and I've even seen and eaten some.

Anyway, I was determined to find this building again ... and I did:


To my great surprise it was at Garub - the place of the Wild Desert Horses featured in a recent post.


The derelict building stands next to the railway line running between Aus and Lüderitz.

It's a short distance from the bore hole which now provides drinking water for the Desert Horses.

In the past, Garub was a watering point for Locomotives.


No trains pass here now - the track near Lüderitz was covered by the shifting sand dunes and fell into disrepair.

Recently, work was started on the rehabilitation of the line but has come to a standstill - funding for the project has dried-up.


In the early 1900s the building had obviously been Home to the person who maintained the water pump and replenished the Locos.

He surely was an unusual character who voluntarily exiled himself to this desolation - there is no other habitation in sight.


I was wondering about the people who had lived here so many years ago when, walking around the building, I found a strange Sign on one wall ...

... 'They' had been here before me ... :)


There is only one other similar derelict building on the 125km stretch of line, Grasplatz, a few kilos from Lüderitz.

It was here that, in 1908, a railway worker found the first Diamond in Namibia. This triggered a diamond-rush and led to the establishment of Kolmanskop which is today, a famous Ghost Town.

Well, in my usual clumsy fashion I managed to mess-up the original 'Hills Of Namibia' post.

Thanks again to Monica for the painting. She is a talented artist - you can view more of her work at InnerLandscapes.

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