Namibia (South West Africa) has always fascinated me, its mineral wealth, the gemstones that my wife likes so much and especially the 500 Km of desolation known as the Namib desert also known as the Skeleton coast, where it is said more than 1000 ships have foundered on its deadly shores.
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The original Bushmen (San) inhabitants of Namibia called this area the “Gates of Hell”. Along its bleak shoreline lie the scattered remains of countless whales left by a once booming whaling industry.
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The lure of diamonds brought the big mining group, De Beers to Namibia. Today De Beers in partnership with the Namibian government brings in more N$ 10 billion into the country’s economy annually. With all this wealth, diamond smuggling has been part and parcel of the Namibian underworld from the first discovery.
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An uncle of mine told me of his encounter with these underworld characters. Whilst on a holiday trip through the country he stopped at a local pub in Walvis Bay, being an avid collector of gem stones he asked aloud in the bar where he could lay his hands on some stones (klippe) was the word he used in Afrikaans. A sudden silence descended over the bar and one rather dubious looking character sidled up to him and asked him not to talk about (klippe) as there may be ears listening that would draw attention to him. “Klippe” it turned out was the local word for illicit diamonds. I am sure that one or two people sighed with relief or perhaps disappointment when they found out he was looking for such mundane things as “Tiger’s Eye” and rose quartz.
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I also had a relative who lived around the 1920’s who often went on trips to the then South West Africa and lived very well on what he termed sheep speculation. He wore a very fancy tie pin with a large diamond inset. One can but wonder what his real business was.
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From wrecked ships to diamond smuggling the history of Namibia has fascinated me, going to Windhoek and hearing German spoken reminds one of its German Colonial past. That’s all gone now but the magic still remains.
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