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Bogenfels is a location in the coastal
Bogenfels is a location in the coastal Namib Desert
The Namib ( ; ) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia, and northwest South Africa, extending southward from the Carunjamba Ri ...
of Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
, noted for its natural rock formation
A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock (geology), rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock Geological formation, formation ...
s (hence the name, which means "arch
An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...
rock" in German). The main formation is a high rock arch close to the coast. It is not easily accessible, due to the terrain and its location within a restricted diamond-mining area Sperrgebiet, at 27° 28'S, about south of Lüderitz
Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. Lüderitz had a population of 16,125 people in 2023.
Th ...
and south of Pomona but there are official guided tours.
Geology
With its highest point at above sea level, the formation is a mix of hard dolomite and softshale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
.
Settlement
A settlement developed in the area after diamonds were discovered. In 1950, it was evacuated and has remained aghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
since. A private narrow-gauge electrified railway once served the diamond mining industry. It ran via Pomona to Kolmanskop
Kolmanskop (Afrikaans for "Coleman's peak", ) is a ghost town in the Namib in southern Namibia, inland from the port town of Lüderitz. It was named after a transport driver named Johnny Coleman who, during a sand storm, abandoned his ox wagon ...
and was powered by a power station in Lüderitz. It was completed in 1913 but destroyed in World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1915 by South African troops.References