We barely left Swakopmund behind us, en route to Spitzkoppen, or some brightly coloured house caught or attention.
So we left the main road and decided to have look.
The place felt deserted.
We later on understood why, it basically was a settlement of weekend houses.
But we managed to have a chat with one of the permanent residents.
Achim was a third generation German, born and raised in Namibia, who spontaneously explained us the history of the village.
Because it’s a settlement it is not connected to the electricity grid or water system. Practically every house has is own private water tower, which gives it a special skyline.
The settlement was founded around 1930 and named after a trigonometric beacon placed by Paul Wlotzka for the Skeleton coast survey. Because the beacon has been there for so long, it is also clear that the sea level has risen. In 1930, the beacon stood almost 30 metres from the surf. Now it is standing practically in it.
Attracted by the name, we also stopped briefly in Henties bay – a coastal town – along the way. And we stopped to have a picture of a lonely shipwrek named Zella, nowadays a favourite hot spot for birds having a sun bath and dry their feathers.
