Wlotzkasbaken: Namibia

Where in the world?

There is not much to write about Wlotzka, it is more of a see and experience type of place. And if you want to see this very unique town where every house is colourfull, has its own flag and where there are no fences, you will find it halfway between Swakopmund and Hentiesbaai in the Dorob national Park. I am greatly disappointed when I come across Namibians who don’t know of its existence! I mean really! How did you ever get to Henties and back to Swakop without noticing something there?

Funny signs

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Vacationing

This little smartie box town was the only place I ever knew as a vacation spot. Here between the desert and the deep blue sea was where I had my first holiday, first birthday, first steps, first desert easter egg hunt and where I got behind the wheel for the first time.

I know and love it. The openness. The quiet. The cold Benguella. All the beautiful sunsets as the sun disappears into the Atlantic. Even the desert has its own quiet beauty. But as we know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. City slickers and people from ‘greenness’☘🌲 might turn around and run. I showed Namib pictures to my host family in Germany and they just said: ‘it’s ugly’. But to me, there is no better way to get away from it all.

The best parts are: Going to sleep in the darkest of night when the moon is but a slither. Seeing the most brilliant stars that you ever did see. Taking a flask of coffee into the desert to attempt to see to forever and hear absolute silence. Reading on the beach while the others fish* and endless hours of building sandcastles when we were kids. Some of the roads of rocks that we build between our ‘towns’ can still be seen in some places south of town. I kid you not! We called it Vrekgesukkel 😜

When I was a kiddy I also fished. Now the whole bait and cutting heads off thing does not appeal to me. Then standing there for hours because there is almost no fish left thanks to illegal fishing (among others) is not my idea of fun. So I read.

Endless beach

Here you can have most of a beach to yourself. If someone tries to fish nearer than a 100m from you there is always the eye roll because WHY??? that’s too close!! After experiencing the beach here I can honestly say that I cannot imagine how people enjoy sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers on a beach.

The ‘beacon’ of Wlotzka

This multi-coloured settlement got its start in life as a halfway point for water storage waaaaay back when. The guys stopped for storage and would then go fishing. More and more people joined and ta-da! A fishing settlement appeared. The land was only leased and therefore no permanent structures were allowed which explains all the colourful containers and prefab housing.

A long history of drama followed and today the land is no longer leased but owned by the fishers and other people who enjoy getting away from it all.

Nothing typical

This is not your typical ‘town’ for many reasons. As mentioned, there is no power and water needs to be delivered by truck to towers. There are no shops or thingies (and it is prefered that way) and very few permanent residents. Containers form a lot of the dwellings and it seems as if a Smarty box was emptied there. There is colour everywhere. What makes this town more unique is that most houses have their own flag and a flying flag usually means that the owners are there. That and the open shutters 😉

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Nearby

The famous towns of Swakop and Henties are nearby. If you find yourself going to either of them, take a turn of the road where you see the splashes of colour. That’s Wlotzka. And ff you are a Geocacher, there are a few interesting finds nearby, one for which you will need some serious ground clearance.

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So that was Wlotzka. A million memories. Few words.

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