What’s in a name? Popular fishing holes

Many well-known ‘hengelgate’ (fishing holes) dot the coastline from Swakopmund northwards as the tar road becomes salt and gypsum, licked by the pervading sea mist. Named by locals over the years to remember a good fishing hole, some have intriguing and interesting names.

Interspersed with ‘Mile’ signs, which follow the old system used to mark the distances from Swakopmund, they include spots like ‘Sarah se gat’ where legendary fisherwoman Sarah de Jager liked to fish (singer Carike Keuzenkamp even wrote a song about her). Other names are just as colourful like ‘Horingbaai’, marked with horns, and ‘Bennie se rooi lorrie’, so named after young Bennie left his red toy truck on the beach. Then there’s ‘Baklei (Argument) Gat’ where there must have been one ‘moerse’ disagreement and St Nowhere, which says it all.

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