The guestfarm ‘Katiti’s Place’ has a name many Namibians would recognise. Katiti is the Otjiherero word for ‘small’.
It is also the nickname of Namibian-born Katrin Dierks, who runs the exclusive and intimate mini-lodge with her partner, Bernard Pinon. The farm’s first owner was well-known German chef, Wolfgang Tuschmann, who had a popular restaurant in Hamburg. In the mid-1990s, he sold up and moved to Namibia with his wife, a goldsmith. They found their hideaway in the desert on Spreetshoogte Pass en route to Solitaire and opened a small guestfarm.
The Tushmanns stayed for several years before selling and moving away. A landmark in the area is the 14-metre pole, which was erected as a signpost for the guestfarm and to advertise Mrs Tushmann’s jewellery pieces, but they left the property before it could be completely assembled.
The pole juts out from the landscape next to the sign to Katiti’s Place and can be seen clearly from miles away.