There are some exclusive houses in Henties, but the
majority have been built as holiday homes that can be rented at
reasonable prices. Many of the home owners seem to be expressing
thoughts or whatever that you wouldn't see in any 'ordinary' town.
The above left house has a genuine ships anchor chain securing it to
the 'deck'. The chap on the right has collected drift wood tree
trunks and placed them around his holiday retreat. There are some
interesting shapes.
In the beginning: It is known that a patrol of Schutztruppe
found the 'sweet' water at the mouth of the
Omaruru River Delta in 1886 and
camped there for the night.
In later years it was to this water hole in 1920
that an old South West minerals prospector known as Erasmus pitched
his tent tasted the water (and no doubt caught a few fish) and was
cured of a great affliction - the quest for those elusive alluvial
diamonds that in the 'Good Old Days' were found in the rivers and
along sections of the coastline of Namibia.
In 1922 a garage owner and motor dealer from
Kalkveld, Hentie van der Merwe, went on a hunting trip north of the
Brandberg, where his
Chevrolet truck developed an overheating problem and it was to this
water hole that Henty eventually arrived and pitched his tent under
the palm trees while he repaired his truck. In those far off 'Good
Old Days', following a high tide, the beach, at Hentie's, lay
deep with fresh red bait, so Hentie cast out a line and caught one of
those big fish that the old timers keep telling us about. Hentie must
have enjoyed it, as he settled down for the rest of the week and the
hunting holiday turned into a fishing holiday.
On his return inland, the word 'got out' and by
the next holiday period in old 'South West' a few farmers brought their families along, pitched their tents
alongside Hentie's, made use of that sweet water hole, and they all 'hooked
on some red bait and went fishing' and caught big and plenty.
