Solitaire, Namibia

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Solitaire, Namibia, founded in 1948 by Willem Christoffel van Colller.

In 1948 Willem Christoffel van Coller bought 33,000 hectares of land from the South West Administration (the government of Namibia at the time) for the purpose of farming Karakul sheep. The land was previously an undeveloped area called Areb situated between the Ababis region to the South and the Koireb region to the North.

The area was named Solitaire by Elsie Sophia van Coller (wife of Willem Christoffel van Coller). The name was chosen because of two meanings. Solitaire can mean a single set diamond and Solitaire can also mean solitude or loneliness. Combined these two meanings create the definition of being unique or one-of-a-kind and a precious but solitary place. Elsie Sophia Van Coller named this area Solitaire and by using white-washed stones piled on top of one another, spelled out the word "Solitaire" on the hill to the north of the present store / gas station.

The first man-made structure on the Solitaire farm was a 2 room cottage constructed by Willem Christoffel van Coller who also later constructed the main farm house, a stone kraal adjacent to the farmhouse and a dam wall across the river bed. Later he was also responsible for constructing the current shop and installing the first petrol pump. The shop also acted as the regional post office where weekly postbags were delivered from Rohebahn (town south of Windhoek). Eventually a small church was built as well.

In 1968 the farm 'Solitaire' was sold to Mr Maritz.

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Solitaire, Namibia, is really more of a rest stop near the sparsely inhabited areas of Namib-Naukluft National Park. For years, it has been the only gas station for hours between the dunes of Sossusvlei and the main road from Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is currently the only gasoline station between the dunes at Sossusvlei and the coast at Walvis Bay. Thus, there is more traffic than would be expected for such an isolated outpost. There is also a small store attached to the gasoline station. Recently, the owners have opened a motel on the grounds.
Solitaire has become famous in The Netherlands because of the book of the same name by Dutch author Ton van der Lee dealing with his stay in this place.

Coordinates: 23°53′S, 16°00′E