Geoff, our VENT guide, Brad, and I and walked to the beach area near our hotel in Swakopmund before breakfast on August 11, 2012. Swakopmund is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northwestern Namibia and is situated in the Namib Desert. Brad photographed the Marine Memorial (near the State House). It was dedicated to the (German) First Marine Expedition Corps. These marines took part in suppressing an uprising of the indigenous Herero in 1904 to 1905 that also lead to the formation of concentration camps at Shark Island, Lüderitz (history here repeated itself during WWII). The memorial was commissioned by the Marine Infantry in Keil, designed by AM Wolff, a German sculptor, and unveiled to the public in July 1908. Temperatures were in the upper 60's on this cloudy morning with a light drizzle.