News

It is the third year in a row that a property of the Gondwana Collection has reached the final of the Responsible Tourism Awards. In 2018, the Namib Desert Lodge is competing for the prestigious award. The other two finalists in the Accommodation Establishment category are Grootberg Lodge and Damaraland Camp. In the Tour Operators category, which includes shuttles, car rentals and the like, the three finalists are Abenteuer Afrika Reisen, Wild Dog Safaris and Ultimate Safaris. 

According to African folklore, Leopard stopped sharing his meals and started to hide his kill in trees because Jackal and Hyena weren’t reciprocating his generosity. One of the best remembered fables of the ages is, however, “How the Leopard Got His Spots” in the “Just So Stories” where Rudyard Kipling spelled out the benefits of camouflage. Leopard looked “like a sunflower against a tarred fence” when he entered the forest from the veld until the Ethiopian kindly painted the five-dotted rosettes which cover the leopard’s coat to this day.

A camera trap at a waterhole on Uli Trümper’s farm Safari captured a lappet-faced vulture together with a black-backed jackal on 29 January this year. The clearly visible plastic tag on the vulture revealed that the bird was ringed about nine years ago. Pictures taken by other camera traps also prove that the vulture was successfully rehabilitated and that it is in good condition. 

“Congratulations!! You scored 5 Eco flowers (92%)!!” Gondwana’s environmental officer, Quintin Hartung, who accompanied the Eco Awards Namibia inspectors to Kalahari Anib Lodge in late November 2017, rejoiced with the lodge management and staff at the fantastic score. 

The lighthouse stands out on Swakopmund's "skyline". The citizens of the coastal town are proud of it and it features prominently in the old and new municipal coat of arms. Nevertheless it is rarely mentioned by sources on the history of Swakopmund. Is that perhaps because it was part of a project that failed? 

Last week, we launched our #itsup2us campaign at the Delight Hotel in Swakopmund. The Gondwana Collection Namibia has adopted a “Zero waste to Landfill” goal together with our partner in this venture – Rent-a-Drum (RaD) who originally adopted this initiative.