News

The former oxwagon route from Windhoek to Seeis passes a rock with “Schwarze Klippe 14.2.04” (Black Rock) inscribed on it. On noticing this rock one cannot help but wonder what happened there. It is little known that at the beginning of the Herero uprising in 1904 German soldiers accidentally shot at their comrades in a skirmish close to this rock.  

Two passionate mountain bikers from opposite sides of the globe, separated by 10 000km, team up for the legendary Absa Cape Epic. Piet Swiegers, the 48-year-old Namibian Veteran cross-country mountain-bike champion from Aus, in Namibia’s arid south-western corner, will join 55-year-old Swedish Masters mountain-bike champion, Atle Hansen, from Hölö, Sweden, to cycle the Cape Epic on the 13-20 March 2016. And, if past achievement is anything to go by, the team will provide stiff competition to other riders in their category.

Click. The main switch is pushed up. At last, on 27 January, Namushasha River Lodge is connected to the national power grid. Everybody is tremendously pleased. “There was no time to celebrate, though”, says Reini Hoppe, the technical manager of the Gondwana Group. “We had to test the air conditioners in each of the 27 rooms.” Since that memorable day our guests sleep in pleasantly chilled rooms, and they can switch on the light in the middle of the night. 

It was in April 1884 that Ludwig Conradt, a Berlin specialist for water drilling, heard about the ‘ventures of Lüderitz’ for the first time. Adolf Lüderitz, a merchant of Bremen, was determined to establish a German colony in the south-western parts of Africa. Conradt was thrilled by the idea and offered his services to Lüderitz. Subsequently he wrote down his experiences which were later published as ‘Recollections of a trader and farmer living 20 years in German South West Africa’. 

The Gondwana Collection is green at heart. This has been noticed by the Council for Sustainable Development (Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung) in Germany. The organisation recently awarded its Werkstatt N seal of quality to Gondwana. Since 2011 the Council annually honours 100 ideas and projects which bring alive a sustainable way of thought and conduct in everyday life. Initiatives in foreign countries were included for the first time this year. Gondwana received the award for its sustainable tourism products which focus on nature conservation and social commitment.

The massive sandstone pillar in southern Namibia that stood east of the B1 national road near Asab and pointed to the sky like a warning finger until 7 December 1988, was 12 m high, up to 4.5 m wide and weighed some 450 tons. What made the “Finger of God” (also known as Mukorob) so special, however, was its base. Just 3 m long and 1.5 m wide it was narrower than the mass of rock it supported! The mighty finger that had balanced for thousands of years on such a delicate foot was indeed a true wonder of nature. The “Finger of God” inspired various legends. 

Reinhard Maack was the first European to conquer Königstein (2573 m), the highest peak in Namibia in the Brandberg massif. He also discovered the famous White Lady, which together with other rock paintings testified to the fact that indigenous people had been there long before him. Maack and his friend A Hofmann set out on an expedition to the Brandberg in February 1917. 

One small spark was all that was needed to trigger the eruption. The atmosphere was thick with anger, people crowded around the buildings, hundreds of men and women. Some held stones, others carried iron rods. The police commander’s calls for a peaceful dispersal were answered by boos and whistling. Suddenly a stone banged onto the roof of a police vehicle. The spark. Shots rang out, people screamed and fled in panic, a shower of stones clattered onto the police and vehicles, one of which burst into flame.

Fascination with the wild horses in Namibia’s south-western Namib Desert is compelling. Their origin was shrouded in mystery for decades. Their habitat, the inhospitable plains around Garub, is anything but a paradise. In more recent times they have become a tourist attraction. Every year thousands of visitors watch in awe as the horses arrive with thundering hooves and flying manes to quench their thirst at the trough at Garub. They are all the more touched when in years of drought they see emaciated tired creatures... Why? Does nobody come to the rescue?

The wild horses have lived in the Namib Desert for nearly a century, being tempered by the desert conditions, forming the resilient Namib breed. The horses initially lived in the Sperrgebiet. Garub was an important source of fresh water in the desert and access to its borehole water ensured their survival. Jan Coetzer served as the unofficial custodian of the wild horses from the time he began to patrol the area for Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM) in 1966/67. He took an active interest in the horses until he left the area in 1981, checking up on the borehole at least once a month.