News

Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein has called on the country’s private sector and the investor community to “remain positive and supportive” despite a downgrade in rating. Speaking at a business breakfast organised by the Namibia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NCCI), Minister Schlettwein said on 21 August 2017, the government’s fiscal consolidation measures were credible and showed results, while remaining on track. 

Treasures are often discovered by chance. One such jewel has been discovered secreted away in Hoachanas. And, if you don’t know where Hoachanas is (and that is understandable), it’s north-east of Mariental on the dune-bedecked C21 en route to Gondwana’s Kalahari lodges. Historians believe that it was once the unofficial Nama capital.

The Great River, Gariep, Orange... The probably first European who crossed the Orange River in 1760, Jakobus Coetsé Jansz, reverently called it the Great River (Grootrivier). In the Nama language it was known as Gariep. Towards the end of the 18th century it was named Orange River by Dutch explorer Robert Jacob Gordon. Here is his story. 

The Wild Horses of the Namib are threatened by extinction. Following five years without any substantial rainfall, they barely find pasture in their habitat near Aus, and their survival depends on additional feeding. The Namibia Wild Horses Foundation would like to thank Mr Josef Vitus Schubert, Austrian Honorary Consul in Namibia, for the latest generous donation of 800 bales of hay, which will help the horses through the coming weeks. 

Africa’s population of giraffe has decreased at a startling rate. Scientists are sounding the alarm bell. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) now lists giraffe, as a single species, as vulnerable to extinction. What is more, the common belief – still upheld internationally – that there is only one species of giraffe with several subspecies was recently refuted. 

Defying the elements, Felsenkirche (the Church on the Rock) has stood overlooking the small harbour town of Lüderitz for over 100 years. The church is an architectural gem, built on the granite of Diamantberg. Whether the patrons wanted to express that the Christian church is based as firmly as a rock on the belief in Jesus Christ is subject for speculation. Saint Peter the Apostle probably also acted as godfather when Felsenkirche was given its name, because Peter is derived from the Greek word “petros” that means rock or stone.  

What a delight! All Gondwana Collection lodges that have been listed on HolidayCheck for the past year have received 90-100% recommendations. With compliments such as “Beautiful lodge, with big terraces overlooking the river”, “Eagles Nest, a dream” , “Stunning hotel, highly recommended”, they are listed as some of the best rated accommodations of the year.

It is the year 1969. Man sets foot on the moon for the very first time. The whole world is mesmerized by the Apollo 11 mission. Archaeologist Dr Wolfgang Wendt from Cologne in Germany embarks on a similar mission, albeit in the opposite direction. He starts his excavations in a cave in the Huns Mountains northeast of Rosh Pinah in southern Namibia, which he names Apollo 11, and discovers a small fine-grained slab of sandstone with traces of an animal drawn on it. The result of age determination causes a sensation. At around 27,000 years old, this slab is so far the oldest work of art found in Africa. 

Ruins of century-old lime kilns, once essential for construction, lie hidden on farms in the Namibian countryside. I went searching... I found them, one by one, in different areas of the country standing like proud old monuments, testifying to a time when life ticked at a slower pace. The conical clay-brick or stone chimneys – kilns or ovens – used to produce quicklime for mortar, are prized relics of the past, housing memories and holding rich stories of both hardship and hope.

Namibia’s economy experiences new growth after the dip in 2016. The good rains this past summer season filled central dams: Windhoek has sufficient water reserves until 2020, the water committee of the Cabinet announced this month. Agricultural production has improved, live cattle fetch good prices.”