News

In 2019 the Gondwana Academy expanded its outreach by touring Namibia with representatives from communal conservancies and communities in the vicinity of Gondwana lodges in the Okavango and Zambezi regions.Under the trusted leadership and guidance of Orlando Haraseb from Orlando Safaris & Tours, nine young Namibians ventured out on a 12-day tour from the banks of the Zambezi River to Sossusvlei. 

The avian influenza A(H5N8) virus, which has claimed numerous victims among the African Penguin colony on Halifax Island near Lüderitzbucht since the beginning of this year, seems to be under control. According to penguin expert Dr Jessica Kemper, no dead penguins have been found on Halifax and the other islands off Namibia's coast since early May.

At the front door is a box or some other sort of container with holes pierced into it. The box contains live creatures that need to breathe. The former and new owners of the Living Desert Snake Park in Swakopmund are no longer surprised when they find a package like that on their doorstep.

The online travel portal HolidayCheck has awarded the HolidayCheck Award to numerous accommodations of the Gondwana Collection Namibia. The most outstanding rating of 5.7 out of 6 suns was achieved by Canyon Village and Klein-Aus Vista Eagle's Nest Chalets followed by The Delight Swakopmund, Canyon Lodge and Kalahari Anib Lodge (5.6 each).

Migratory birds spend the Namibian winter months in the northern hemisphere. Nevertheless many species of birds can be watched at the Chobe River from May to September as well. On foot, on game drives and by boat a total of 92 different bird species were recorded.

Cold winter temperatures prevailed over the southern and central areas of Namibia this month, while hot east wind weather in the Namib Desert and the coast brought a feeling of summer in between.Namibia and Germany signed a financial cooperation agreement worth over N$ 1 billion, and the first consignment of Namibian beef arrived in China.

Petrol and diesel prices increased by 30 cents a litre in June. Inflation stood at 4.1 percent at the end of May, down from 4.5 percent in April, the National Statistics Agency announced beginning mid-June. Cheque-payments in Namibia where phased out this month, bringing an end to the cheque-book era.

They were spanking new and had just set off on their first trip through Namibia: the Toyota Fortuner siblings with the number plates N 209776 W and N 209775 W. By chance, the two Namibia2Go rental cars were parked next to each other at a lodge in the Waterberg area - and the respective car renters got the shock of their lives. A grazing white rhino chose “to cuddle” with their rental cars and damaged the bodywork in the process. 

Namibia’s Zambezi Region is renowned for its lush vegetation, wildlife, amazing bird species and water abundance due to the mighty Zambezi River, the Kwando and the meandering water channels of the Chobe River. But a very special occurrence tops all of that each year when thousands of feathered migrants turn the skies red to descend on a specific area from August to December to breed.

Anyone who has visited the northern parts of the country will have noticed the brown-grey birds with the red or yellow-red beaks, sitting on cattle or wild mammals. When you want to take a photo they usually hide on the other side of the animal. These birds are Red-billed and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers. They mainly feed on ticks, not on maggots.

Howling sirens, worry, bewilderment. Another fire alarm in Swakopmund! Not long ago the Dolphin Pharmacy was on fire, followed by the Metro wholesale. Only a week ago a fire in a hut in the Mondesa district devastated a family's belongings. Now part of a penthouse apartment in the historically valuable Hohenzollernhaus was on fire. Thanks to the rapid deployment of the fire brigade, a cultural-historical catastrophe could be prevented.