News

The President of Namibia has called for a concerted effort to clean up the country. The Gondwana Collection is in, of course! Staffers of the Gondwana Travel Centre in Windhoek have already started to collect garbage in the neighbourhood today (24 May). Furthermore, each employee received a cotton bag in order to cut down on plastic shopping bags. 

Armed with handheld searchlights and torches it is nightly entertainment for youngsters on a farm to try and catch springhares. These rodents measure around 40 centimetres, disregarding the tail, and their eyes can be seen glowing in the dark from afar. Blinded by the light shone at them they flee across the open grass plain hopping on their hind legs like kangaroos. Usually the springhares make it to their burrows but some will be caught. After the fun of catching a springhare it is released again. For others, especially San communities in arid areas like the Kalahari, springhares represent an important food source.

In the rainy season, when the ground is waterlogged, they sometimes surface in our gardens: about 25 centimetres long, more or less 5 millimetres thick, of a pinkish-brownish colour and of an appearance that resembles a worm or a snake. They are not worms nor snakes, however, but Kalahari Round-headed Worm Lizards (Zygaspis quadrifrons).

Did you know that a Namibian-born space engineer and scientist is leading a mission to Mars? Dr Japie van Zyl is currently the Director of the Solar System Exploration at NASA. As head of the InSight Mission, he and his team sent the first outer space robotic explorer to Mars on 5 May to study the planet's early geological evolution. You might wonder how a boy from Opuwo made it to the stars? Manni Goldbeck talked to Dr Japie van Zyl when he visited his birth country in 2012.

His memories of CYMOT’s early years? The founder of the family business frowns. “Team spirit, good leadership and innovation”, he says, “that was our recipe for success. We are having a casual breakfast meeting with Claus Theissen, now 78 years old, and two companions who worked at CYMOT for decades. Suddenly the memories start to burst forth, not so much memories of work, however, but rather of the practical application of the CYMOT product range during fishing and camping trips.

The same quantity of water that 40 households in Windhoek use in one month is currently gushing down Ruacana Falls every second. On 13 April the Kunene River reached its fastest flow rate this year when 1654 cubic metres per second plunged over the falls to a depth of 107 to 120 metres. The Kunene started to rise after heavy rains in south-western Angola and masses of water pushed south on their long way to the border with Namibia, where the river turns west to the Atlantic Ocean for its final stretch of 352 km.

In April very good rains were recorded across most parts of the country, much to the relief of the agricultural sector. President Hage Geingob travelled to China for a state visit and was accompanied by a large business delegation of seventy people. Government has scrapped the 25 percent clause for black economic empowerment (BEE). Another economic highlight was the visit of a large business delegation from Iran. Namibia’s inflation for March remained at 3.5 percent, the same as February, according to the latest data from the Namibia Statistics Agency.

Two well-established Namibian brands, one common vision: CYMOT and Gondwana Collection have teamed up to promote Namibia as a unique outdoor destination. The lodge group brings beautiful locations with exciting activities into this partnership while CYMOT provides the necessary equipment to make the outdoor experience as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.