Sunday 29 January 2017

Botswana: Tuskers Bush Camp | Таскерс Кемп Ботсвана

#TuskersBushCamp #TuskersBotswana #ТаскерсКемпБотсвана #NxaiPan

Tuskers Bush Camp is located between Nxai Pan National Park in the east and Moremi Game Reserve in the west in the Kwatale Conservancy. It encompasses 365 000 hectares of acacia scrub and mopane woodland, plus the northern tip of the Botswana Kalahari, making this exclusive tract of land ideal for game drives and walking safaris.

Tuskers Bush Camp Botswana

6 Meru-style canvas safari tents are located between the evergreen mopane trees, looking out into the veld and offering guests seclusion and privacy during their stay. En suite bathrooms comply with the sustainable construction of the camp, with heated bucket showers and eco bush toilets.
Tuskers Bush Camp Botswana

The main dining tent, boma, and bar overlook a bustling waterhole, and the free-flow of animals create a wild and untamed ambience throughout. Tuskers is a true canvas bush camp with added luxuries and an emphasis on its sublime location.
Tuskers Bush Camp Botswana

Tuskers is located only 1.5 to 2 hour drive (4 x 4 only) from Maun, and is easily and afforably accessed by self-drivers (4 x 4 only) from Maun Airport. Alternatively, a road transfer from the airport to the camp can be arranged.

Self-drivers (4 x 4 only) travelling from Maun will exit the airport on Airport Road and turn left at the stop street meeting Sir Seretse Khama Rd. Continue on Sir Seretse Khama Rd until you exit Maun town, cross the Thamalakane River and arrive at a roundabout. Take the first exit left off the roundabout and continue in the direction of Mababe.

Tuskers Bush Camp Botswana

The road becomes a gravel road and you will cross the vet fence. Continue straight on the gravel road until turning right onto another gravel road and drive along the fence for +-15km until reaching  Tuskers Bush Camp.

The camp

Tuskers Bush Camp is the ultimate bushveld retreat. The old-world safari tents are authentic and simplistic, a design that is replicated in the main area of camp where guests will find a dining area, lounge, bar and fireplace.

Tuskers Bush Camp Botswana

There is a spacious safari-style dining tent where guests are seated at meal times, while a lounge area with comfortable wicker and canvas furniture and coffee tables is the ideal spot to while away the afternoon. The adjacent freestanding bar is a feature of the camp, also shaded by canvas walls and roof.
Tuskers Bush Camp Botswana

The classic open-air fire pit is centred between the bar and dining tent, all overlooking a pan frequently visited by roaming game, and offering a perfect view of the sunset on the western horizon.

Facilities

    6 Classic Meru-style safari tents each sleeping two people with a max of 8 guests
    En suite bathrooms with flush-toilet, wash basins, and bucket showers
    Safari-style dining tent forming the central area of the camp
    Open-air boma/campfire in the main area overlooking the pan
    Coffee station in the dining tent
    Drinking water provided in rooms, but tap water not palatable
    Solar-powered lighting for bedroom and en suite bathrooms
    Charging station available for cameras and other devices in camp
    WiFi is available in the main area

How to get there

Tuskers is located only an hour’s drive from Maun, and is easily and afforably accessed by self-drivers (4 x 4 only) from Maun Airport. Alternatively, a road transfer from the airport to the camp can be arranged.

Tuskers Bush Camp Botswana

Self-drivers (4 x 4 only) travelling from Maun will exit the airport on Airport Rd and turn left at the stop street meeting Sir Seretse Khama Rd. Continue on Sir Seretse Khama Rd until you exit Maun town, cross the Thamalakane River and arrive at a roundabout. Take the first exit left off the roundabout and continue in the direction of Mababe.
Tuskers Bush Camp Botswana

The road becomes a gravel road and you will cross the vet fence. Continue straight on the gravel road until turning right onto another gravel road and drive along the fence for +-15km until reaching Tuskers Bush Camp.
YouTube channel: Exploring Namibia
Aerial photo/video service & other inquiries contact: info@traveltonamibia.com

Namibia: Rӧssmund Supports Save the Rhino Trust | Россмунд Гольф Лодж

#RӧssmundNamibia #RössmundLodge #SaveTheRhinoTrust #Swakopmund
#РоссмундГольфЛодж
 
Rӧssmund Supports Save the Rhino Trust

As a commitment to support Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) in its mission to save one of the most majestic, ancient and noble beasts of the wild from extinction, Rössmund Golf Course hosts a grand annual event to the benefit of Namibia’s black rhino population, the SRT Corporate Golf Day.

Rӧssmund Golf Course Swakopmund Namibia

Held in conjunction with the Golf Day, in 2016, Rössmund decided to call upon Swakopmund’s matriarchal leaders to help with the cause, and in November, the female business leaders of the coastal community, those outstanding women with power and compassion, were all invited to attend an executive breakfast at Rössmund.
Rӧssmund Golf Course Swakopmund Namibia

The breakfast and golf event was a great success and has become a highlight on Swakopmund’s social calendar – with many already pledging their support for the event in 2017. Since its inception in 2015, the event has seen to financial support of between N$130 000 to N$150 000 being raised in aid of SRT. Proceeds from this event go directly to support Save the Rhino Trust.
Rӧssmund Golf Course Swakopmund Namibia

Hannelie Turner, Fundraising Manager at SRT explained, “Community support has always been one of the most important elements of our success. The SRT team has tremendous appreciation for the funding received from Rӧssmund Golf Course, their sponsors and the businesswomen who support this event. It is initiatives like these that allow us to continue our work and save these magnificent creatures for future generations.”
Rӧssmund Golf Course Swakopmund Namibia

Rössmund and the SRT collaborative would like to thank our main sponsor for the day, Bank Windhoek, and all the additional sponsors who made this breakfast event a success: Seeff Namibia, Standard Bank, Estelle Esterhuizen Insurance, Batis Birding, Safari Wise, Daphne Swanepoel Estates, Uschi and Dianne Estates, Premier Construction, Swakopmund Bridge Club, Roberts Practitioners, HN Finplan, Dr. Suardi, Engen, and Kinghorn Associates.
Rӧssmund Golf Course Swakopmund Namibia

Sponsors of the corporate golf day included Coastal Office National, PG Glass, SHEC, DF Malherbe, Namib Tracks and Trails, Team Suzuki, Seeff Namibia, Fish-4-Business, Dream Team, W/B Round Table, Horny Boys, Logistic Support Services, Greame Louw, Forca Construction, Dr. Dirk Redman, Obeegees, Santam, Pupkewitz Walvis Bay, Strategic Management Windhoek, Corporate Guaranteed, Tauber and Corsen, PSG, Yamaha Duneworx, SA Express, Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre, Plaza Hotel, Atlantic Villa, Cymot, Woermann Brock Hardware, Laramon Tours, Ocean Adventures, Namfish, The Wreck Restaurant, Red Bull, The Dome Restaurant, Bank Windhoek Walvis Bay, Namibia Breweries, Fatbike Tours Swakopmund, Lynne vd Walt, Coastal Cellular, Napolitana, Cordes and Co, Toulmins, Secret Garden Guest House, MediClinic Swakopmund, Wright Millers, Speedy Sports, Cashbox van Wyk, WCFM, Christo Swart Walvis Bay, Hollard, VPS Swakopmund, Ocean View Shell, Fruit and Veg City Swakopmund, CIC Windhoek and Geeks 4U.
Rӧssmund Golf Course Swakopmund Namibia

SRT also received additional support from local suppliers and concerned citizens like Corporate Event Gear (sound), Benn Lombard (artist of rhino painting that was auctioned), Brian Ford (who supplied the grand piano), Rocco De Villiers (pianist), and Rössmund Lodge (host).

Thank you all for helping us Save the Rhino!

YouTube channel: Exploring Namibia
Aerial photo/video service & other inquiries contact: info@traveltonamibia.com

Namibia: Gondwana News: renovations at Kalahari Farmhouse

#GondwanaNamibia #KalahariFarmhouse #GondwanaNews #Stampriet

Gondwana News


Kalahari Farmhouse to be open to guests as of the end of April.


The eleven rooms for the Kalahari Farmhouse are available in chalets reminiscent of the Cape Dutch style. Kalahari Farmhouse and the Self-Sufficiency Centre are supplied by the Stampriet Aquifer. It is one of Namibia's largest and most important aquifers and lies underneath the Kalahari dunes like a huge water reservoir.

Kalahari Farmhouse Stampriet Namibia
The Gondwana Academy used to be a mobile training program. It is now situated at the Kalahari Farmhouse.

The Kalahari Farmhouse in Stampriet will be closed for renovations and the Gondwana Training Academy the first four months of 2017 as of 1 January. It will open to guests as soon as 28 April 2017. Originally the Kalahari Farmhouse was to be used for the Gondwana Academy as from January until July 2017. However, this year's training program has been streamlined for various reasons. Gondwana's current Managing Director Mannfred Goldbeck, soon to be the Director of Brand and Marketing, will head the Academy.

Kalahari Farmhouse Stampriet Namibia

The Tourism Industry is currently experiencing a boom and the prospects for the coming year look promising. Therefore Gondwana can make use of the eleven rooms at Kalahari Farmhouse once the Academy courses have concluded at the end of April 2017. The rooms have already been released for bookings.
Kalahari Farmhouse Stampriet Namibia

Located on the fringes of the village of Stampriet in the valley of the seasonal Auob River, Kalahari Farmhouse combines upmarket hospitality with a rural ambience. The reception and restaurant are housed in a farmhouse, built decades ago in the. The small farming business next-door keeps the kitchen stocked with fresh produce for the delicious dishes on the menu. Kalahari Farmhouse is ideally suited for a short holiday with the whole family.
Kalahari Farmhouse Stampriet Namibia

When the Kalahari Farmhouse is not open to guests, it will serve as the home of the Gondwana Academy. The lodge group’s hospitality training and leadership development programme aims to provide service excellence, promoting Namibia as a top African tourist destination.
Kalahari Farmhouse Stampriet Namibia
While the Academy is initially aimed at increasing the skills of Gondwana staff, the intention is to also provide training for people aspiring to work in the hospitality industry and to be a source of leadership development for service professionals wanting to further their skills.
YouTube channel: Exploring Namibia
Aerial photo/video service & other inquiries contact: info@traveltonamibia.com

Namibia: Ndhovu Safari Lodge

#NdhovuSafariLodge #Namibia #OkavangoRiver #MahangoGameReserve

Ndhovu Safari Lodge is a perfect fit for those seeking a truly African adventure, a peaceful riverside retreat located on the western banks of the Okavango River close to the renowned Mahango Game Reserve.
Ndhovu Safari Lodge Namibia
Free WiFi Access  is available at the charming thatched lapa that houses the reception area and a Bar. Family-style meals are served on rosewood and kiaat tables. Other services available include Laundry Services, Airstrip Transfers, Wheel-Chair Accessibility  and Credit Card facility for Visa and Master Cards.
Ndhovu Safari Lodge Namibia
The lodge offers 10 Luxury tented accommodation, of which 1 is floating on the river, with a chance for guests to fully immerse themselves in the tranquil Okavango River Experience. Each tent is fully equipped with, 2x 3/4 beds (twin), en-suite bathroom facilities (shower Only) and a bedside view over the river.
Ndhovu Safari Lodge Namibia
The Highlight of the Ndhovu Safari Lodge is the Houseboat Safari that offers accommodation for maximum 4 people in 2 cabin's with 1 double and 1 twin (2x 3/4 beds) on the upper deck; while the lounge, dining area as well as the shared bathroom (separate shower and WC) are downstairs.
Ndhovu Safari Lodge Namibia

Our one exclusive campsite (only 1 reservation per day) accommodates up to 15 people and is situated along the river under shady trees.

The swimming pool is surrounded by a large area of lawn and indigenous trees.

Ndhovu Safari Lodge Namibia
Activities
Boat Trips - along the border of the Bwabwata National Game Park
Game Drive to the Mahango National Game Park
Full day Game Drive into the Buffalo Game Park.

Ndhovu Safari Lodge Namibia

Fishing Trips - which offer the opportunity of catching Tiger Fish, Barbel and Nembwe.
YouTube channel: Exploring Namibia
Aerial photo/video service & other inquiries contact: info@traveltonamibia.com

Namibia to blame for rhino poaching not Chinese - opinion

#RhinoPoaching #Namibia

Namibia to blame for rhino poaching, not Chinese*

It might just be worth to start by having a quick look at some numbers. 745 rhinos were killed due to illegal poaching in 2012 in Africa, which amounts to approximately two rhinos each day, mostly for their horns. In South Africa alone, 461 rhinos were killed in just the first half of 2013.
That time only less than 5 rhinos were poached in Namibia. Rhino horns are valued for their medicinal uses and for their supposed cancer-curing powers. Of course, rhino horns have no pharmacological value at all, making their harvest even more tragic.
Then in 2013 the Namibian government started giving permits to Americans to come and shoot our rhinos for fun-trophy hunting. It attracted global attention.
Government argued that a Dallas Safari Club from the US would kill five non-breeding rhino each year and that these were older males who can no longer contribute to population growth.
Not only did it seem as if the killing of an animal – especially an endangered one – for sport is directly contradictory to the goal of ensuring the survival of a species, the media and experts argued Namibia was drawing attention to the world of poachers who that time were mainly focused on South Africa and Mozambique.
Namibia in 2014 staged an auction in the US for the right to hunt an endangered black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) in Namibia. And the result, as usual, is now more complicated.
The permit was sold for US$350,000, well above the previous high bid for a permit US$223,000. While the Dallas Safari Club had the dubious distinction of being the first organization to hold such an auction outside of Namibia itself, it’s fairly unremarkable and actually quite common for an African nation to sell permits for trophy hunting, even for endangered species.
And it’s not just rhinos. For example, a 2000 report from TRAFFIC, an organization that works with the WWF, IUCN, and CITES to track the international trade of wildlife, describes how Namibia alone was the site of almost 16,000 trophy hunts that year. Those 16,000 animals represent a wide variety of species – birds, reptiles, mammals, and even primates – both endangered and not. They include four of the so-called “big five” popular African game: lion, Cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. (Only the elephant was missing.) The hunters brought eleven million US dollars with them to spend in the Namibian economy. And that doesn’t include revenue from non-trophy recreational hunting activities, which are limited to four species classified as of “least concern” by the IUCN: Greater Kudu, Gemsbok, Springbok and Warthog.
The issues here are complex and highly politicized. There are several questions that science can’t help address, primary of which is whether or not the money raised from the sale of hunting permits is used for conservation, something often promised by hunting tour operators. But empirical research can help to elucidate several other questions, such as whether hunting can ever help drive conservation efforts.
The same Ministry of Environment and Tourism that failed to account for millions in a botched international KORA Awards event has never detailed where the "millions" from trophy go to particularly the communities where these animals are hunted.
What the Americans did to our rhinos is no different from what the Chinese are doing. Killing animals.
Government made a stool in public, now we have flies all over us.
Can the message that an auction for the hunting of an endangered species like the black rhino brings possibly be reconciled with the competing message that the species requires saving?
The Americans had the desire to kill a magnificent animal for sport, even if the individual is an older non-breeding male. The sale of the right to kill an animal for a trophy surely reflects the value that animal lives hold in at least some corners of our society: that killing an animal for fun isn’t wrong, as long as you can afford it. It is right to worry about the sort of message that sends.
For a government to approave the killing of an endangered species as charismatic as the black rhinoceros which is under such extreme threat from poaching, then perhaps the message that the species needs saving has a larger problem to address than the relatively limited loss of animals to wealthy hunters. The real tragedy here is that the one rhino killed by the Dallas Safari Club received a disproportionate amount of media attention compared to the hundreds of rhinos lost to poaching each year, which remain largely invisible.
Chinese are just doing what our government allowed the Americans to do. Killing our animals.


*Opinion may differ from publisher's.

Sunday 22 January 2017

Namibia: Tour of Christuskirche in Windhoek - photo gallery | Церковь Христа Виндхук, Намибия

#Namibia #Christuskirche #LutheranChurchNamibia #ЦерковьХристаВиндхук #Намибия

Christuskirche - Namibia's capital landmark

The German Lutheran Congregation in Windhoek was founded on 20 January 1896. At the beginning services were conducted in the church hall of the parsonage consecrated on 1 November 1896. Idea to build a church existed from the beginning. A site was allocated already in 1898 and plans were drawn in 1900 by Government architect Redecker but wars at the beginning of the century delayed the implementation of the project.
Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia
Christuskirche - Church of Christ in Windhoek, Namibia

The construction of the church commenced only in 1907. The site was chosen on the top of the hill visible from long distance and name (Church of Christ) was chosen to symbolize an idea of peace. The building was completed at cost of 360 000 German marks which was the double of what initially planned. The construction was supervised by Redecker who initially drew the plan. The only local material was sandstone mined in vicinity of present Avis dam and a small railway line was constructed to transport it to the construction site. The portico consists of Carrara marble was imported from Italy while roof details, clock and other materials were shipped from Germany.
The tower (42 metres high) was topped by a Gothic spire although the church was built in a neo-Romanesque style.

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

The three bronze bells bear the inscriptions ''Ehre sei Gott in der Hohe'' (''Glory to God in the highest''), ''Friede auf Erden'' (''And on earth peace'') and ''Den Menschen ein Wohlgefallen'' (''Goodwill towards men'').
Three stained glass windows (recently renovated) were donated by German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm.

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

The church was consecrated on 16 October 1910. The original altarpiece, a copy of Ruben's famous ''Resurrection of Lazarus'', was in later years moved to the gallery. The copy was made by Berlin artist Clara Berkowski an donated by the wife of Governor Seitz shortly before World War 1. The original painting was destroyed in Berlin in 1945.
The church was renovated from 1967 to 1972. At that time the corrugated iron roof was replaced by tiles.
Inside on the church's wall there is a bronze plaque with the names of German soldiers, marines and civilians killed during Nama and Herero uprisings in 1903-1907.
The services are conducted in German at 10.00 on Sundays.

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia

Christuskirche in Windhoek, Namibia
YouTube channel: Exploring Namibia
Aerial photo/video service & other inquiries contact: info@traveltonamibia.com