Namibia: Damaraland photo tour: Twyfelfontein, Organ Pipes, Khorixas | Дамараленд Намибия Damaraland is located to the north of Swakopmund and to the south of Etosha Park. The area was allocated to Damara people where the Government purchased several farms for resettlement of this ethnic group. KHORIXAS. Formerly known as Welwitschia. The capital of Damaraland can be reached taking C39 from Outjo or C35 from Henties Bay. The name was taken from Khoekhoen name for a tree with edible berries.
TWYFELFONTEIN. This rock art site can be reached taking the following roads: C39 from Khorixas, turn left on the road 3254 and right on 3214. There are signs along the route. The name means ''Doubtful fountain'' as was given by local farmer who was in doubts that a spring which existed in the area can support cattle for a long enough time. Recommended time for a visit is early morning or late afternoon on account of high temperatures and the fact that engravings are not easy visible under direct sunlight. Twyfelfontein is the largest known concentration of Stone Age petroglyphs in our country. Although the area was declared a national monument in 1952 some engravings were damaged and even removed. There are approximately 2 500 engravings around Twyfelfontein. The age of engravings has not been determined precisely but there is evidence that area was occupied as early as 6 000 years ago.
ORGAN PIPES. Returning on the road 3254 site of Organ Pipes can be reached in about 3 kilometres on. This mass of perpendicular dolerite pillars are located down the river bed. Formed by the intrusion of volcanic rock dolerite about 120 million years ago.
The Gibeon meteorite shower is the most extensive meteorite shower known on Earth which covers a large elliptical area of some 275 by 100 kilometers centered on Brukkaros south of Mariental. Most fragments fell just southeast of Gibeon. To date, some 120 specimens with a weight of almost 25 tons have been recorded. In addition an unknown number have been collected but never recorded. Small pieces of metal were collected by James Alexander in 1838 at a place about three days journey northeast of the mission at Bethany. He described the pieces as being up to two feet square, and sent some materials to the chemist John Herschel in London, who established their meteoritic origin. However, it is well known that the local Nama people had been using the meteorites for a long time to produce spear points and other weapons.
#JamboGuestHouseNews #ДжамбоГестХаусКейптаун Dear Friends, Well, we made it through another exciting year and by the time you read this Jambo Guest House will have been open for 20 years!
A nice surprise was a Certificate of Excellence awarded to us by TripAdvisor for 2015 so I guess we must be doing something right! We have to commend our staff, Cathy and Mandy, who have been with us for 18 and 14 years respectively, for all their hard work performed with love, honesty and loyalty in helping us to achieve these awards. Our thanks and love go out to them. Springtime in Cape Town and at Jambo always catches us by surprise. Although winters are mild we wake up one fine morning and suddenly everything is in bloom and the garden is filled with all sorts of wonderful flowers and scents. This year, as always, proved to be no exception. A garden full to bursting with Clivias, of which we now have a big selection of all different shades. The blue swathe of the Petrea climbing up the side of the house and over the front gable. The Port Wine Magnolia with a scent that is almost overpowering as you walk towards the jacuzzi. The Moonflower with its’ pendulous trumpet shaped flowers giving off an amazing aroma at night. Our beloved Wisteria pretended to have given up the ghost this year with a lot of die back. We cut out all the dead wood and the result was so sad that it sent us running to the nursery to buy a new climber. We emerged with a mystery climber (we think it is a Mandevilla) but when planting it, we found a single live shoot of the Wisteria. We are now proud to announce that it has regenerated itself and we now have two healthy climbers covering the Grove Road fence!
The Koi are now well established in the pond, have become very tame and like to be petted and will feed from your hand. We probably need to lessen their numbers now as they have grown so big but we can never decide which ones we must say goodbye to... Cape Town this year was host city to the second leg of the Clipper round-the-World yacht race from Brazil to the Mother City. The race was started by Sir Robin Knox-Johnson and is unique in that all twelve yachts are identical and, apart from the Skipper of each, anybody can sign up and be crew - no experience necessary! It is a race split into eight legs with the start and finish in the U.K. We were privileged to have had a crew member of the yacht “IchorCoal”, sponsored by the mining company of the same name. He stayed with us during the race stop-over in Cape Town. After leaving Cape Town for the third leg of the race, crews sailed down to 40 degrees south and could expect some of the most extreme and exhilarating sailing in the World, en-route to Australia. Although I wrote about it last year the new Cape Town cruise line terminal is now definitely on track to becoming a reality. Plans are advanced to build it at E Berth in the Duncan Dock which is close to the Silo District of the V & A Waterfront. The plan is for the terminal to be fully operational by 2017 and includes the development of the Seitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. According to Cape Town’s Mayor, Patricia de Lille, between 2005 and 2013 there has been more than a 100% increase in the number of passenger ships visiting Cape Town and this is set to increase even more. During this year’s Tour de France, something I follow closely, South African team MTN Qhubeka, Wild Card Entrants in their first tour, managed to wear the polka dot jersey (King of the Mountains) were second in the team competition at one time, and took thirteen top -10 finishes and best of all, won a stage. Not bad for first timers! Qhubeka is a Nguni word meaning to carry on, move forward, to progress. Qhubeka helps people move forward and progress by donating bicycles in return for work done to improve communities, the environment or academic results. Having a bicycle changes lives by increasing the distance people can travel, where they can go, how fast can they get there.
Thousands of young South African lives have been changed as they became the recipients of bicycles raised by donations through the Qhubeka programme. The sponsors of the team next year are Dimension Data, the global ICT solutions and services provider. The team will be known as Team Dimension Data and will include famous Manxman Mark Cavendish, winner of 26 Tour de France stages. The attempt to break the current world land speed record is still on track and is scheduled to take place in the Northern Cape in September next year. The Bloodhound SSC is 13m long and has been designed to travel up to 1600 km/h. It has already been tested at 1200 km/h. The car was unveiled in London in September and was also on exhibition at the Science Forum South Africa at the CSIR conference centre in Pretoria. According to the U.K’s Telegraph, there are 25 reasons to visit South Africa right now. At the top of the list is the fact that all the major currencies, with Sterling being the highest, are at an all time high against the Rand so you can really score when you are here.
Truth Coffee Roasting coffee shop in Buitenkant street, Cape Town, has also been mentioned by The Telegraph as being the very best in the whole world. From a list of 13 unique coffee shops and roasteries in the world, Truth's steampunk-inspired artisan coffee shop - a warehouse filled from top to bottom with metal piping and quirky, old machinery - came out on top, grinding out some of the top shops in France, Vienna, Singapore and Italy. So come and join us and we’ll go drink some coffee! The Telegraph also mentioned the incredible landscapes, the extensive variety of very good wines, the proximity of nature, seriously good hiking, general good weather and great shopping due to the weak rand. Telegraph travel readers also said “You really can’t overstate the case for visiting Cape Town,”. “First, there’s the in-your-face beauty of a craggy mountain range that drops precipitously into a glittering sea, its flanks carpeted in green. Then there are the pristine white beaches lapped by – if the truth be told – a chilly Atlantic, but their curves defined by giant granite boulders to bake on, and burbling mountain streams in dappled forests.” We must not forget our wildlife around the Cape. Wild leopards can now be found in the mountains, our penguin colonies, seals, guinea fowl, mongoose, clawless otters, ostriches, resident humpbacks and southern right whales in winter and great white sharks. This past weekend Cape Town hosted the HSBC Sevens World Series Rugby and we had to guard our parking bays as people coming to watch the tournament park in any spot, regardless of it being private property! 106000 fans attended the two day event and with the Stadium just across the road and the Waterfront a short walk away the vibe in our area was really truly great! It is a great time to visit SA again. ° A pound is worth R23.41 today, ° A Euro is worth R17.42 today, ° A US Dollar is worth R16.02 today, ° and that means a South African trip is better value for money than ever before. In closing we wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2016. Love, Barry and Mina Jambo Guest House 1 Grove Road, Green Point, Cape Town, 8051, South Africa
° TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2015 ° Tourism Grading Council of SA - 4 Star Guest House Graded AA Superior Accommodation ° AA Travel Guides Hall of Fame 2003,2004,2005,2006,2007 & 2008 ° Winner AA & SAA Guest House of the Year - 2000,2001 & 2002 ° AA Travel Guides "Steady Star" 2005 for outstanding services to the tourism industry
Revellers who can not be bothered to clean up after themselves have forced the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to ban the practice of "overnighting" at Long Beach, located between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. It is situated in the Dorob National Park, and visitors are in fact not allowed to stay in the park overnight without a permit.
Spending the "big days" over the festive season at Long Beach has however become an institution amongst holidaymakers. On New Year's Eve especially the area is a hive of activity as young and old converge on the beach to see in the new year, partying until sunrise.
This year, as has happened before, revellers left the beach in an appalling state, with rubbish strewn everywhere.
The littering by coastal visitors and residents who camp at the beach to celebrate Christmas and New Year has proven to be a headache for the ministry and nature lovers for more than eight years now.
Despite the rule that holicaymakers are not allowed to camp at Long Beach overnight, the ministry made an exception for the festive season.
They will now however start enforcing the rule strictly.
A team of more than 10 officials from the ministry, Namibian Coast Conservation and Management Project (Nacoma) and student volunteers started cleaning up on Friday, New Year's Day.
Some holidaymakers also violated the rules of the park by driving quad bikes and 4x4 vehicles and camping in the restricted areas in the dunes.
#GhostShipNamibia Ghost ship off Walvis Bay, Atlantic Coast of Namibia Abandoned fishing vessel seen off Namibian Atlantic coast in Walvis Bay area during dolphin and seal cruise.
