Escape thecity and discover the luxury at close distance
Windhoek in the heart of Namibia's central area, is the ideal base from where to explore the many interesting places in the surrounding areas.The Daan Viljoen Game Park, just 30 kilometres outside Windhoek is worth a visit.
It houses a rest camp, restaurant, swimming pool, shaded picnic sites and camping areas. Kudu, blue wildebeest, mountain zebra, gemsbok, eland and red hartebeest, as well as about 200 bird species are found in the Park. The nine kilometre Rooibok and three kilometre Wag-'n-Bietjie routes, allow visitors to explore the Park on foot.
For weekend excursions the Gross Barmen Hot Springs, situated about 100 kilometres north-west of Windhoek, is ideally suited.
The main feature of the resort is the large dome shaped and glass enclosed thermal hall which houses a communal bath of steaming spring water at 65 degrees Celsius. The rest camp at the resort offers self-catering bungalows, camping sites, a restaurant and bar as well as a shop where fresh provisions can be bought. If the water of the communal bath seems a bit hot, there also is a large outdoor swimming pool where one can relax.
At Von Bach dam and recreational resort, about 65 kilometres to the north off the B1 highway to Okahandja, aquatic sports and freshwater angling can be enjoyed. Water skiing, yachting, windsurfing and boating keep visitors entertained while anglers can look forward to catching large mouth bass, blue kurper, small mouth yellow fish, carp and barber.
Numerous guest farms and lodges are close enough to Windhoek to ensure a real bush experience to visitors.
At Okapuka Ranch, 22 standard rooms, four private rooms as well as a luxurious lounge and bar area await the visitor. The ranch offers a large variety of activities including lion feeding, game drives and mountain drives as well as hiking trails.
Okapuka has an award winning wine cellar and offers various venues for private events, for up to 60 people.
The restaurant offers an unusual choice of dishes including game specialities, creative starters and a wonderful selection of desserts.
For someone who needs a bit of pampering the GocheGanas Wellness Village in the GocheGanas nature reserve is just 29 kilometres south-east of Windhoek. Situated on a hilltop, Gocheganas is a luxury lodge offering a unique combination of wildlife, nature and wellness experiences.
Sixteen totally private luxurious suites, fifteen elegant chalets, and one crown chalet, under thatched roofs, with uninterrupted and spectacular views over the surrounding reserve where 25 different large game species, including white rhino, bat-eared fox, giraffe, zebra, eland, leopard, cheetah and many more, roam the 6000 hectare reserve.
GocheGanas also offers eleven specialised treatment rooms with state of the art equipment, outdoor and indoor heated swimming pools, a fitness centre, gym and yoga facilities.
For 4 X 4 enthusiasts the Okahandja 4 X 4 offers a wonderful opportunity to get out in the bush. This route starts 30 kilometres north of Windhoek.
Several well equipped guest farms are situated en route between Windhoek and the International Hosea Kutako Airport, where guests can spend a night or two after arriving or before departing.
Gobabis, the largest town east of Windhoek, is jokingly known as Texas, as the area surrounding this town is Namibia's best known cattle ranching territory. Gobabis is also the gateway to the TransKalahari Highway linking Namibia and Botswana.
Gobabis started off as mission station in 1856 when Friederich Eggert of the Rhinish Missionary Society settled there. In the latter half of the 1800s and early 1900s several conflicts flared up between the Mbanderu and the Khauas Khoekhjoe as well as the settlers and the indigenous people. The Gobabis area was proclaimed by the German authorities in 1984.
The historical town of Rehoboth is situated about 88 kilometres south of Windhoek and is home to the Baster people, descendants of people of mixed parentage, who trekked across the Orange River under the leadership of Hermanus van Wyk, who settled in the area in 1870.
The fascinating history of these people is recorded in the Rehoboth Museum. The museum was established in 1986 by the well known Namibian anthropologist and archaeologist, dr. Beatrice Sandelowsky.
Just west of Rehoboth is the Oanob Dam which supplies the town with water. On its banks nestles one of Namibia's closely kept secrets, a private Resort where nature, privacy and the joy of relaxing in luxurious accommodation offers the visitor everything one could desire.
When "Acacia Resort" from Rehoboth obtained the concession on the land adjacent to the dam in 1994, CEO, Christie Benade had a vision to create a place of relaxation where people could enjoy the fun of water sports, camping close to nature and get away from the stress of everyday life. He built a restaurant and layed out several camping sites.
In 1996 the first luxury chalet was erected and now the Resort offers accommodation in six similar chalets. Each one is self-catering with its own fully equipped kitchen.
It is the aim of Christie and his vivacious Swiss born wife, Helena, not only to provide their guests with the best possible standard of hospitality, but also to plough back into the community and provide job opportunities for previously disadvantaged Namibians.
To add a touch of Africa that foreign visitors will be familiar with, each of the chalets was named after characters in the popular Disney movie, Lion King: Mufasa, Simba, Timon, Rafiki, Nala and Pumba.
Apart from the luxury chalets, Lake Oanob Resort also offers rooms with private bathroom facilities.
If spending a weekend away from home in such splendour is not desired, the resort also offers spacious campsites with its own ablution facilities, electricity and water at each site.
A caravan village is also situated at the resort where thatch roofs provide extra shelter for tents/caravans against the elements.
Here one can enjoy the outdoors close to nature in a very safe environment.
Speed boating, water skiing, swimming, and paddling along the dam in a rented canoe: these are some of the relaxing pastimes the Resort has to offer. For bigger parties a cruise on the lake in the custom-built Fish Eagle Pontoon while enjoying sundowners and snacks might be just the place to relax and take in the scenery.
The Resort is situated in a 6 200 hectare game park where giraffe, zebra, oryx, hartebeest, blesbok, gnu and impala roam around freely.
And while there, why not take a trip in a traditional donkey cart, and see how many of the locals still get around.
By Estelle de Bruyn
It houses a rest camp, restaurant, swimming pool, shaded picnic sites and camping areas. Kudu, blue wildebeest, mountain zebra, gemsbok, eland and red hartebeest, as well as about 200 bird species are found in the Park. The nine kilometre Rooibok and three kilometre Wag-'n-Bietjie routes, allow visitors to explore the Park on foot.
For weekend excursions the Gross Barmen Hot Springs, situated about 100 kilometres north-west of Windhoek, is ideally suited.
The main feature of the resort is the large dome shaped and glass enclosed thermal hall which houses a communal bath of steaming spring water at 65 degrees Celsius. The rest camp at the resort offers self-catering bungalows, camping sites, a restaurant and bar as well as a shop where fresh provisions can be bought. If the water of the communal bath seems a bit hot, there also is a large outdoor swimming pool where one can relax.
At Von Bach dam and recreational resort, about 65 kilometres to the north off the B1 highway to Okahandja, aquatic sports and freshwater angling can be enjoyed. Water skiing, yachting, windsurfing and boating keep visitors entertained while anglers can look forward to catching large mouth bass, blue kurper, small mouth yellow fish, carp and barber.
Numerous guest farms and lodges are close enough to Windhoek to ensure a real bush experience to visitors.
At Okapuka Ranch, 22 standard rooms, four private rooms as well as a luxurious lounge and bar area await the visitor. The ranch offers a large variety of activities including lion feeding, game drives and mountain drives as well as hiking trails.
Okapuka has an award winning wine cellar and offers various venues for private events, for up to 60 people.
The restaurant offers an unusual choice of dishes including game specialities, creative starters and a wonderful selection of desserts.
For someone who needs a bit of pampering the GocheGanas Wellness Village in the GocheGanas nature reserve is just 29 kilometres south-east of Windhoek. Situated on a hilltop, Gocheganas is a luxury lodge offering a unique combination of wildlife, nature and wellness experiences.
Sixteen totally private luxurious suites, fifteen elegant chalets, and one crown chalet, under thatched roofs, with uninterrupted and spectacular views over the surrounding reserve where 25 different large game species, including white rhino, bat-eared fox, giraffe, zebra, eland, leopard, cheetah and many more, roam the 6000 hectare reserve.
GocheGanas also offers eleven specialised treatment rooms with state of the art equipment, outdoor and indoor heated swimming pools, a fitness centre, gym and yoga facilities.
For 4 X 4 enthusiasts the Okahandja 4 X 4 offers a wonderful opportunity to get out in the bush. This route starts 30 kilometres north of Windhoek.
Several well equipped guest farms are situated en route between Windhoek and the International Hosea Kutako Airport, where guests can spend a night or two after arriving or before departing.
Gobabis, the largest town east of Windhoek, is jokingly known as Texas, as the area surrounding this town is Namibia's best known cattle ranching territory. Gobabis is also the gateway to the TransKalahari Highway linking Namibia and Botswana.
Gobabis started off as mission station in 1856 when Friederich Eggert of the Rhinish Missionary Society settled there. In the latter half of the 1800s and early 1900s several conflicts flared up between the Mbanderu and the Khauas Khoekhjoe as well as the settlers and the indigenous people. The Gobabis area was proclaimed by the German authorities in 1984.
The historical town of Rehoboth is situated about 88 kilometres south of Windhoek and is home to the Baster people, descendants of people of mixed parentage, who trekked across the Orange River under the leadership of Hermanus van Wyk, who settled in the area in 1870.
The fascinating history of these people is recorded in the Rehoboth Museum. The museum was established in 1986 by the well known Namibian anthropologist and archaeologist, dr. Beatrice Sandelowsky.
Just west of Rehoboth is the Oanob Dam which supplies the town with water. On its banks nestles one of Namibia's closely kept secrets, a private Resort where nature, privacy and the joy of relaxing in luxurious accommodation offers the visitor everything one could desire.
When "Acacia Resort" from Rehoboth obtained the concession on the land adjacent to the dam in 1994, CEO, Christie Benade had a vision to create a place of relaxation where people could enjoy the fun of water sports, camping close to nature and get away from the stress of everyday life. He built a restaurant and layed out several camping sites.
In 1996 the first luxury chalet was erected and now the Resort offers accommodation in six similar chalets. Each one is self-catering with its own fully equipped kitchen.
It is the aim of Christie and his vivacious Swiss born wife, Helena, not only to provide their guests with the best possible standard of hospitality, but also to plough back into the community and provide job opportunities for previously disadvantaged Namibians.
To add a touch of Africa that foreign visitors will be familiar with, each of the chalets was named after characters in the popular Disney movie, Lion King: Mufasa, Simba, Timon, Rafiki, Nala and Pumba.
Apart from the luxury chalets, Lake Oanob Resort also offers rooms with private bathroom facilities.
If spending a weekend away from home in such splendour is not desired, the resort also offers spacious campsites with its own ablution facilities, electricity and water at each site.
A caravan village is also situated at the resort where thatch roofs provide extra shelter for tents/caravans against the elements.
Here one can enjoy the outdoors close to nature in a very safe environment.
Speed boating, water skiing, swimming, and paddling along the dam in a rented canoe: these are some of the relaxing pastimes the Resort has to offer. For bigger parties a cruise on the lake in the custom-built Fish Eagle Pontoon while enjoying sundowners and snacks might be just the place to relax and take in the scenery.
The Resort is situated in a 6 200 hectare game park where giraffe, zebra, oryx, hartebeest, blesbok, gnu and impala roam around freely.
And while there, why not take a trip in a traditional donkey cart, and see how many of the locals still get around.
By Estelle de Bruyn
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