Recharge your soul

Roidina Nature Farm, situated a mere 30 km north of Omaruru, is under new management since October 2008. The present owners' main objective is to ensure that their guests can relax and experience the tranquillity a stay in quiet natural surroundings can provide. AccommodationAccommodation consists of five thatched chalets set in a very interesting succulent and cactus garden around a sparkling pool. And there is a Honeymoon suite in the upper le-vel of the thatched Restaurant. The chalets are equipped with uniquely crafted furniture and decorated with beautiful African artefacts. A particularly welcome feature of the spacious chalets is that they have windows on opposite sides and can be kept cool by creating a draught, so much more pleasant than having to rely on air conditioning, the hum of which would drown out all the natural sounds of the night - the song of crickets, the trilling of frogs, the call of an owl or a jackal or the sighing of the wind in the tall acacias shading the chalets, which all combine to give that wonderful feeling of being in the wilderness. Moreover the mosquito nets are hung in such a way that one can walk right around the bed without getting entangled in them. It was the first time ever that I slept inside such a net without feeling smothered.

Excellent Mediterranean/ German style meals are prepared by an experienced chef and served in a spacious and tastefully decorated lapa or on an open terrace overlooking a water hole frequented by kudu, oryx, warthog, and ostrich, while duiker, Damara dik dik, steenbok as well as cheetah and leopard - all of them very secretive by nature - may also be seen on the farm.
The numerous indigenous trees and shrubs in the garden are frequented by a variety of birds. Be sure to bring your binoculars, for observing these perky, neat little animals going about the daily lives is highly entertaining and relaxing. Most of the plants in the garden can be identified according to numbers attached to them, thus enabling you to find their botanical as well as common names on a list available at the reception.
Game drives and hikesRoidina's knowledgeable guides will take you on game drives in an open vehicle and provide information about the animals and plants along the routes. They can also lead you on hiking trails through the bush. A particularly rewarding trail leads up Roidina Hill on which the mountain chalet is situated. The vegetation on this rocky hill is completely different from the thorn bush savannah of the plains. Again most of these plants are tagged with numbers according to which you can find their names on a list available at the receptionHorsesA special treat awaiting you at Roidina is a herd more than 40 horses, fifteen of which are well trained. The staff in charge will help you of choose a mount according to your taste and riding experience. There are docile animals for beginners, even for those who have never sat on a horse in their life. More advanced riders can participate in sunrise or sunset rides combined with a champagne breakfast, a bush picnic or sundowners, while two-day horse trails can be arranged for more adventurous and experienced guests. Even if you have no taste for horse riding, just observing the elegant and powerful way in which horses move is a great pleasure.
Roidina is crisscrossed by three wide sandy rivers as well as 40 km of trails and bush roads. Game animals usually are much less wary of humans on horse back than on foot or on a vehicle, so riding provides many surprising encounters with the creatures of the bush.
Mountain chaletA very special feature of Roidina is a cosy mountain chalet situated at 1620 m above sea level on top of Roidina Hill, commanding a spectacular 360"° view of the surrounding plains with characteristic blue mountains such as the Erongo, Mount Etjo or Omaruru Koppie on the far horizons. This is an excellent spot for a private anniversary or some other special event. Staff will take you there, make suitable preparations for your meals and then leave you to delight in the quiet beauty of the unhampered view, the colourful grandeur of a sunset and the serenity of the stars making their way across the night sky. The healing power of natureInge and Thomas Mausberg, co-owners and managers of Roidina Nature Farm, firmly believe in the healing power of nature, that mind and body can become whole again if only we leave behind our hectic day-to-day business and pay attention to the natural world around us instead. Inge is a qualified shamanic healing practitioner and shamanic teacher. Shamanic healing is particularly effective for the treatment of symptoms and diseases that do not respond to normal treatments. Roidina invites you to delve deeper into the contact with nature. Once a year Roidina offers special "Women's relaxing days" designed to mend the soul and to res-tore balance. Seminars are held in a dedicated seminar centre among shady trees on certain extended weekends and no other guests are accommodated at Roidina simultaneously. Participants stay over in the bungalows or may bring their own tents. For more information see . ExcursionsThe attractive town of Omaruru is only 30 km away. There you will find souvenir shops offering indigenous handcrafted articles. Taste ge-nuine Namibian wine at the Kristallkellerei, one of only two such establishments in the country. Also there is a small factory producing delicious chocolates. Omaruru has become quite a centre for art exhibitions and you may be able to visit the Tikoloshe workshop where indigenous artists create intriguing carvings by merely emphasizing the features of a Namibian animal "lurking" in the contorted shapes of weather-beaten dry tree trunks or roots and branches picked up in the bush.
A living museum featuring San hunters and their culture can be visited on farm Omandumba 50 km southwest of Omaruru, where you can spend some interesting hours following these hunter gatherers along a trail, learning how to track animals, how to set traps and snares and which plants are edible or used as medicines. The San people will also sing and dance for you. You could also make an appointment with Deike and Harald Rust, owners of the farm Omandumba, for a tour of some of the numerous intriguing and well preserved rock paintings found on this farm on the north-western periphery of the Erongo massive. Here you may also be introduced to the fascinating geomorphology of the Erongo, which actually is the ruin of a volcano that used to tower 3000 m above the surrounding plains millions of years ago.
Contact details of Roidina Nature Farm:
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.roidina.com