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History
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Nature conservation through tourism
Since 2000, the 3,500 ha (35 km²) area of Waterberg
Wilderness is gradually being transformed into a nature
reserve. We have dismantled the internal fences which
subdivided the former cattle farm into so-called camps
(grazing enclosures), and on the plain we established
additional watering places for game animals. We bought
seven giraffes at a game auction and released them in
our reserve. And recently we put up 20 km |
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of game fence (2.20
m high) in the plain – not least to protect the game from
poachers. At the through road we built gates. |
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Nature conservation
has its price: a giraffe is available for about N$ 12,000, while
game fencing costs N$ 15,000 per kilometre. In addition, salt
licks have to be put out, and the watering places and fences
have to be maintained. All of this is financed with the income
we derive from our hospitality business. In 2000 we opened Waterberg
Wilderness Lodge, in 2004 we added Waterberg Plateau Lodge and
in 2005 Waterberg Plateau Campsite. In our paradise guests can
go hiking with
a guide or on their own, they can join scenic drives or set
out on excursions to historical sites or to get a glimpse of
the life of the OvaHerero. |
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Nature’s
paradise has many faces
Waterberg Wilderness is a little paradise which boasts an exceptional
diversity of plant and animal habitats – it includes the
plateau, the mountain slopes, the valley and the plain (Sandveld
of the Kalahari). With annual rainfalls of 480 mm on average,
water is usually available in sufficient quantities. There are
fluctuations, however: the lowest figure that we know of was
80 mm in 1995, and the highest so far is 1,060 mm in 2006.
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When rains are less
plentiful Waterberg Wilderness still has its gushing spring
at the upper end of the valley to keep the lodges, campsite
and watering places well supplied. It is a composite spring:
rainwater seeps through Waterberg’s porous sandstone until
it reaches an impermeable layer of rock with a slight eastward
gradient and reappears on the slopes. |
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The
water sustains a lush flora: with more than 500 species
Waterberg is seen as a 'hotspot' of plant life –
even more so because some species are endemic; that is,
they occur only in Namibia, if not only at Waterberg.
At the end of the rainy season (April, Mai) even aquatic
plants sprout in the puddles on the plateau and in depressions
in the plain!
Diversity reigns in the animal kingdom as well. Biologists
have identified more than 70 mammals at the Waterberg.
Rare species like buffalo, black rhino or sable antelope
are found on the plateau; the slopes are inhabited by
klipspringers, rock hyraxes and baboons; and the valley
and the plain are the domain of giraffe, kudu, gemsbok,
warthog and many other species. Birdwatchers are over
the moon, |
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too, because among
the roughly 230 indigenous species are particularly interesting
ones like Bradfield’s hornbill, Rüppell’s parrot,
Hartlaub’s francolin and the black eagle. |
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Last but
not least the area looks back on an eventful history.
Rock art and graves piled with stones testify to centuries of
a San (Bushmen) presence, bullets and cartridge cases to the
battles between OvaHerero and the German colonial forces in
August 1904, remnants of the 1906 house of a German missionary
and a laboriously constructed wide path to the plateau testify
to the former cattle farm (established in 1952). The citrus
trees from the early years of the farm (from 1911), however,
have only survived on old photos... |
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