Damaraland lodge, Namibia
| country: | Namibia |
| location: | Grootberg Plateau |
| price: | From N$735 (approx £51) per person per night, including dinner and breakfast. Children under 12 sharing from N$ 370 (approx £26). Children under 4 sharing stay free |
description
Lodge accommodation on the Grootberg plateau.
This lodge is a landmark in Namibia for the tourism industry as it is the first middle-market establishment in the country that is 100% owned by the conservancy. The chalets are perched on the lip of the Grootberg Plateau, with an infinite view down the Klip River Valley. The interiors of the en suite chalets are decorated with hand-made Oregon pine furniture and they all have hardwood decks where the guests can enjoy an almost impossible view from their own bungalows.
From the comfort of your bed you can soak in the mournful call of the bokmakierie as it echoes off the opposing cliffs. 12 000 hectares of exclusive wildlife use area ensure a myriad of Damaraland flora and fauna on display, with desert elephant and the occasional black rhino ghosting an appearance in this harsh landscape. Our local guides explain to visitors how people live, their traditions and customs. We also have a library that the travelers can look at.
We are planning to involve tourists in our game counting for conservation purposes. We are also trying to set up a voluntary scheme for young students to come and help making roads on the mountains for game drives in a way that does not encourage soil erosion.
Visits to Damara villages. With this visits the traveler can experience the life style of the locals. Sometimes we have school children of the area coming to sing for the lodge and we make donations for the school. Elephant tracking. This is one of our most popular activities. A guide with a tracker will take you out into the surrounding farms in search of the elusive desert elephants, giving one also the opportunity to appreciate the life style of the local people. Scenic drives down the Klip River. The lodge offers scenic drives down to the Klip River Valley where permanent springs provide water for the local population of zebras, antelopes and occasionally elephants and black rhinos Springboks, kudu and oryx are a permanent fixture and even the nervous and shy klipspringers are sometimes seen leaping about on the steep cliffs of the mountain as if they were flying. Guided walks on top of the plateau. After a scrumptious breakfast on the veranda of the restaurant with the Black Eagles hovering around the cliffs, the guests who prefer an early start to the day will depart at around 7.30am for a 3 hour walk on top of the plateau. For the afternoon walkers departure is around 4.30pm after coffee or tea. Our knowledgeable guide will enable guests to enjoy the local flora, the amazing rock formations of the Etendeka Mountains and the shy wild animals, long inhabitants of this plateau. Local handcraft. We are starting soon an art craft centre for the community with the help of ICEMA in order for the lodge to sell handcraft made by the local people.
This lodge is a landmark in Namibia for the tourism industry as it is the first middle-market establishment in the country that is 100% owned by the conservancy. The chalets are perched on the lip of the Grootberg Plateau, with an infinite view down the Klip River Valley. The interiors of the en suite chalets are decorated with hand-made Oregon pine furniture and they all have hardwood decks where the guests can enjoy an almost impossible view from their own bungalows.
From the comfort of your bed you can soak in the mournful call of the bokmakierie as it echoes off the opposing cliffs. 12 000 hectares of exclusive wildlife use area ensure a myriad of Damaraland flora and fauna on display, with desert elephant and the occasional black rhino ghosting an appearance in this harsh landscape. Our local guides explain to visitors how people live, their traditions and customs. We also have a library that the travelers can look at.
We are planning to involve tourists in our game counting for conservation purposes. We are also trying to set up a voluntary scheme for young students to come and help making roads on the mountains for game drives in a way that does not encourage soil erosion.
special things to do and see here
There are many activities that you can enjoy when you stay at our lodge. Some of the most popular are the following: rooms, food and facilities
Our 12 chalets have either a double bed or twin beds, maximum two people per chalet. We can accommodate triple rooms for guests with children.how to find us
For travelers making the journey between Etosha and Swakopmund, this lodge provides the ideal midway stopover. The nearest airport is Palmwag airstrip (23km away from us. We also provide transfer to/from the airport)
how this holiday makes a difference
 The European Union funded this project through the Ministry of Environment and Tourism's Development Programme with a donation of N$4.5 million to develop the 12-room Lodge. At the same time, the private sector has been called in to supply the training and management skills until the community becomes self-sustainable. The land is owned by the government but it has been leased to the conservancy for conservation purposes. The lodge now is 100% owned by the community thanks to the donation made by the EU. This community (Khoadi//Hoas conservancy) has around 6,000 members. Most of the people live in farm houses and they survive on live stock. There is 85% employment rate in this area. We are currently employing 22 people, all from the local conservancy. They have been on training courses with one of the major tour operators in Namibia. Furthermore we have compiled an in-house guide manual and we provide training on the ground. 15% of the total revenues go to the conservancy and 80% of the profit goes to a contingency fund where the local conservancy will decide towards which projects to spend that money While sustainability of the Conservancy is a primary objective which the Lodge would contribute towards, there are additional benefits such as increasing direct job opportunities in a poorly developed area; supporting marginal people with projects such as building schools, clinics, creating a community kitchen for the elderly and vulnerable groups and award bursaries to promising pupils with the proceeds of the lodge. Another important aim of the Lodge is to reduce the animal/human conflict in this community so that the locals will be more tolerant of the lions, cheetahs and elephants and give them a value from a tourism perspective. We have created two water holes for wildlife. We are in coordination with Save the Rhino Trust to help in the conservation of the black rhinos. The conservancy also does game counting on a yearly basis for conservation purposes and we are trying to get tourists involved too as these figures are extremely important for MET in order to keep track of the various species. The fact that we have created extra employment and that now 22 families have a sustainable income and food supply is already an achievement in itself. Nevertheless, the success of the lodge is critical to demonstrate the value of the land-use which the conservancy is promoting. The exclusive development area needs to show the value in setting aside “core” areas for tourism and biodiversity conservation.  This holiday is part of the responsibletravel.com and Conservation International Community Based Tourism Programme to support and promote community based tourism ventures that offer significant conservation and development benefits to local communities. To see other community based tourism holidays and find out more about the programme click here. |
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