Namibia
Namibia is one of the most sparsely populated countries
in the world. Originally the Daman (Mountain Damara) and San (Bushmen) lived in
the central parts of the country. As they lived in social structures without a
hierarchy, they were forced by the Hereros, who migrated into the country from
the northeast, into the mountains (the first stage of the African colonisation
of Namibia). From the south the Khoi-Khoi (Nama) moved in and encountered the
Herero in the central parts. During the violent struggles that took place the
Herero suffered many losses at the hands of the Nama leader, Jan Jonker Afrikaner.
With the arrival of the first missionaries in the southern and central areas,
the European colonisation began. In 1885 the former South West Africa became a
German colony for about 30 years. From the end of World War I until independence
in March 1990 Namibia was run by South Africa as a protectorate.
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History of Duesternbrook Guest Farm
Around 1850 the area of the present Düsternbrook Guest Farm was first mentioned by early explorers such as Chapman and Baines and was called Otjihorongo ("the place of the Kudu"). Otjihorongo was situated on the old Bayroad (an ox-wagon road to transport supplies from the coast city Walvis Bay to the central parts of the country). During that time a fountain at Otjihorongo called "Dabi poort" served as the first veterinary quarantine station in the country. The control of it was obtained by Jan Jonker Afrikaner. The target was to prevent the expansion of lung sickness which was introduced from South Africa. At this station the oxen from the north travelling to the south had to be exchanged with the "clean" oxen from Jonker Afrikaner.In 1908 Captain Lieutenant Matthiesen bought the ranch and named it Düsternbrook after a suburb of the German seaport Kiel. In 1942 he sold the ranch to the Vaatz family. In 1949 the farmhouse had to be renovated and was enlarged to what it is today.
Düsternbrook Guest Farm, near Windhoek, is a cattle ranch of 14,000 ha (30,000 acres). In the beginning the ranch was used for beef production and dairy farming. Due to the outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease in 1962 and the resulting prohibition on selling cattle, Marga Vaatz, the mother of the present owner, founded the first guest and hunting farm in Namibia. The purpose was to have a cattle-independent income and to put "value" on the game (see below under wildlife management). This was the first step taken into diversification of agriculture in Namibia and was a major and progressive decision and the start of a big, new, positive movement in the years to come. Today there are more than 200 guest farms and lodges, over 300 hunting farms and many communal and private conservancies in Namibia. After 12 years Marga stopped the guest farm and for the next 20 years the farm was used only as a cattle and sustainable hunting farm. In 1986 the present owner, Johann Vaatz, took over and in 1993 he reopened the guest farm. To become more independent of the weather (rainfall) and to relieve the soil, he is moving more towards sustainable use of wildlife. The cattle monoculture is reduced, to the advantage of the game. Johann reintroduced game species such as ostrich, giraffe, zebra, and rhino, that had been here in pre-colonial times but were shot out by the very early cattle farmers and settlers. He also has introduced other Namibian species that did not live here due to lack of natural water. Today, game such as waterbuck and impala also do very well since we have many water tanks and open reservoirs.
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What is a Guest Farm?
A guest farm provides accommodation on a farm or better ranch. As mentioned above, the first guest farm (ranch) was founded by Marga Vaatz back in 1962. Guest farms are now a widespread Namibian development. In Namibia vast areas are used as cattle and sheep ranches. On guest farms you will still mostly find the ranching business, but in addition, farmers also offer accommodation with full- and halfboard service. In the beginning they renovated outbuildings that had lost their original function into guest rooms or they built new rooms. Only after several years, as this type of development became more and more popular, were laws written to regulate the guest farms. Today they have to fulfill certain minimum standards by law. Guest farms are family run (mostly five rooms) and are geared towards the independent traveler in areas in which one normally doesn't find large numbers of tourists or buses.
A
guest farm offers you close contact with the owner and the local community. Recreational
activities are mostly walking trails, horseback riding, game viewing and various
site-specific attractions. Guest farms are not lodges in the classical sense.
Lodges are a result of increasing numbers of tourists and are newly-built accommodation
resorts, also in the countryside. They are bigger, have more rooms, are more modern
in order to cater to bus loads and have more of a hotel character in the countryside.
Often built near natural tourist attractions such as Etosha, Sossusvlei, Fish
River Canyon, etc.
A guest farm has more history and attachment to the country.
Every guest farm is unique and has its own charm and past. It is a good choice
for the independent traveler as he will meet people with similar interests and
get more contact with the local people and more family atmosphere. Normally, on
a classical guest farm, you eat with the owner at one table, share your experiences
of your trip and tap in to his knowledge or that of other guests with their up-to-date
experiences.
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Wildlife Management: "value to the game"
Southern
Africa has become world famous in matters of nature conservation and specifically
in reference to game management. Key to this success is the sustainable utilisation
of wildlife. Namibia is in this regard one of the leading countries on the sub-continent.
The first sustainable utilisation of wildlife started in Namibia in the early
1960s when, due to drought and a hoof-and-mouth disease outbreak, cattle could
not be sold. Marga Vaatz (Düsternbrook Guest Farm's current owner's mother) had
to look for alternative land use and income. She initiated the first guest farm
or guest ranch in Namibia, with limited (sustainable) hunting. This idea quickly
gained support among drought-stricken farmers and finally resulted in 1967 in
Namibia becoming the first country on the subcontinent in which ranchers were
the owners of the game on their land. The result was that the game was much better
looked after, as it had a tangible economic value. More and more farmers adopted
the idea of sustainable wildlife use, which had a stabilizing effect on the agricultural
sector as farmers were not dependent on only one income source, the cattle monoculture.
So, guest farms and hunting farms mushroomed. Due to the success of having the
right to use "your" game for your own pocket, this system, after 30
years, has led finally to the creation of communal conservancies, which are now
also allowed to use the game of the area. The key is that the income generated
goes to the community, whereas previously it was lost in government coffers. The
result: Game numbers in conservancies are going up, lodges are being built, tourists
come to the area, jobs are created, etc. All indications are that it seems to
be a real success.
You must realize, even if you do not like hunting as such,
that the game previously had no official value. Photographic tourism conferred
value on game only in the national parks. Before trophy hunting on private ranches
started, the game was subjected by law to unfair and stiff competition for food,
as the cattle industry was and still is heavily subsidised by the government.
Ranches were sold with "no game" as an advantage, because for every
absent oryx you could keep another cow. Now, game has value through hunting and
the rancher has additional income, so he views the game not as an enemy, an unwanted
grass eater, but as a friend. These animals can generate income and provide meat
as well. Game numbers go up, not down, through sustainable hunting. The goverment
introduced strictly controlled trophy hunting laws to have a set of minimum standards.
The game, even without subsidies, has attained a value and is now able to compete
easily with the cattle industry. Ranchers have become increasingly aware of this
value and this has kick-started a new, positive industry for this dry country.
Game numbers and species diversity have increased steadily.The latest research
shows that the wildlife industry has the potential to generate 2.5 times the revenue
currently generated by domestic animals.
Please understand the following:
If you have a country with annual rainfall higher than 500 mm, your income from
the land will be higher with agricultural crops. In a lower rainfall area, below
500mm, crop production fluctuates greatly from year to year and is undependable,
so your yield will be better from using your natural products — in other
words, the products from nature that nature can produce under these dry circumstances.
Game is one of these products. That is why our outlook towards conservation is
different than in higher rainfall areas. We use to protect. "Use it or lose
it" or "if it pays, it stays". We are not talking theory; after
40 years and positive results, southern Africa has developed the best game management
practises in Africa. Our game numbers are totally healthy. Today, sustainable
trophy hunting on well over 300 cattle and hunting ranches is of major importance
not only for giving value to the game but also for the economy of the country
and, last but not least, for the ranchers and their employees.
On Düsternbrook
we do limited and sustainable trophy or conservation hunting (maximum 20 hunters
per year) of plains game only. We use the meat to feed ourselves, our guests and
our captive leopards and cheetahs. It should be noted that we do not allow any
hunting of predators. In fact, by moving away from cattle and having only game
on the farm, we have broadened the food base for the predators, especially leopard.
We believe that the only way to preserve these animals is by offering them undisturbed
land where they can roam freely. Our main means of supporting our wildlife is
ecotourism. The income from both forms of wildlife management (ecotourism and
limited hunting) is ploughed back into nature. We have reintroduced game such
as giraffe, zebra, gnu, eland, springbok, ostrich, hartebeest and, in 2004, rhino,
that was here in former times.
This philosophy about our wildlife, but
also the use of natural material, employing and training of local people (ranch
community development), waste, energy and water management has been awarded with
the Namibian Eco Award in 2005, as the only guest farm (ranch) in Namibia. We
obtained 3 out of 5 flowers.
Reasons to choose Düsternbrook Guest
Farm
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