Today we sleep in, meaning we don't get up until 7:30 for breakfast. Some of us can't wait and either go to the waterhole or take a quick drive around the park. However, the haul is limited and we "only" spot the tail of a leopard. After breakfast we head towards Namutoni, stopping at a few more waterholes. However, the majority of the passengers manage to avoid driving to all the available spots and so we quickly reach the old Fort Namutoni, where we quickly find a geocache and have an ice cream and then continue towards Van Lindequist Gate, the eastern exit of Etosha National Park.
The tarmac road quickly takes us to Tsumeb, a town in the economically and agriculturally important triangle of Tusmbeb-Otavi-Grootfontein. Tsumeb offers many shops for its guests and so we can stock up on supplies at the local SPAR market and do Mäuser, our host in Grootfontein, the favor of bringing us a jar of German pickled gherkins.
Grootfontein (African for Great Spring) is a municipality in the constituency of the same name, Grootfontein, in the Otjozondjupa region of Namibia. In 2010, the town had around 25,000 inhabitants. The Damara called the place Gei-lous, the Herero called it Otjiwanda Tjongue, which means "edge of the leopard's hill". The town of Grootfontein is located 1,460 m above sea level in the Maize Triangle (also known as the "Copper Triangle") together with Otavi and Tsumeb, the intensively agriculturally used area of the Otavi Mountains with high rainfall.
Right on time after lunch, we drive to the Tigerquelle farm and are greeted by the intern Magnus. We quickly move into our rooms and head to one of the farm's main attractions: the swimming pool. Mäuser had drained the pool two days previously and used the water to irrigate his vegetable beds. Then 200,000 liters of fresh spring water at 26 degrees were added - a wonderful refreshment, without the usual exaggerated "freshness."
In the evening, Mäuser spoils us with his cooking skills and we sit at the table with him and Magnus as the only guests. Apart from us, there is Betty, a very old Rhodesian Ridgeback, and two younger representatives, Ben and Nero, who the children particularly like. Then the rabbits have to be looked after, the chickens need fresh water and the tame ox Bubi is looking forward to fresh cabbage leaves - a real children's paradise.
Weather
On the night of September 1st to 2nd, Namibian time will change from winter time to summer time, meaning the clocks will be set forward by one hour and the sun will rise (around 7am) and set (around 6.45pm) one hour later. Until the time change in Germany, the time zones will be the same; before that, Namibia will be one hour ahead.
- Temperature: 12°C at night and 27°C during the day
- Weather conditions during the stay: sunny
Accommodation
Tigerquelle Guest Farm | ||
address | Grootfontein | |
Contact | Home | http://www.bwana.de/namibische-gemuesefarm-tigerquelle.html |
tigerveg@iway.na | ||
phone | +264 67 243143 |
Rating: The Tigerquelle is a vegetable farm and as such an oasis in the middle of the savannah. Many types of fruit and vegetables are harvested directly on site, so there are hardly any limits to the owner's culinary skills. The rooms are large and functionally furnished, even if the furniture is a little out of fashion. The pool is fantastic and has a 3 m diving board.
service | 3 |
Price-performance ratio | 4 |
Sleep quality | 4 |
cleanliness | 3 |
Position | 4 |
Room | 4 |
pool | 5 |