Meet the Topnaar tribe and the visit the Gobabeb research station
The Topnaar, known as the #Aionin in their own language, are a tribe descended from the Nama people. All along on the banks of the Kuiseb river are little shacks where the Topnaar spend their days. The scenery of this tour is breath taking, in sharp contrast with the living conditions of the people which is, quite frankly, deplorable. It is true that the very rich and very poor have the best views!
At the Gobabeb research station, the scientists are studying the hyper-arid climate adapted fauna & flora. It is in the Kuiseb river, 100km away from Walvis Bay, and easily reachable by lunchtime. Read more about this great new tour to the Topnaar and Gobabeb.
Scheppmanskirche 
#Aionin youth 
Gpbabeb Station
The tour to the Topnaar people and Gobabeb has a very relaxed pace, with enough time to stop and appreciate the surroundings. Whether you want to stop and take some pictures of the landscape, or meet the locals, the time is available. In order to help relieve the living conditions of the Topnaar people a little, Awesome Chapters supplies donation parcels of the most needed commodities from town. This also ensures a warm reception.
Gobabeb offers nature walks, facility tours and lunch. The scientists are a happy bunch, and glad to share their knowledge with visitors. It’s fairly lonely in this remote location so they are grateful for a bit of company. Read on for a detailed description of the tour.
Scheppmanskirche
Also known as the church in the desert, this little church was inaugurated in August 1970. Named after the first missionary Heinrich Scheppman who was the first missionary in this area 1845-1847. The stained glass windows were a gift from German Emperor William II. Walk up to this church from the road to get nice photos from the road to frame the church with it’s desert surroundings. This is the first scheduled stop of the tour, and the start of the road along the Kuiseb river.
Rooibank
As Walvis Bay was growing in the 1960’s it needed a bigger water supply. At Rooibank water holes were sunk, and now supplies the town with water from the river. In the early history of Walvis Bay fresh water was made by boiling sea-water, or shipping it up from Cape Town. This had the effect that potable water was more expensive than beer for a few decades before the water supply from Rooibank was utilized.
The few structures here are property of the Municipality of Walvis Bay. The few residential buildings at Rooibank are long term lease. Next you will be taken to the #Aionin tribe on the banks of the Kuiseb river.
Topnaar Concession area
The Topnaar people were given the right to harvest the !nara plant in this region by Queen Elisabeth from England, and this right was recently converted into a concession area. As the main focus of this tour is the people and not this concession area, and to conserve nature, we will be sticking to the D1983 road all the way to Gobabeb, stopping along the way to meet the people who inhabit the shacks on the riverbank.
While on this tour, look at the condition of the people and the conditions that they live in, and ask yourself if this concession is achieving it’s aim?
Topnaar people
Inhabiting this area from pre-colonial times, the #Aionin were mostly hunter-gatherers and traded with the European sailor explorers that sometimes made landfall in this area. You will be meeting the Topnaar people, and chatting with them about life and whatever questions you have to ask. As a small token of our appreciation of their time, we will donate some much needed goods from town. The donation parcels contain the bare necessities to aid survival, nothing more.
Your guide speaks Afrikaans, which is usually one of the languages these very interesting people speak. Your guide will be happy to translate should the Topnaar you meet not speak English.
Kuiseb river landscape
It would not be much of a tour if there was nothing to take pictures of, would it? The landscapes on this tour is awesome! South of the Kuiseb river is an ocean of dunes, making an incredible backdrop for pictures taken of the huts and river. On the other side of the road there are inselberg mountains and gravel plains.
The rolling and constantly changing landscapes is mesmerizing, but do not forget to stop the tour to take some pictures when you see something you like! There is more than enough time on this relaxed tour.
Gobabeb research station
At the end of your trip up the Kuiseb river is the Gobabeb research station. Studying the adaptations of fauna and flora to the hyper-arid climate, the scientists that inhabit the station are really interesting people to meet.
They offer a tour of the facility and a guided nature walk. This is also where we will be having our lunch. We have a choice of eating from the kitchen of Gobabeb, or making our own BBQ, whichever takes your fancy. You will be spending a bit of time here before you are whisked away on an alternative road back to Walvis Bay.
The road back…
In an effort not to bore you with driving the same road that we came, the road back to Walvis Bay goes past Vogelvederberg. From Gobabeb to Vogelvederberg the 60 km road has some corrugated patches, it’s best to just sit back and enjoy the “Namibian massage” while watching the landscape unfold. The tour vehicle is more than up to the task, it’s just a little noisy. You can use the provided earplugs if you want them. After stretching our legs at Vogelvederberg for a bit, the road to Walvis Bay is perfect, and the landscape down to the coast unfolds quite nicely in peace and relative quiet.
Details
- Duration: 8 hours
- Activity level: Moderate to relaxed
Inclusions
- Cool Mineral water, still or sparkling
- Free pickup in Walvis Bay or Swakopmund
- Private, air conditioned transport
- Local guide
Optional Extras
- Food For the tour
- Special or alcoholic drinks for the tour
- Donation parcels for Topnaars
- Guided Nature walk at Gobabeb
- Guided facility tour of Gobabeb
- Pickup in the harbor, at your ship
Pickup Services
You will only get the best service at Awesome Chapters:
- Free pick ups in Walvis Bay
- Your adventure starts at your accommodation because your private tour guide will pick you up with the tour vehicle.
- Time:
- Contact us for free help in picking the best time. As this is an all day long tour, earlier is better.
- Your pickup is fixed during the booking process.
- Cruise liners:
- If you are arriving on a cruise liner, you have the option of being collected you from the ship, inside the harbor gates.
Booking – Email
If you are interested in this tour, but you would like to have a discussion with us first, you are welcome to contact us for some human interaction. The booking will be made for you with the information from our chat. We love hearing from you, so even if you do not want to book the tour, and just want some more information, you are still welcome to drop us an email.
Alternatively, drop us a line on the contact form below and we will come back to you!