The Elegant Farmstead Okahandja

The fusion of old and new at The Elegant Farmstead allows you to indulge in a refreshingly different experience. From the outside it has the typical old farmstead look and feel. As for the inside the thoughtful touches and elegant interior give it a modern and stylish twist.

This unique combination of old and new is tucked away in a beautiful garden with lush plants and trees. Just beyond stretches the vast African bush with an abundance of wildlife

email: okahandja@go.namibiabookings.com

Sit back, relax and enjoy the tranquility of The Elegant Farmstead Accommodation

The beautiful and tranquil garden offers many seating arrangements and day beds which will inspire you to enjoy the outside life on the Farmstead.

Cool down in the huge, sparkling pool overlooking the flourishing garden. Treat yourself to a casual Champaign lunch under the mighty camelthorn trees in the dry river bed.

Relax in one of our chic lounges, take endless strolls along the dry river beds and enjoy an unforgettable African sundowner on the nearby Signal Hill.

In the evenings we invite you to unwind in our trendy cigar lounge and indulge in an excellent bottle of fine South African wine. Afterwards tickle your taste buds with our delicious cuisine, served in the Lapa under the African sky or in the warm straw-thatched dining room by the pool on cold winter evenings.

After dinner The Elegant Farmstead will spoil you with a tasty cheese and biltong (traditional dried meat) platter served around the glazing camp fire.

"The Elegant Farmstead also offers a large variety of wildlife and plenty of birds on the 2500 hectare farm. Springbok, Eland, Waterbuck, Giraffe, Kudu, Hartebeest, Blesbok, Duiker, Steenbok, Warthog, Ostrich and Jackal roam freely amongst the breath-taking setting of mountains, dry river beds, and open plains.Take pleasure in a game drive or view the game from the tranquil wooden deck.

Various hiking trails via the dry river beds and open plains to the Signal Mountain can be explored on your own. The hiking trails will allow you to become intimate with nature as the endless horizons are engraved into your heart. We also recommend to you a visit to the Herero village Ovitoto and Okahandja with its cultural sites such as the Herero graves and the most famous Namibian wood-carving market.

The Ovitoto Cultural Tour
The Ovitoto Cultural tour consists of a mixture between the old and new. The first visit is at a Government School. Visiting the School gives the Guest the perfect opportunity to have a look into our Namibian Schools system. The Principal of the Ovitoto High School will take his time to explain the whole school system to you and how it is to have a school with almost 600 children in such a remote area.

After visiting the School we go on to the Ovitoto Garment Center where Helga gives us her undivided attention to explain this beautiful project of hers which is 100% privately funded. Helga rents the building which she operates from of the Government and supplies the local surrounding with her beautiful garment work.

From the Garment centre we go onto the Day care center which was created by Otjiruze Child Care Trust. The Day Care Centre has about 30 children every day that are being looked after by Magdalena which is only one of the four Nannies. The day care centre of Ovitoto is only being funded by International aid as the parents do not have the funds too fund such a project. The Day care centre provides the children with three meals a day and the basic schooling material that they need. They day care centre is also a refuge centre for children that have either lost one or both of their parents. They children get the opportunity to read write and play at the day care centre.

The tour goes to the little mini market that supplies the residence of Ovitoto with local products like Fruits, Bread and milk etc. After seeing this adventures mini market we head on to a Damara Village. The Damaras are only one of the many ethnic groups that Namibia has. In the Ovitoto area we have about 200 Damaras living with their goats, sheep and Cattle. The minority of the Damaras only produce live stock for themselves to use and not for the local meat market. You will be able to have a look into their daily live.

From the Damara village we will take you to a Herero Village which belongs to one of our worker on the lodge called Jobie. Jobie as lived for several years in this remote area with his Father, Mother, Brother and his wife. Jobies Mother will show you around the small Village and will explain to you what exactly it is why they have chosen to live there. The Herero’s are a very proud ethnic group and are mainly Cattle herders. The area provides the cattle of the Herero’s with all that they need. The Mother of Jobie as a passion for knitting her own little Herero puppets which you can either buy as a gift for your love ones at home our just to enjoy looking at. While you are strolling around the little village we will prepare some lunch for you under the big shade trees with some traditional food and some local food.. After lunch we will be heading back to the lodge and give you some more time to see the beautiful surrounding of Ovitoto while we are driving trough it. Once back on the private game reserve of The Elegant Farmstead we will take a short detour through the game reserve to find some of the 11 different game species’ we have.

A brief history of The Elegant Farmstead
Otjisazu is the original name of the Farm which is today The Elegant Farmstead.

The name Otjisazu is derived from the red cattle of an old Herero man who used to live there (ozosazu = red oxen). The place is 115 m higher in altitude than Okahandja and situated 1520 m above sea level 21º, 56’17" east. The station was built on the right bank of a small river which has its source in the mountain above Okahandja in the east and which flows into the Swakop two hours below Otjosazu at Ozoserekaze "the old honored lady". Otjosazu then had a good river source which streamed for a quarter of an hour with rich gardening land on either bank and a beautiful mimosa forest on its left bank, particularly near Okandjira. The grazing land was good with rainfalls of 350 mm in good years and 150 mm in bad years. There was no lack of ostrich, leopard, hyena, wolves and jackals. Ostrich troops often came into the plains of the place. Snakes were found there, too. The 5-6 m long Ondara lived on the Ondrohungu Mountains for some time, scarring us with her presence.

During a conference of the Rhenish Mission Society held in 1871 it was decided that the young Missionary J.Irle should build a station with the aim to convert the Herero and Mbanderu people under Chief Kukuri to Christian faith. Irle stayed on Otjosazu together with his wife for 31 years. He gained profound insight into the life and traditions of the Herero people which made him the best qualified expert of the Herero culture at his time. When the Herero rose against the German colonial power in 1904, Irle was one of the few people from Africa who informed the public in Germany about the reasons and causes of the rebellion. Irle’s successor on Otjisazu was Missionary Brockmann who lived through the Herero rebellion there. Senior Chief Samuel Maherero had passed a resolution which protected non-German whites and German women, children and missionaries against harm. In the following events, Missionary Brockmann was requested by the Herero on 29 January 1904 to leave Otjosazu and to go to Okahandja. Like all surrounding missionary stations Otjosazu was also looted and destroyed.