BIRDWATCHING

For all our Guests who love our friends with feathers, Barkhan Dune Retreat has a great variety of interesting species to observe. Visitors to Barkhan Dune Retreat will find no shortage of opportunities for ticking some of Namibia’s 699 bird species off their list. If you don’t have the book, we compiled a list of popular species you might encounter around the lodge or at the watering holes around the farm. These include the Rosy-Faced lovebird, one of Africa’s only parrots and other colorful species like the entertaining Cape glossy starling and many more.

UBIB GROTTO - (PREHISTORIC ROCK PAINTINGS)

This remarkable archaeological site is called Ubib Grotto, named after the farm on which it is located. It is situated in the southwest of Khomas District, between Solitaire and Spreetshoogte Pass. Ubib is a Nama language word, explained by some Nama speakers as masculine, meaning “handing the boy over”. Some other native speakers interpreted the word as “taking away”. Maybe Ubib could be described in the Nama language as the transition of boys from childhood to adulthood, becoming men and hunters like their fathers. As tempting as it may be, there is no evidence to connect this cave and its paintings with such transition rites and no concrete evidence that this was the case. The pre-historic paintings in this cave are estimated as more than 2,000 years old, but no oral or written history goes that far back that tells us about their purpose. Go on a guided 2.5-hour excursion to the cave and be mesmerised by this special place. Explore the paintings on the wall, and you can journey back in time and imagine for yourself what may have happened in this grotto high up in the mountains.