The Living Culture Foundation Namibia is a German-Namibian organisation which helps communities to establish Living Museums and simlar cultural and traditional projects.
Here is the travelogue of Ulrike Laupichler, who won the Namibia holiday from the LCFN lottery:
We were greeted at the airport by the driver who took us to Africa on Wheels, where we were able to take over our Toyota Hilux 4x4. The car was equipped with brand new tires and carried us almost 3,000 km through Namibia without any problems
We were welcomed very warmly in the Montebello Guesthouse, despite the location in Windhoek it is quiet and the pool and courtyard invite you to relax. We used the time to prepare for the trip, repackage, etc., as a meeting with Namibian friends was due, the offered Windhoek city tour with Bwana Tucke-Tucke could only be partly taken part, but was an interesting experience.
After a ride over the Remhoogte Pass, where we were caught again by the breathtaking scenery and the emptiness of Namibia, we arrived at the Namib Desert Lodge and were immediately surprised by the news of an upgrade.
We were able to move into our actual room with a magnificent view of the fossilized dunes. Then we were taken to the Dune Star Camp - with even more terrific views, a small desert hike with a ranger, a sundowner and a wonderful dinner ...
The next morning we drove early in the direction of Sossusvlei and were surprised by fog in the dunes - a dream. The look of Big Daddy is just terrific and the Dead Vlei worth a lot of photos.
The afternoon we relaxed at one of the 2 pools of the lodge and enjoyed the evening the buffet.
The next morning we went through the desert to Swakopmund, here again the cameras were claimed on the track ...
At the A La Mer we admired our room with a very original decor and bathroom before going shopping downtown, where we could buy many of our souvenirs and enjoy one of the nice cafes.
The bookstore was well worth a visit. The dinner at The Tug was so good we made a resevration for the following day as well.
We enjoyed the day on a dolphin ride in Walvis Bay - it was lovely with pelicans and seals on board, delicious oysters and dolphin sightings.
At the Twyfelfontein Lodge we were surprised by the great location and the good adaptation to their environment.
The afternoon we spent in the Living Museum of the Damara. Only for us various things were demonstrated such as make fire, which plants are used medicinally and a dance and theater performance. We are glad that we have been given this opportunity.
I was especially looking forward to this stop, because I already fell in love with this lodge 10 years ago without staying there - finally the opportunity arose to do so. The Vingerklip Lodge is wonderfully situated overlooking the Vingerklip and a beautiful park-like area, you will notice that everything, including the decor, was carefully composed.
We could not decide if we wanted to have our dinner in the lodge or on top of the Ugab Terraces, we would have liked to have a second night to take the decision ...
After a rewarding walk to Vingerklip we drove to Etosha. Despite the heat, we had good luck with the wildlife sightings, especially at the waterhole in Okaukuejo, a water hole near Namutomi and a small cheetah family.
The accommodations were good, but the restaurant is not comparable to the supply in the lodges ...
The next accommodation, the Mushara Lodge, on the other hand, was a real culinary highlight, but also the tent was very comfortable - only the heavy thunderstorm kept us from sleeping a little during the night. The afternoon we enjoyed reading comfortably by the pool in the most beautiful sunshine.
After leaving Tsumeb we reached the probably most bizarre lodge of our trip - Roys Restcamp . Furnishings and decoration wer made from many old objects. On a short walk across the grounds, we could stretch our legs for a while before being well catered for at the campfire and at dinner.
The journey to the Living Museum is a little trip around the world - but worth every kilometer ... certainly I would never have come there if we had not made this visit possible. We went with the bushmen through the bush, have learned how they gather and hunt, were allowed to make our own bow and jewelry. A longer program where time flew by.
Our last stop was the Waterberg Valley Lodge with a terrific view over dinner and a rhinoceros game drive that could be admired on foot.
Conclusion: All in all, it was a wonderful trip and we thank all the sponsors who made this possible and I would recommend anyone who has the opportunity to visit one of the Living Museums. It is a great opportunity to get to know the culture of different peoples of Namibia.
We want to thank our main sponsor Africa On Wheels - for the unbeatably low-priced rental vehicle and for their past and continuous support with vehicles for our project tours.www.africa-on-wheels.com
Info-Namibia: The bookings and organisation of the tour were conducted free of charge through our cooperative booking office Info-Namibia. www.info-namibia.com
2 nights of free accommodation were sponsored by:
Pension A La Mer in Swakopmund -– close to the beach, neat, cosy rooms as well as a friendly service. www.pension-a-la-mer.com
Roy's Camp, the “Out of Africa” bush lodge close to our Ju/'Hoansi-San Living Museum. Roy’s Camp is a regular supporter of the LCFN: www.roys-rest-camp.com
1-night bed and breakfast was sponsored by Montebello Guesthouse in Windhoek, known for their brilliant service, superb breakfast and good location: www.montebello.com.na
1-night dinner, bed and breakfast:
Vingerklip Lodge - breathtakingly beautiful Lodge at the Vingerklip: www.vingerklip.com.na
Mushara Bush Camp of the Mushara Collection - beautiful Camp with a superb location close the the Etosha Nationalpark: www.mushara-lodge.com
Waterberg Valley Lodge of the Waterberg Wilderness Collection – Situated at the paradisiacal Waterberg www.waterberg-wilderness.com
50 % discount for 2 nights bed and breakfast
Namib Desert Lodge of the Gondwana Collection – beautiful lodge close to the famous Sossusvlei: www.gondwana-collection.com
Once again we would like to thank all sponsors for their friendly and uncomplicated cooperation!!
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Do you have a question about the Mafwe Living Museum?
Have you read our FAQ already? Most of your questions will be answered there. If your question couldn't be answered you are welcome to write us an email to contact@lcfn.info
Kind regards, Elizabeth,
Manager of the Mafwe Living Museum
Do you have a question about the Mbunza Living Museum?
Have you read our FAQ already? Most of your questions will be answered there. If your question couldn't be answered you are welcome to write us an email to contact@lcfn.info
Kind regards, Sebron
Manager of the Mbunza Living Museum
Do you have a question about the Ovahimba Living Museum?
Have you read our FAQ already? Most of your questions will be answered there. If your question couldn't be answered you are welcome to write us an email to tjipuruaj@yahoo.com
Kind regards, John
Manager of the Ovahimba Living Museum
Do you have a question about the Damara Living Museum?
Have you read our FAQ already? Most of your questions will be answered there. If your question couldn't be answered you are welcome to write us an email to contact@lcfn.info
Kind regards, Hans-Bernhard
Manager of the Damara Living Museum
Do you have a question about the Ju/'Hoansi-San Living Museum?
Have you read our FAQ already? Most of your questions will be answered there. If your question couldn't be answered you are welcome to write us an email to contact@lcfn.info
Kind regards, Apollo
Manager of the Ju/'Hoansi-San Living Museum
Do you have a question about the Living Hunter's Museum?
Have you read our FAQ already? Most of your questions will be answered there. If your question couldn't be answered you are welcome to write us an email to contact@lcfn.info
Kind regards, Tsamkxao
Manager of the Living Hunter's Museum
Haben Sie eine Frage über das Mafwe Lebende Museum?
Sollte die Antwort auf ihre Frage nicht in unserem FAQ (meistgestellte Fragen) zu finden sein, so können Sie uns gerne eine Email schreiben: contact@lcfn.info
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Elizabeth,
Manager des Mafwe Living Museums
Haben Sie eine Frage über das Mbunza Lebende Museum?
Sollte die Antwort auf ihre Frage nicht in unserem FAQ (meistgestellte Fragen) zu finden sein, so können Sie uns gerne eine Email schreiben: contact@lcfn.info
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Sebron
Manager des Mbunza Living Museums
Haben Sie eine Frage über das Ovahimba Lebende Museum?
Sollte die Antwort auf ihre Frage nicht in unserem FAQ (meistgestellte Fragen) zu finden sein, so können Sie uns gerne eine Email (In Englisch) schreiben: tjipuruaj@yahoo.com
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, John
Manager des Ovahimba Living Museum
Haben Sie eine Frage über das Damara Lebende Museum?
Sollte die Antwort auf ihre Frage nicht in unserem FAQ (meistgestellte Fragen) zu finden sein, so können Sie uns gerne eine Email schreiben: contact@lcfn.info
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Hans-Bernhard
Manager des Damara Living Museum
Haben Sie eine Frage über das Ju/'Hoansi Lebende Museum?
Sollte die Antwort auf ihre Frage nicht in unserem FAQ (meistgestellte Fragen) zu finden sein, so können Sie uns gerne eine Email schreiben: contact@lcfn.info
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Apollo
Manager des Ju/'Hoansi-San Living Museum
Haben Sie eine Frage über das Hunter's Lebende Museum?
Sollte die Antwort auf ihre Frage nicht in unserem FAQ (meistgestellte Fragen) zu finden sein, so können Sie uns gerne eine Email schreiben: contact@lcfn.info
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Tsamkxao
Manager des Living Hunter's Museum
"... Our Living Museums has 76 actors at the moment. All actors are very happy with the work they are doing. The aim of our Living Museum is to develop the Grashoek community. Its is also a school where the elders teach the young people about culture..."
Apollo, Manager of the Ju/'Hoansi-San Living Museum
"... The Mafwe Living Museum has 38 permanent workers and 12 students at the moment. We realized that we must share our culture and the Living Museum is the right tool to do that because the Mafwe people are happy and proud about their culture! ..."
Elizabeth Madima, Manager of the Mafwe Living Museum
"... The Damara Living Museum has 30 actors and is called "Taotatide" in our language which means "we are proud of our culture". The actors are happy and very proud of their job. In the future we want to start a campsite and further improve our Living Museum..."
Hans-Bernhard, Manager of the Damara Living Museum
"... We have 25 actors in our museum. When the visitors come to see and understand our culture, the guests but also our children learn about the old traditions which is very important for our community. ..."
Tsamkxao, Manager of the Living Hunter's Museum
"... Our Living Museum which has 25 people is a good tool to let people understand the value of our culture, where we come from and where we can go. We are proud of our culture and are happy to learn about people from all over the world who are visiting us. ..."
Sebron Ruben, Manager of the Mbunza Living Museum
"... We have 32 actors in our museum. We were able to discover the old and lost traditional Ovahimba culture. The Living Museum is very succesful and the actors are benefitting from it directly and indirectly thorugh the selling of crafts very much ..."
John, Manager of the Ovahimba Living Museum
"... Unser Lebendes Museum hat 76 Akteure im Moment. Alle Leute sind zufrieden mit der Arbeit im Museum. Das Ziel unseres Museums ist es, die Gemeinschaft in Grashoek zu entwickeln. Daneben ist es eine Schule, wo die Ältesten die Jungen unterrichten..."
Apollo, Manager des Lebenden Museums
"... Das Mafwe Museum hat 38 permanent angestellte Aktuere und 12 Studenten im Moment. Wir haben verstanden, dass wir unsere traditionalle Kultur teilen müssen und das Lebende Museum ist der richtige Ansatz dafür, weil die Mafwe stolz auf ihre Kultur sind!..."
Elizabeth Madima, Manager des Mafwe Living Museum
"... Das Damara Museum hat 30 Akteure. Wir nennen es "Taotatide" in unserer Sprache, was soviel bedeutet wie "Wir sind stolz auf unsere Kultur". Die Akteure sind glücklich und stolz auf ihre Arbeit. Für die Zukunft planen wir einen Campingplatz und weitere Verbesserungen im Museum..."
Hans-Bernhard, Manager des Damara Living Museum
"... Wir haben 25 Akteure in unserem Museum. Wenn die Besucher kommen, um unsere Kultur zu sehen und zu verstehen, lernen die Gäste über unsere alten Traditionen, aber auch unsere Kinder, was sehr wichtig für unsere Gemeinschaft ist. ..."
Tsamkxao, Manager des Living Hunter's Museum
"... Unser Lebendes Museum, bei welchem 25 Leute arbeiten, ist eine gute Möglichkeit, den Besuchern den Wert unserer Kultur zu verdeutlichen, woher die Mbunza kommen und wohin sie gehen. Wir sind stolz auf unsere Kultur und auch glücklich etwas über die Besucher aus aller Welt zu lernen..."
Sebron Ruben, Manager des Mbunza Living Museum
"... Wir haben 32 Akteure in unserem Museum. Wir haben es geschafft, die alte Ovahimbakultur wiederzubeleben. Das Lebende Museum ist sehr erfolgreich und die Akteure profitieren direkt und indirekt, zum Beispiel durch Schmuckverkauf..."
John, Manager des Ovahimba Living Museum
Do you have a question about the Khwe Living Museum?
Have you read our FAQ already? Most of your questions will be answered there. If your question couldn't be answered you are welcome to write us an email to contact@lcfn.info
Kind regards, Taddeus
Manager of the Khwe Living Museum
Haben Sie eine Frage über das Khwe Lebende Museum?
Sollte die Antwort auf ihre Frage nicht in unserem FAQ (meistgestellte Fragen) zu finden sein, so können Sie uns gerne eine Email schreiben: contact@lcfn.info
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Taddeus,
Manager des Khwe Living Museums