Gobabis
Namibia
 Gobabis 200 kilometres east of Windhoek on the B6, forms the centre of the Omaheke. The region borders the Kalahari and covers a huge area of 80 000 sqkm. Omaheke, also called the "Sandveld", is traditionally Herero country, but most of the land is used by big cattle- breeding farms. The landscape is a monotonous and endless grassy savannah with Acacia bushes and camelthorn trees.
The roots of Gobabis extend back to the year 1856, when the Rhenish Mission Society established a station there, which was destroyed a few years later. The region was known to be "restless" as the Herero and the Nama, who lived in the south, often fought here against each other. And so, Europeans only hesitantly settled here. Even the "protection agreements" signed by the German colonial administration and the Herero in 1895 didn't bring about any considerable change.
The district capital of Gobabis today has 12 000 citizens and provides mainly for the 800 farms in the surrounding areas.
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Gobabis is also an important stop-over for the traffic to Botswana. The borderpost Buitepos lies 110 kilometres east of Gobabis. Just a few years ago, a trip from Windhoek to Johannesburg through Botswana was a real adventure. Now, on the tarred "Trans-Kalahari-Highway", completed in 1998, one can manage the 1 300 kilometres in just two days.
The services and accommodation on offer in Botswana are humble, though, and the stretch is monotonous. So, the Kalahari Highway is used mainly by trucks.
More details and travel information for Gobabis to be found on the INFO page. |
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