Who would have thought that just down agreements exist to keep the farm lights at caption Lenit,
conem si ate sunt,
the road from Windhoek, Namibia’s capital,
just over that hill and around that bend, is a
game reserve that has no light pollution, no
traffic sounds, and no worries but just the
[ o a s i s o n a n A f r i c a n s ava n n a h h i l l t o p ] most lovely little chalets and a steamy spa
with views of humpy hills spotted with the
African thorn tree so typical of the savannah.
A short drive from Windhoek and The Auas Mountains just south of Windhoek
go a long way to protect the reserve from the
you can leave all your worries behind. glowing lights of the city, where the resort
photography xxxxxxxxxx
is nestled on a hilltop on the other side, less
If nothing else, Goche Ganas is one of than 30 kilometres from the capital. In fact,
Goche Ganas protects their residents from
those cliché ‘getting in touch’ places light pollution so well that the farmers in
the area are getting a little restless at the
Words by Scott Smith amount of land the reserve takes up. Delicate
78 september 2010 indwe
bay but so far, it seems to be working. to eos ea
The wellness spa, Goche Ganas, has been nonsecatem
around since 1997, but the history of the reserve hiciatur, sum
iustrum
goes well back to the beginning of the last
century. It has changed owners a few times
since 1903 when it was sold with some 170
ostriches but it was Udo Stritter that converted
the land into a game reserve and established
the fine facilities we can experience today.
Speaking of facilities – being a wellness
and health spa you can assume that they take
their wellness quite seriously. We arrived at
the spa early afternoon, a relaxing time to be
sure but the majority of people would be up
and about but still all vehicles arriving at the
resort need to park their cars at the bottom of
indwe september 2010 79
 [ goche ganas ]
At occus, quoditi od quiscid posae
Puda volorendis atectem
the hill. None are allowed to be driving around
the chalets or the main facilities, maintaining
that serene kind of outlook that allows you to
be separate from the outside world. No one
really wants to be having one of their lovely
massages infused with homeopathic oils and
the gentle sound of the grasslands swishing
around in the breeze to be heard under the
growling of a diesel engine and the crackling
of gravel under the tires. Marula and outdoor
therapy is a specialty at Goche Ganas. They
seem to have thought of everything here.
xxxxxxxxxxx
There is large range of wellness treatments here
that there simply wasn’t time to experience
them all. There are some eleven treatment
rooms with state of the art equipment such as
a crystal bath, hydrotherapy bath and even a
vichy shower, which is a kind of shower taken
when you are lying down on a shallow wet bed
with large quantities of warm water poured over
you giving a kind of massage effect. This seemed
a favourite but most of our time was simply
spent around the pool and sauna, enjoying the
sunshine, warm water and steaming rocks.
Most of the costs of staying at Goche Ganas
include full room and board and with a fine
selection of cuisine one doesn’t really have a
problem with the management going ahead and
organising that for you. If you have some special
dietary requirements, they can do that too. Even
if you don’t have such requirements but think
you want to make some up for your time here
just to get into the groove of health and wellness,
I’m sure they can take that on board. Ask them
about their nutritional consultations. At Goche
Ganas they believe that nutrition is its own
special type of healing therapy and that kind of
outlook spills over into their restaurant. With
another food source being some 30 kilometres
away you can be sure they put some effort into
making the edibles tasty; after all, it is a long
walk to freedom. But after a couple days of
sitting in on their schedule and menu you feel
good, you feel right. Try out their fresh fruit and bouncing over the grassy savannah. If you caption Lenit,
conem si ate sunt,
mineral water from their own hot water source. ever get tired of massages and relaxing a little to eos ea
There are three eating areas at the wellness too much, take a game drive, a guided walking nonsecatem
resort. The hilltop restaurant, outdoor restaurant tour, get on a mountain bike or maybe check hiciatur, sum
iustrum
and the traditional kraal restaurant which is out the stone-age caverns found on the reserve
an enclosed area with an open fire under the in 2002. Stone tools and pottery shards there
blazing starry night – as close to nature as you have been shown to be between 2000 and 9000
are going to get with polite, white glove service. years old and the resort offers guided tours
The dinner seems to be served at about just to see those remnants from the past. Every
the right time. You can sit by the pool or the now and again, dotted along the savannah
lovely circular bar, taking in the sunset before landscape you will see some bushman art
photography xxxxxxxxxx
you go sit down and when you are finished which the guides will tell you about, giving
eating there they are, just outside waiting for you some insight into the history of Namibia.
you, all the stars of the Milky Way. And you
may just be able to see a little farther than that xxxxxxxxxxx
considering how clear the sky is out here. One thing you do need to be aware of before you
But really, the real treats are out there visit Goche Ganas is that, although there are
indwe september 2010 81
 [ goche ganas ]

caption Lenit, conem si ate

sunt, to eos ea nonsecatem
hiciatur, sum iustrum

some 28 different wildlife species and around
6000 hectares of land spanning around you,
this isn’t really a reserve for animals. You
won’t find the big five here. But that isn’t the
point of Goche Ganas; the game drive and the
rhinos, bat-eared foxes, wildebeest, oryx, and
eland are added extras and no extra cost.
xxxxxxxxxx
On one of these game drives, our ranger tells
us that the name Goche Ganas is actually the
goes something like this: the ‘Goche’ is a click
of the tongue with an ‘o’ at the end and the
‘Ganas’ is another click with ‘anas’ at the end.
In short, you will simply have to go there and
have the game ranger pronounce it for you.
The chalets were wonderful, clean, and
while rustic have all the amenities a modern
resort seeker would want. In the bath the
view stretches out to the mountains and is
best taken early in the morning or for sunset.
Call me a romantic but I love the suds of a
photography xxxxxxxxxx

name of the African thorn tree, the acacia that

is prominent in the region, in the local dialect. _ I n f o r m at i o n
Naturefriend Safaris
Hard to pronounce in our Western languages Tel : +264 (0)61 234 793
and consisting of two clicks of the tongue; Cell : +264 (0)811 284 794
suffice to say the Merriam-Webster dictionary Fax : +264 (0)061 259 316
www.naturefriendsafaris.com
doesn’t have a phonetic spelling for it, but it
GocheGanas
Tel : +264 (0) 61 224 909
Fax : +264 (0) 61 224 924
reservations@gocheganas.com
info@gocheganas.com

82 september 2010 indwe