RELAX & UNWIND in the Namibian Kalahari
Feel at home on Ombe Guestfarm, a family run livestock business and one of the first officially registered guest farms in Namibia. Your hosts, Florian and Katrin, look forward to welcoming you to their little paradise and enjoy sharing their passion for nature with you.
Feel at home on Ombe Guestfarm, a family run livestock business and one of the first officially registered guest farms in Namibia. Your hosts, Florian and Katrin, look forward to welcoming you to their little paradise and enjoy sharing their passion for nature with you.
Ombe Guestfarm History
Fourth Family Generation
Since 2019, Florian and Katrin, along with their dedicated team, have been managing both the agricultural and tourism aspects of the farm. Before becoming full-time farmers, they studied in Germany and gained valuable experience living and working in Australia and New Zealand. In 2022, they welcomed their twins, Martin and Luna.
2019Fourth Family Generation
Third Family Generation
In the 1990s, Winfried and Elke Zwar hosted many international guests who especially enjoyed interacting with the two tame cheetahs, Teddy and Rex, in the garden. Although Teddy and Rex have passed away at the age of eleven, Ombe continues to support a sustainable population of free-roaming big cats on the farm.
1990sThird Family Generation
Ombe's Beginning
The great-grandparents, Alma and Heinrich, purchased the 4,100-hectare farm in 1953. Three years later, they built the first flushable toilet, and in 1963, Ombe got its first generator for electricity. Alma and Heinrich laid the foundation for a successful cattle, sheep, and crop farm. In 1966, they retired to Swakopmund, and their second daughter, Gisela, along with her husband Dieter, took over management. The name "Ombe" is an abbreviation of the original farm name, Ombeameiata. In the Herero language, the farm is called "Omboua maijata Tjinakwi," meaning "the dog stepping on the Kalahari Water Tuber" (Raphionacme burkei).
1953Ombe's Beginning
Early Settler Years
In 1913, the settler brothers Herbert and Heinrich Fastenau arrived in Swakopmund from Germany by ship. They made a living as general farmworkers and regularly drove an ox wagon to Windhoek, selling butter, ham, and later potatoes. Repeated droughts and seven years of war internment forced them to rebuild their lives from scratch. In 1928, Heinrich married Alma, and together they had three children. They lived a basic lifestyle without electricity or running water, with days filled with physically demanding tasks such as drilling for water, building livestock fences, wells, dams, and brick houses.
1913Early Settler Years
Ombe Foundation & Sustainability
The Ombe Foundation was established to empower farm workers and women in the rural community:
- Breaking the cycle of illiteracy in rural areas by funding and ensuring education for the children of farm workers.
- Creating part-time or permanent job opportunities and fostering financial independence for women in rural areas, who too often fall victim to prostitution or patriarchal traditions.
- Minimizing drug abuse by promoting community sports, training, and team-building seminars.
- Fighting poverty and making dreams, big or small, come true—for example, providing a warm winter blanket, soccer shoes, or the chance to see the ocean.
