Dreams were discovered and history unravelled when the first Gondwana lodge was built on the farm Karios in southern Namibia. Retaining the quaint century-old German farmhouse as the reception area, Canyon Lodge exudes the warmth and passion felt by its creators, the Schanderl Brothers.
Deported after WW1, they tried in vain to return to their beloved home. A bedstead, fitted by the brothers in observance of Bavarian tradition, still stands on the roof of the building to inform ladies that a bachelor is in residence.
Over the years, Gondwana acquired adjacent sheep farms to establish the expansive 116 000 hectare/1160 square-kilometre nature reserve, the Gondwana Canyon Park. As fences were dismantled, the wildlife began to recover and as the land healed, the remnants of the people who once lived on the farms were discovered: old shepherd shelters, engravings, implements, graves and buildings that had been taken over by nesting birds. Stories were recounted under trees, in huts and farmhouses over time, and the tales of old were woven together to provide a clearer image of life in the arid Karas Region.
These tales and others – the stories of the Namibian people, their struggles and triumphs over the years and their fascinating traditions, have been collected and recorded in the treasure-house of history, adding to the geological masterpieces that enrich the land.
