Small places

When on the roads in Namibia, heading for one of those many magnificent places…

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…don’t miss the “small places”!Smallplaces02

On our way back from Fish River Canyon we choose not to go B1 and tar road but rather the smaller dirt roads. We stopped in a place called Bethanie, a very small dot on the map and not much more in reality. This nice man helped us get fuel and we gave him some sweets for his kids. It was Easter Sunday.Smallplaces03

At the back of this picture is a grey building, Bethanie Guest House.  Bethanie was one of the very first settlements in Namibia and this Guest House is known as the very first hotel in Namibia. In town you can also find the old “Schmelenhaus” built in  1814 and one of the first buildings ever in Namibia. It is today a National Monument and museum. In 1883, Bethanie was the place where Heinrich Vogelsang (on behalf of Adolf Lüderits) bought land from the Namaqua chief Josef Frederiks. This was to be the start of the German colonisation of Namibia. So Bethanie may look like nothing but is something.

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Not too far from Bethanie, and well situated if you for example are going from Windhoek to Lüderitz (yes that piece of land bought in Bethanie) is this remarkable place. It is called Helmeringhausen and is just a small piece of tar road stretching a few hundred meters. Easy to miss, but don’t!Smallplaces05

Easter Sunday the shop was closed…OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

…but most other days you will find it open. One small street and one small shop but you don’t need more because here you find everything. And it is a very neat shop. It is a pure pleasure to explore everything that is there.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Do you need fuel? In Helmeringhausen it is available even on Easter Sunday!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

You will even find a nice, well supplied museum here.Smallplaces09

And here is the entrance to the hotel.Smallplaces10

A beauiful little garden, some 20 nicelooking rooms and a little curio shop.Smallplaces11

And this lunch stop was a very nice one. Helmeringhausen. Esay to miss, but don’t!

 

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5 Responses to Small places

  1. Nice picture gallery!

    I was able to spend 2 months in 2012 in Helmeringhausen, doing astronomical observations. It is a nice and quiet place with interesting people living there and also coming through. See http://carpenoctemblog.wordpress.com/hh2012/ for my experience there.

    Your pictures stirred quite a few memories, I am glad you liked it there too!

  2. Billion Graves says:

    Consider contributing photos to billiongraves.com if possible 🙂

  3. walter sheni says:

    it was nice to see your picture they soo nice I love it and that hotel I spent one time there and you really enjoy which is soo nice god bless you when will you visit Namibia again?

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