Launch of Khomas Hochland hiking trail this month

Members of the media were recently invited to participate in a 4.5 kilometre hiking trail west of Windhoek on Farm Godies. The hike was organised in anticipation of the official launch of the Windhoek Greenbelt Landscapes hiking trail towards the end of April.

Organisor of the hike and NAM-PLACE spokesperson, Manini Kandume said, “The development of this hiking trail comes at the time when the government encourages and provides enabling environment for Public Private Partnerships”. According to Kandume, the feedback from the farmers has been positive regarding the establishment of the hiking trail.
“Given that the landscape is inclusive of the Daan Viljoen Park, plans are in place to link the trail to the popular Daan Viljoen hiking trail as soon as the necessary security measures have been put in place,” Kandume said.
“To ensure sustainability of the Windhoek Green Belt Landscape, NAM-PLACE has supported participating members of the landscape to develop a hiking trail,” Kandume explained. On Farm Godies, the group of journalists braved various obstacles to make it to Gesa’s View which provides a stunning view of the surrounding Khomas Hochland. En route, to the top, journalists gathered for a picture inside Flinston’s Cafe before embarking the tedious climb which had many basking for breath and water.
Added Kandume, “People from nearby Windhoek, may just have found an alternative to the long distances travel to the most popular hiking trails in the land,” and cited the Fish River Canyon as an example.
The Khomas Hochland Hiking Trail located about 50kilometres west of Windhoek measures a distance of about 95 kilometres and will be trailed for a period of six days. The hiking trail can be broken down into smaller proportions enabling hikers to complete parts of the trail within a shorter space of time.
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism through its NAM-PLACE initiative is promoting the establishment of landscape conservation areas to ensure that land users adjacent to protected areas are compatible with biodiversity conservation. Through this initiative, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism has created 5 landscapes, namely the Greater Fish River Landscape, Greater Sossusvlei-Namib Landscapes, Greater Waterberg landscape, Mudumu Landscape and the Windhoek Green Belt Landscape.