According to Kobus de Klerk, who owns the Mount D'Urban Campsite in partnership with his wife Kirsty and his parents Boeta and Mariette on the family farm near Helmeringhausen, the tourism concern has played a vital role in keeping the farming business afloat during taxing seasons of severe drought.
“Namibia went through a devastating drought between about 2012 and 2019. The campsite played a valuable role in 2019, when the drought was at its worst. The campsite was able to supplement enough income to cover some of the farm's running costs. In some ways it took pressure off having to sell more stock to buy feed during the drought. Value-wise, in today's market, it could probably be worked back to roughly 200 marketable lambs,” he says.
The farm is situated in the south-western part of Namibia, 23km north of Helmeringhausen. Separated by the Swartrand mountain range, it stretches about
