Burgsdorf Guest Farm

Burgsdorf Guest Farm is the kind of place guidebooks miss: a working guest farm on Farm Burgsdorf No. 188, about 25 kilometres south-west of Maltahöhe, reached down a quiet farm road off the C14. Its natural-stone farmhouse, built in German colonial style, has welcomed travellers since 1899 — first as a police outpost and resting place on the wagon road south, today as one of southern Namibia's warmest farm stays.

The farm carries real history. It is named after Hauptmann von Burgsdorf, the German commander of the Gibeon district who founded Maltahöhe — the town itself named for his wife, Malta. Staying here puts you inside that story: the old stone buildings have been converted into twin rooms, while newer comfort rooms line the waterhole with private terraces facing the game.

And the game is the surprise. This is a working goat and cattle farm — famous for its variety of indigenous goats — but rhino conservation sits at the heart of what the family does, and guests regularly watch rhino, springbok, oryx, zebra and wildebeest come down to drink in front of the rooms, with resident cheetahs an unforgettable close encounter. Game drives, rhino drives, sunset and night drives, hiking trails and sundowners on the Schwartrand plateau fill the days; the isolation makes for superb stargazing after dinner in the thatched lapa.

Practically, it's perfectly placed. Sossusvlei lies roughly 185 kilometres away — about two and a half hours to the Sesriem gate, close enough for an early dune run — and Windhoek is around a four-hour drive, which makes Burgsdorf the natural overnight between the capital, the dunes and the deep south of Lüderitz and the Fish River Canyon. Day trips to Sossusvlei, Sesriem Canyon, the Naukluft and Duwisib Castle can be arranged right on the farm.

Itineraries featuring Burgsdorf Guest Farm

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