095 | LOVEDALE FARM HOLIDAYS

95

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Lovedale Farm Holidays

Photos and text by Stefan Rust

2013

(In terms of the Geneva Convention the copyright of these texts belongs to Stefan Rust)

            

The Africa one has dreamt and read about. A breathtaking, beautiful, malaria-free environment - Lovedale Farm Holidays offers self-catering accommodation & camping in a large private game protection area in Namibia’s south. Explore the vast, open spaces of Farm Lovedale that teem with game and birds.

Not only the names given to the different accommodations, Martial Eagle, Black Eagle, Bateleur and Weavers Nest (for families) indicate the passion of birdlife but also the fact that Louisa and Malcolm Campbell, the owners of Farm Lovedale, invited BirdsConTour to qualify their land as bird and birder friendly.

Thoughtful projects led to the three penguin-rated Bird & Birder Friendly Award for Louisa and Malcolm Campbell.

The Campbells funded the social project of getting the Private School Elnatan at Stampriet registered as a bird and birder friendly establishment. The aim is to support the multiple wild bird species on the school ground and simultaneously creating awareness about birds and bird conservation. It is a delight seeing the enjoyment on the children’s faces as they learn more about birds.

     

Malcolm’s far-sightedness led to a farming method of practices on the farm, upon which wild birds on this large area profit. Farm Lovedale is a protected area, known as Lovedale Game Protection Area, to ensure game and bird protection.

Two newly established Wild Bird Support Stations, situated conveniently close to the guest accommodations, give visitors the chance to easily observe and photograph birds.

    

For all these efforts by Louisa and Malcolm Campbell they deserve the three penguin-rated Bird & Birder Friendly award, received on the 18^th of June.

Lovedale Farm Holidays offers an unforgettable birding experience, children welcome, and bare in mind that on January the 27^th a very rare Palearctic vagrant, the Long-legged Buzzard was seen in the Lovedale Game Protection Area, nearby the house. It is not impossible that this was the same individual that was recorded by Stefan Rust from BirdsConTour in April this year nearby Sossusvlei. In whole southern Africa there exist only 12 sight records.