Otjitotongwe Cheetah Guest Farm

Damaraland


Otjitotongwe is run by cheetah aficionados Tollie and Roeleen Nel, who keep tame cheetahs around their home and have set up a 40-hectare enclosure for wilder specimens, which they feed every afternoon at 4pm in summer, an hour earlier in winter. The no-frills thatched bungalows are simple but well-maintained. Otjitotongwe is 24km south of Kamanjab on the C40.

The project started when the Nels trapped several wild cheetahs that were poaching their livestock, in the hopes of releasing them in Etosha National Park. After learning that the government was opposed to the idea, they released the animals into the wild, though they kept a litter of cubs born in captivity. Since then, the Nels have taken in a number of recovered cheetahs and operate the wildlife farm in the hope of increasing awareness of the plight of these endangered predators.