Park

Naute is one of Namibia’s largest man-made lakes. Its shoreline, abutting long stretches of rocky plains and intricate sections of small bays, is very attractive The dam location on the Löwen River was already identified by German engineers over a century ago, yet construction of the reservoir only took place 70 years later. The dam was created as a reliable source of water for the nearby town of Keetmanshoop, and to enable an agricultural scheme adjacent to the reservoir.

The lake creates an ideal focal point for a game park, although this was only proclaimed just prior to independence. Thirty years on, its tourism potential remains untapped, overlooked in the vastness of the ‘forgotten South’. Discussions around a tourism concession with the neighbouring !Gawachab Conservancy may gain momentum in the future. For now, Naute is still worth a brief stop-over visit while travelling between Keetmanshoop and the Fish River Canyon.

Travel Tips

WHEN TO BE THERE:

Visitor access is restricted to the recreation area; this is open all year
Day temperatures can be very hot during summer
Fishing competitions are held intermittently & the recreation area is a weekend retreat for locals
The game park is currently not open to visitors

WHAT TO DO:

Stop at the lake for a refreshing break on your travels
Enjoy a short walk & some good birding
Do a spot fishing along the shore
Visit the nearby agricultural scheme

WHAT TO REMEMBER:

Access is restricted to the small recreation area
A permit is required for fishing, obtainable at the Karas Regional Council in Keetmanshoop
There are no amenities at the dam
Do not litter, take all rubbish with you

African Pygmy-Goose

Fulvous Whistling-Duck

Hottentot Teal

Southern Pochard

African Palm-Swift

History

Colgar Sikopo was the Chief Control Warden for Wildlife Management in Kavango and Caprivi when Hompa Mpasi of the Ukwangali Traditional Authority came to his office in Rundu in early 2003. The King requested that the Mangetti Game Camp be declared a park, that historically occurring game be brought back, and that the communities around the park should benefit from this.

As is the case for most of the country, San communities are believed to have utilised much of northeastern Namibia for millennia. The Kwangali are more recent habitants, although they already settled along the Okavango several centuries ago, after moving here from the upper reaches of the Zambezi via the Kwando River. Like most rural people in northern Namibia, the Kwangali practise cropping and livestock herding, and have a system of monarchy rule. The lack of surface water in the sandveld inhibited people from living away from the river. Even today, over two thirds of the regional population stay along the Okavango.

Karl Johan Andersson is the first European known to have travelled through the area when he reached the Okavango in 1859. Thirty years later, explorers and traders still noted minimal trade and few guns in the area. Limited influence was exerted during the German colonial period, with the first police post installed only in 1910, at Nkurenkuru along the Okavango. After World War I, the Kavango Native Reserve was created as part of South Africa’s homeland policies. The administrative region changed shape several times over the next 60 years, to finally become Kavango West and Kavango East in 2013.

Access to the northeast was difficult until the Mururani–Rundu road was built in the early 1960s. Settlement along the road increased dramatically once boreholes were established. Today, there is a near-continuous ribbon of settlements between Mururani and Rundu. To the east and south of Mangetti, 30 farms of around 8,000 hectares each were allocated to politically connected individuals in 1992, and supplied with boreholes. Meanwhile, a public road is being constructed along Mangetti’s eastern border, with the result that the park is now completely wedged between farms and roads.

What is today Mangetti is said to have been a traditional hunting area for the Kwangali monarchy. The area was set aside for an agricultural project by the South African administration as part of homeland development, yet its limited farming potential later led to it being transferred to the Department of Nature Conservation. The block was fenced in 1973–74 as a game camp, with a plan to generate income for the Kavango Administration through game breeding and trophy hunting.

After independence, the land was transferred to the MET under the aegis of the Mangetti Management Committee. The local community first requested that it be proclaimed as a jointly managed park in 1992. These efforts were taken up again 10 years later by the Kwangali King, and Mangetti National Park was approved by Cabinet in 2008. In keeping with the initial concept, the park is jointly managed by the MET, the traditional authority and the Kavango West Regional Council.

The park is named after the mangetti tree, Schinziophyton rautanenii. Few specimens of this impressive tree grow in the park, but it is a widespread and locally common species in the region. People collect the fruits to make a porridge out of the flesh. The small kernels, though encased in an extremely hard shell, make a fine oil. The fruits are also eaten by elephants and various smaller animals

Activities

Conservations

Mangetti was securely fenced over the past decade and an attractive entrance has been built, yet it is a park still in the making. There are currently no facilities, and a tourism route was only recently mapped, which covers much of the park in a meandering loop. With few visitors, most revenue is currently generated through conservation hunting.

Camera traps have been installed at the water points to monitor wildlife, with a particular focus on wild dog, which have an uncertain future in the small park. While animals such as elephant and lion have disappeared, a variety of other species have been brought back. Common impala, giraffe, plains zebra, kudu and gemsbok have all been translocated here, and there is hope of reintroducing white rhino.

Map

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Naute Game Park

In a way itâ€™s refreshing when a wonderful little sanctuary remains beyond our hunger for leisure destinations. While Nauteâ€™s tourism potential remains unrealised, the game park does fulfil its conservation function.