Namibia, Walvis Bay – Kleines Nest

Perfect views over the WB lagoon

by Marita van Rooyen

After a day of fun in the dunes around Walvis Bay, take a drive next to the lagoon and you’ll find the perfect spot for a night in a home away from home.

It is not called Kleines Nest (small nest) for nothing.

Owners Melani and Johann van den Berg make you feel at home as soon as you set foot in the door.

A lazy cat on the front mat and soft classical music in the background add to the relaxed atmosphere of what might well have been your own home.

Return visits

What started out with four luxury rooms, each with its own balcony and a fantastic view over the lagoon, has now been extended with two extra standard rooms and self-catering accommodation.

All rooms have en-suite bathrooms, televisions, wireless Internet, telephone and a kettle for an early-morning cuppa. Being a bed-and-breakfast facility, Kleines Nest supports a niche market of businessmen, but is also popular amongst self-drivers and smaller groups of travellers.

Melani tells of how they once had a visitor who stayed for three months! And then there are those who keep on coming back year after year, each time asking for the same room (and the same excellent service).

Kleines Nest serves a mean continental breakfast (that comes with a free view over the pelicans and dolphins that splash in the lagoon), and re-commends restaurants such as The Raft, Pelican Bay and the Yacht Club, all within 500 metres, for lunch and dinner.

Safe parking is available on site and guests are free to use the canoe and bicycles that are available. Melani and Johann also organise activities, transfers, car hire and other bookings on request. For the more lazy ones, the balconies in front are perfect to follow activities in one of the most important wetlands along the western coast of Southern Africa – the Walvis Bay Lagoon.

Water sports such as windsurfing and kite surfing are popular, and the lagoon offers excellent bird-watching opportunities.

The Van den Heevers opened Kleines Nest in 2001, with their first guests being locum doctors from the Welwitschia Hospital close by. Says Melani, “Everything just felt right from the beginning. We keep our guests happy and then we get on with our lives. It’s the perfect situation.” And their guests are happy indeed. Just think of that guy who stayed for three months!

http://www.natron.net/tour/kleines-nest/main.html

This article appeared in the Dec ‘09/Jan ‘10 edition of Travel News Namibia.