It is hot and dusty on the C24 road in the Hardap Region of Namibia. Plumes of sand fly behind our vehicle as we drive through the tiny community of Klein Aub, 90 kilometres from Rehoboth. It is the kind of town where if you blink while driving through, you might miss it. These are Namibia’s desolate landscapes at their finest. Suddenly a signboard appears, inviting you to stop for coffee at Conny’s Coffee Shop. It is the last place you would expect to find a coffee shop, yet it is an absolute highlight in this barren wilderness. To stop at Conny’s Coffee Shop is to savour coffee at its finest, but the real drawcard here is the delightfully eccentric owner and coffee artist, Günther Martens.

With his large white beard, Günther will brew you an authentic cup of coffee to rival that of even the best baristas. Using a bespoke coffee stand made by his carpenter nephew, Günther elevates the coffee experience to coffee cupping – a sacred ritual for tasting in the coffee world.

Günther has lived an interesting life. He has advocated for a better world as a nonviolent communication teacher, taught meditation classes and offered free Qigong classes in Windhoek. He has been all over the globe, with his coffee training taking place in Hamburg, Germany.

Time slows down here, and Günther admits that this is intentional. “I didn’t want to hustle”, he explains, adding that he wants to be able to give each person he meets his personal attention. “I decided to go to the desert. People told me to go to Solitaire, but it’s too busy there. I didn’t want that life.”

“In 2017 I came here and a month later I was living here. There used to be a copper mine in the area, and then this place used to be a fish and chips shop with a supermarket and petrol station. When the mine closed in 1987, they built the veranda here and called it Conny’s. In 2014 Conny passed away and her children tried to keep it going, but it’s hard living in this environment, especially for young people, it’s not inspiring. For me, I thought that this was cool.”

His stories have us hanging at the edge of our seats while we sip on freshly brewed organic fairtrade Bean There coffee, so delectable that one does not need to mask it with milk or sugar. “If you use good coffee and you prepare it the right way, you can really taste the difference between the different coffees and origins,” Günther explains as his belly laugh fills the air.

This place is slow, interesting and peaceful – truly the essence of Günther. While birds whistle in the background, he shares why he finds this chapter of his life rewarding. “I have a sense of autonomy and I feel at peace. Here, I work with the rhythms of nature. I have to, as I even cook with the sun.” His solar oven is what he uses to prepare hearty meals or the tasty muffins that pair so well with his coffee. “My solar oven uses the sun’s rays to make food. Cooking times depend on the day’s weather. I adapt my meals to the oven, cooking dishes that I can put in and leave alone like a roast leg of lamb or a bobotie,” explains Günther.

“I am happy here. I meet people from all over the world, so my day is full. We have many geologists here because of the environment, so I’m learning about geology. There are rock engravings nearby so now I’m also learning about archaeology. Fascinating people come and stop here. Politicians on their way to holiday, or tour guides with big groups. Some come for lunch, some come just for the coffee, but amazing people come here,” explains Günther, adding, “The people who tend to come here are the adventurous people, the curious ones. They use the opportunity to take a detour. They take life a bit slower and discover the adventures along the journey. They are the ones who find the good surprises.”

Stopping at Conny’s Coffee Shop was a pleasant surprise in a deserted corner of the world, but Günther hopes he can maintain this sense of authenticity. “My hope is to stay small, remain an experience.”