TIVOLI SOUTHERN SKY GUEST FARM

Travelers who do not wish to go to Tivoli by car can request a return and return transfer (decreasing rate depending on the number of passengers). For others, the rental of a car offers a great moment of adventure during the 2 hours driving to the observatory, especially when this journey, when the flight arrives, takes place at the end of the afternoon. First of all, the landscape that rides is beautiful. Savanna, strewn with acacized acacias burning by an increasingly low sun, seems peaceful. Slowly yet, the elements of an astonishing array set up… It starts with hawks who stand on the bottom side. Then comes the tour tower, which looks at the drivers and passengers with nonchalance (we pinch to know if we are not in full dream). At midway, the paved road is placed on a trail with giant termities. The sun ends up behind the horizon… Signs of nascent twilight, koudous, springboks and other vidals follow the headlights of the car. The minutes go down and the sky becomes black of ink. We're wondering what planet we're coming in, and especially if there's going to be. The end of this strange odyssey is indeed there, when Reinhold Schreiber, the owner of the observatory, warmly welcomes the newcomers. Smiling at his lips, he doesn't hesitate to drop small sentences that he has the secret like this "did you cross giraffes on the way?" " when we came to see him the first time! "

The Tivoli Observatory is located close to the Kalahari Desert, in a region mixing savannans and red sand dunes. The sky is of excellent quality, especially since the site enjoys an interesting altitude (1,362 m). Reinhold Schreiber was born in Namibia and lived part of his childhood in Tivoli. After studying in Germany, he decided in 1997 to return to Namibia to develop the observatory. It is now equipped with state-of-the-art equipment dedicated to sophisticated amateurs and neophytes. Among these equipment, telescopes of 500 and 355 mm diameter, or giant twins! Packages installed in particular under shelter. Such an infrastructure offers essential advantages for the observer who benefits from a very large number of nights and full access to the southern sky. Observers are housed in very spacious guesthouses, perfect for resting after a full night of observation (built terraces are now accessible to campers). The excellent evening meals are the occasion for passionate discussions with other lovers of passage, from all nationalities (Russian, Dutch, German, French), giving the observatory a very pleasant melting pot. At night, what a shock! With Chile and central Australia, Namibia offers the best sky in the world. A place of choice linked to the absence of any light pollution and to this mysterious Austral sky. The night atmosphere is equally subjuvant, between the shelters of telescopes and savanna (closed, reassuring). We're taking the view. In the morning, after a few hours of well deserved sleep, the bright sun and its coronal blue sky add a little more to the magic of the site. Among the activities offered during the day, do not miss the sunset on the Kalahari desert… With a 4 x 4 vehicle departure in the direction of a magnificent point of view on the region, then on site in comfortable seats, and aperitif served with glass of white wine to dizzle in front of the nascent twilight, saturated with warm hot colors. The return to the observatory in the middle of the night, installed on the roof of 4 x 4, the nose to the wind and the eyes planted to the stars is part of the indelible memories of the stay.