Alte Kalköfen Lodge

Alte Kalköfen means “old lime kilns” in German, and there are two of them on this farm in the ǁKaras Region. The older one dates from the late 1800s and the lodge calls it the oldest in Namibia. The lodge sits a couple of kilometres off the B4, about 90 km west of Keetmanshoop on the way to Lüderitz (ǃNamiǂNûs), which makes it a good place to break that long drive. Hilde and Frikkie Mouton own the farm and run the lodge.

What to expect

There are eight twin chalets on a bed and breakfast basis plus a family unit of two linked rooms, all looking over the dry Gurib riverbed, each with an outdoor cold-water shower as well as the indoor bathroom. Two self-catering units have their own kitchens and braai. Each campsite takes up to six people and has its own ablution block with solar lighting, hot water from a wood-fired donkey boiler and no electricity.

The plants are the reason to stay a second night. The Cole Lithoparium, in two greenhouses, holds the country’s largest registered collection of lithops (the small “living stones” succulents), and Hilde is an authority on them. Tours are booked at reception. There are also two bird hides, a bird ringing observatory opened in February 2025, a one-hour history tour, a 4 km self-guided walk and a three-hour scenic drive past the older kiln and a camel thorn tree put at 1,000 years old.

Practical details

• Phone: +264 81 170 0004. Email stay@altekalkofen.com.
• Book the scenic drive and, if camping, dinner at least a day ahead.
• Distances from the lodge’s own list: Quiver Tree Forest 115 km, Fish River Canyon viewpoint 190 km, Lüderitz 240 km.

Good to know

It is not a game lodge, though springbok, oryx and giraffe come to the floodlit waterhole. A railway line runs right past, so expect the odd train.

Last updated 7 October 2026. Sources: Alte Kalköfen Lodge, Alte Kalköfen Lodge, accommodation, Alte Kalköfen Lodge, activities, Alte Kalköfen Lodge, about us and history, Alte Kalköfen Lodge, attractions and distances, Travel News Namibia, Alte Kalköfen Lodge (April/May 2011 issue).