BERSEBA: The Brukkaros Mountain Community Campsite at the Berseba village has been vandalised and solar panels, water pipes and shading have been stolen.
The widows of a kiosk were broken, while one of three 500-litre water tanks had been blown away into the bushes by the wind as it stood empty.
The mountain is located about 10 kilometres north-east of the Berseba village in the Karas Region.
On a visit to the campsite on Monday, this reporter saw that the signboard in front of the gate had fallen down and could not be seen by visitors, while there was no one attending at the gate.
Berseba Local Authority Councillor and founder of the Brukkaros campsite, Sabina Esterhuizen accompanied Nampa to the campsite, and said the gatekeeper had left some months ago.
“There is no one to receive visitors, and as such, the kiosk is closed. Very few tourists visit the site too. Currently, the campsite committee is looking for a gatekeeper,” she noted.
Esterhuizen added that the supply of clean drinking water to three tanks at the campsite is a problem as the tanks have to be filled from Berseba, because there is no water source at this campsite.
An old notice stuck to the gate reads: “I am off to town, and will be back tomorrow. The door is open, please put the money under the yellow box inside the reception room. Thanks indeed, see you then”.
Asked who wrote the note, Esterhuizen did not know, and suspects that someone is illegally operating at the campsite in an attempt to make money.
The Brukkaros campsite consists of five individual sites.
Two of them are situated at the foot of the mountain, and the others are higher up on the slope of the mountain, and thus can only be reached with a 4×4 vehicle.
Each site is shaded and has a wind shelter, fireplace, bush shower and toilet.
The Brukkaros Mountain measures 1 590 metres at its peak, resembling a large extinct volcano in the form of a ring mountain. The ring shape had been formed some 80 million years ago by an explosion when rising magma met groundwater and superheated it.
At its head is a dry waterfall, over which the stream plunges down some 45 metres after rain.