Otjimbondona means “the place where the small camelthorn trees grow” in the local ethnic language. Otjimbondona was bought by the Slaney family in 1922 to farm with sheep and cattle. Wilfried, and his wife Anita, took over the farm in 2008 as the third generation of cattle farming Slaneys.

The original farm house was built in 1923 by a well-known Italian mason. It consisted of just two rooms at the time and was built with locally sourced stone (klip). Wilfried’s father was born in one of the original rooms in 1928. The house was extended considerably in the following years, but was left unoccupied in later years and it deteriorated to such an extent that it could not be saved, except for the two original rooms.

Wilfried and Anita have been in the tourism business since 1991, offering fly-in safaris throughout Namibia and its neighbouring countries. They have always dreamt of building their own lodge and in October 2012 this dream was finally being turned into reality. The plans were drawn up by their son-in-law and the start of their exciting adventure (and accompanying stress) began shortly afterwards. With the help of Leon Dixon, a local builder and his team, the work was completed in October 2014 and the Slaney's are now proud to open their doors to guests to come and share in the joy and beauty of Otjimbondona.