The colourful faces of Rehoboth & surrounds- Part 2

After an enjoyable night at the Capricorn Guest Farm and owner Erno Bertolini’s excellent cooking, we made our way southwards through an attractive landscape of granite boulders dotted with spiny euphorbias and shepherd trees locked in an embrace like arboreal lovers.

VISITING ‘QUEEN ELIZABETH’

Korhaans flew up from the grass as we passed. Several houses were visible along the way, constructed from corrugated sheeting.

Goats were kept in the adjacent kraals and donkey-carts were parked outside.

We followed our host’s vehicle to the home of his aunt, Betsy Stein, in Kam-Kam.

It was all laughs from then on as Stein, aka ‘Queen Elizabeth’, so called because of her British ancestry, sat us down in the shade of her porch and began to recount the story of her life.

Stein, a Baster woman, was born in 1944. She grew up in the area and went to school at Rehoboth until her father, Piet Beukes, known as ‘Stout Piet’ (‘Naughty Piet’) decided that a woman’s place was in the kitchen.

Stein laughed as she told us that she was ‘stout’ like him and has been known ‘Stout Bet’.

She recounted the fascinating story of how her grandfather, Cornelius Humelmann, a British man, had fallen in love with a Griqua woman, Magrieta Roman, who lived to the ripe old age of 105 years.

They had a child called Anna, whose children included Emily, Bertolini’s mother, and Elizabeth.

The name Humelmann was shortened over the years to Human.

At the time of the battle of Sam Khubis in 1915 when the German colonial forces fought against the indigenous people, Stein’s grandfather Cornelius hung white flags around the house and the Germans passed by.

Stein was 21 years old when Stout Piet died. She worked as a housekeeper and childminder in Windhoek, and returned home to help her mother on the farm.

She had two daughters before she met Willem Stein, her husband-to-be, when she was 40 years old.

Now widowed, she lives on the farm and tends to her goats, cows and sheep with a few helpers.

Many of her neighbours have died or left and Stein lives with her sister in the house that her father built with their old dog ‘Tiger’.

The sisters sleep outdoors on beds placed on the stoep, enjoying the benefits of their advanced age.
We were given a tour of Stein’s tidy home.

When we left, she apologised for not knowing in advance that we were coming.

Being a hospitable person, she said she would have liked to have prepared a special spitbraai and roosterbrood feast for us.

CONNY’S COFFEE SHOP

After a drive through the countryside and a picnic lunch under a camelthorn tree next to the Dikdoring River, we joined the gravel C24 that continues to Klein Aub and the Namib Desert.

It was time for a good cup of coffee, and the signboard to Conny’s Coffee Shop appeared just in time.

The coffee shop has become a popular stop for travellers between Sossusvlei and the city.

On the wide veranda with the wind chimes blowing their tunes into the Namibian sky, we met friendly owner and coffee connoisseur, Günther Martens.

Günther took over the restaurant in 2017 when he made a turn here looking for a spot away from the bustle of the towns to open his specialty coffee shop, providing a selection of fine coffees from around the world.

His passion for coffee stems from his grandfather, who was one of the first coffee roasters in Namibia.

Günther grew up with the smell of roasted coffee, which he has since associated with the warm feeling of being safely at home.

He trained as a barista in Hamburg and offered home-brewing courses in Windhoek when he returned.

Günther’s nephew, a carpenter, built him a bespoke coffee stand, in which he can make six cups of coffee from six different countries at the same time, satisfying all his customers with their varied tastes.

Conny’s also offers muffins, homemade ice-cream and light meals – including their specialty bobotie if pre-ordered. – Padlangs

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