At the HAKOS guestfarm in rural lifestyle, we enjoyed the exquisite German hospitality of the owners, Waltraut, Friedhelm and Johann Walter Straube. Fabulous meals - also finger food and drinks during the night - plus comfortable double rooms with private bath and shower made us feel at home.

On 8 of the 10 nights, the skies were free of clouds and as dark as we all had expected, so that we could make full use of the EQ-mounted telescopes on the farms elevated observatory with a roll-off roof. In addition, we installed two of our own EQ-mounted telescopes on two permanent piers on the platform right beside the observatory (for details see the following photos). Especially the photographers appreciated the Technical Support provided on site by Eduard von Bergen, the owner of Astro Optik GmbH.

Various cameras were used - from standard SLR's with film to digital SLR's, incl. two of the newest Canon EOS 20Da. For the majority, it was the first time they installed a camera on an EQ-mounted telescope - able to track the sky movement to permit long exposures.

Since Namibia does not only offer the supreme southern sky, but also undisturbed nature landscapes with birds, wild animals, we took advantage of several tours with 4x4 vehicules - all personally guided by our experienced and wonderfully caring HAKOS hosts.