David Levin of Twyfelfontein, by Michiel Levin and Mannfred Goldbeck

David Levin of Twyfelfontein: The unknown story, by Michiel Levin and Mannfred Goldbeck. Gondwana Publishers. Windhoek, Namibia. 2014. ISBN 9789991688879 / ISBN 978-99916-888-7-9

By recounting the history of the Twyfelfontein area and farm as well as the biography of the farmer David Levin, his son Michiel Levin and Mannfred Goldbeck link the tenuous threads from the past to create the rich tapestry of Namibian history.

Michiel Levin  Mannfred Goldbeck  

Arrival at Twyfelfontein

Where the Aba-Huab Camp is presently situated, the cart and wagon convoy met with Bernhard and the flock in the shade of huge mopane trees. The Levins, with everything they possessed, were on the soil that would become Twyfelfontein. David Levin was no longer a bywoner living on someone else's land, but now a proper farmer with an address and an identity. He had no more than 230 sheep and goats, six chickens, two horses, four donkeys, a horse cart, a donkey wagon, a square tent and some basic household items to start his life as a free and independent commercial farmer. The animals rested in the shade of the mopane trees. In the early afternoon they started on the last stretch towards the spring. Bernhard, who was minding the flock, followed the cart- and wagon-tracks and slept at The Point, next to the lion bush where David and Dirk had slept on their first visit. Ella travelled with the daughters on the horse cart and Michiel accompanied David on the donkey-wagon. All were heading for the spring and the bell-tent, which they could now call home. Michiel recalls: "There was lots of grass. The seeds were shining in the afternoon sun. We had to drive slowly across the dry streamlets so that the load on the wagon would not shift, and so that the beam would not dislodge underneath the bottom board. The wagon squeaked and groaned. I held the reins for short distances. The donkeys trotted where the ground was level and hard. I stared at the huge red table mountains as we travelled between them. The veld and the mountains looked so fresh. I remember all this clearly, yet I was also scared. " When they arrived, the tent was intact and everything was just as they had left it. David unharnessed the animals while Ella tried to absorb the land around her. The family walked to the clay hollows and from there to the spring. The clay hollows and the collection area at the spring were full. David scooped a bucket of water and they all drank heartily as if partaking in an initiation ceremony of sorts. David and Ella valued the clear, fresh spring water, which they found surprisingly tasty. Ella, especially, stared in awe at the landscape, the valley and the extraordinary sandstone rocks. Everything was extremely intense! It was a striking and surreal landscape. The family spent their first night at Twyfelfontein. The children were scared by sounds they would soon find familiar and comforting: the early evening howling of jackals, the laughing of hyenas from two different directions and zebra responding in the distance. David went out of the tent a few times to see if he could locate where the sounds were coming from. At daybreak he walked the kilometre to where the flock had spent the night. While walking, he noticed that there was sparse grazing between the river that divided the valley and the eastern mountain. Elisas's animals had left footpaths in the direction of the spring. By mid-morning, the flock arrived at the pile of loose stones north-east of the tent. David and Bernhard selected a few goats and guided them towards the clay hollows. The sheep, being less bold than the goats, followed. The goats drank, after which the other animals approached the hollows. [...]

This is an excerpt from the book: David Levin of Twyfelfontein, by Michiel Levin and Mannfred Goldbeck.

Title: David Levin of Twyfelfontein
Subtitle: The unknown story
Genre: Local history; biography
Authors: Michiel Levin; Mannfred Goldbeck
Publisher: Gondwana Publishers
Windhoek, Namibia 2014
ISBN 9789991688879 / ISBN 978-99916-888-7-9
Softcover, 15 x 21 cm, 89 pages, numerous b/w and colour photos