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In 1946, Andries Blaauw was a pioneering sheep farmer in Kaokoveld in north-west Namibia when David Levin was looking for a place to call home there with his pregnant wife, Ella, their two children and their animals. Andries offered David a piece of land with a small spring on his massive property to build his home.
David and his father-in-law, Dirk de Beer, stayed with Andries at Farm Blaauwpoort during the time they were investigating the spring that seemed to be blocked by rock and trying to determine how to increase its flow.
Eventually, at the beginning of 1947, David Levin brought his family to Farm Blaauwpoort, where they stayed with Andries and his family, which included Thinus, until David and his worker were able to prepare the spring for the arrival of the Levin family’s animals, which included 230 sheep and goats, six chickens, two horses, and four donkeys.
To ready the spring for the animals, they dug under rocks and excavated a furrow to clay hollows for watering the animals. This would continue to be a regular and arduous task David would have to undertake. The watering process consumed everyone’s lives.
Whenever Andries Blaauw visited his new neighbors, Ella would inform him that David was at the spring, and Andries would always find David on his knees digging. When Andries would ask David about his health, David would reply that he was well but that he doubted the spring would make it to October when the first rains would arrive. As a result, Andries began referring to David as David Twyfelfontein, meaning David ‘Doubtful Spring.’
When the Land Board finally granted David Levin a grass license, and he had to register a name for the land, the name Andries used for David stuck, and the land became known as Twyfelfontein.
In 1948 David struck water on the farm and was able to increase his flock, but in the late 1950s the family was forced to trek to surrounding areas to graze the animals when the land was depleted. Twyfelfontein and Farm Blaauwport came to an end in the 1960s when the Odendaal Commission investigated creating a homeland for the Damara people in the Kaokoveld.
David Levin, Andries Blaauw and the other farmers in the area were required to sell their land for this purpose. To this day, the land south of the Aba-Huab River is still known as Twyfelfontein.
While Thinus spent his childhood and early teen years at Farm Blaauwpoort in Damaraland, he would eventually play a significant role in the South West African transitional government before Namibia’s independence in 1990. He served as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water Affairs, and Fisheries.
Thinus’ deep love for Namibia and his ability to connect with people of all ethnicities and ages inspired his desire to share his roots with others. This led him to start Crisscross Namibia Safaris.
Thinus created an opportunity for guests to experience the incredible cultural diversity, wildlife, and history that the beautiful country he grew up in had to offer. Thinus continued to share his love of country and its people with guests from all over the world until his passing in March of 2023.
