Gobelo farm

Jul 11, 2024

Gobelo is more than just a community enterprise, it’s a vital part of us.. Established by the owners of Gwango, is not just about offering farm tours and dining experiences (though we do that pretty well). We are also working on an extensive list of ethnobotanical research projects and the creation of natural and indigenous products. Sounds fancy.. but that’s just the beginning!

Gobelo is developing a range of consumer products like beverages, spices, jams, sauces, ready-to-eat foods and personal care brands.. And as you can imagine, with all these projects, our team grows bigger every day.

If you've been to Gwango, you know that the nearest town, Dete, is almost 10 kilometres away. Our unique dishes require equally unique ingredients, many of which can’t be found in Dete. So, we rolled up our sleeves and built a greenhouse, a sanctuary for various plants and herbs that we use in our restaurants. Near the greenhouse are orchards. With hundreds of chaya trees, moringa and a range of fruit trees like lemons, guava, mangoes and passion fruit. We also grow several types of cactus plants, we have nopal, agave and so much more.. They’re just too many to list. The botanical haven - as you can imagine - is a favourite hangout for the pesky baboons, who love to sneak in for a tasty treat. Standing guard over this edible oasis is Mr Gatsheni, our very own “botanical guardian,” who also tends to the many plants in the farm.

Behind the greenhouse, you’ll find a young man named Mthabisi, who takes care of close to 30 pigs. The oldest and probably the biggest of them all is named "Chief." Now… our piggery project can’t be spoken about without sharing a very special background story.. 

..a few years ago, after we completed the BaNambya Cultural Exhibit (we compiled a research space where visitors are able to retrace the journey of the local Nambya tribe) a local chief surprised us with a gift of two adorable piglets. One of them we named Victor (after the very first member of our staff at Gwango). Now .. when a Chief brings you a gift.. You can’t just eat it! So now perhaps you know why we have so many pigs! We allowed the pigs to breed. Big Chief in our piggery today, and all of his brothers and sisters are descendants of the original two gifted pigs. 

You can’t visit the piggery without noticing the rabbit hutch, which started as a hobby but has grown into one of the largest rabbit projects in Dete, housing up to 500 rabbits. At one point, we had grown this project to produce over 700 rabbits per month.. (read some of our older blogs to find out more about this important anti-poaching rabbit project and how it got its start). We also have chickens that lay fresh organic eggs for our restaurant. And.. adding to that, we have sheep.. a growing number of ducks (again read about them on our past blog)..  So many of you must have seen much of this when you visited us.

Likezo ensures all these animal friends are well-fed and cared for, and of course the fresh greens which Mr Gatsheni grows all make for tasty treats for our huge family of fowl and animals. 

Keeping track of all the progress and making sure that the work of the Gobelo team is sustainable is Zephaniah, or Zee, as we like to call him. He likes to say that caring for the farm and all our little lovely friends within it is such a rewarding journey. We work hard and we laugh a lot. Our team ensures that everything at Gobelo runs smoothly, from keeping up with the constant need for feed supply to harvesting and pruning the countless plants and trees. There is the chaos in the pigsties, which provides a daily dose of the unexpected, and the rabbit hutches evoke infinite adoration.

Our research and processing is well underway, but there still is so much we have to put in place. Each day brings new challenges and opportunities to learn. And, no matter what we have lined up for the day, one thing that remains constant is the unwavering dedication of our staff. 

When you visit us next, don't miss the opportunity to tour Gobelo Farm. Oh.. and maybe help us name a few rabbits as we are running out of ideas. See you soon!