| Namibia is a largely arid country of stark rough-hewn | | | | Windhoek, the capital of 165,000 people is the only |
| beauty. The most vivid images are those of a | | | | true city in the country. For those traveling to more |
| haunting technicolor landscape of swirling orange | | | | remote regions, this is where you settle practical |
| dunes, shimmering mirages and treacherous dust | | | | matters. The positive aspects of the German period |
| devils. The apparent desolation is deceptive and plant | | | | can be seen in the charming style of older buildings in |
| and animal life and even man has adapted to this | | | | the city. Places of interest in the city include the |
| environment. The country is designed almost specially | | | | State Museum, State Archives, and the Namibia |
| with the active and adventure seeker in mind. | | | | Crafts Centre. The Dan Viljoen Game Park lies 24 Km |
| Timeless deserts, thorn bush savanna, desolate wind | | | | west of Windhoek on the gentle hills of Khoma |
| ravaged coastlines, majestic canyons, and sun-baked | | | | Hochland. In this resort you find ostriches, baboons, |
| saltpans are the bounty that awaits the traveler. | | | | zebras and over 200 species of birds. The Waterburg |
| Namibia's top draw is the Etosha National Park, rated | | | | Plateau Park, located 230 km from Windhoek is |
| as one of Africa's finest game sanctuaries. The | | | | popular with weekenders. This extensive mountain |
| birding experience in the country is truly superior. The | | | | wilderness is home to cheetah, leopard, kudu, giraffe, |
| range of activities you can indulge in the | | | | and white rhino. |
| unsurpassable physical environment is truly impressive. | | | | Etosha National Park is what brings wildlife lovers to |
| Ballooning over the desert, skydiving over land and | | | | Namibia. The park is comparable in size and diversity |
| sea, paragliding, whitewater rafting and sand skiing | | | | of species with the best in Africa. The unusual terrain |
| along coastal dunes are good activities for starters. | | | | of Etosha holds savanna grassland, dense brush and |
| More fun games to pick from include abseiling - that | | | | woodland. But it is the Etosha Pan, a depression that |
| most spectacular of rock sports, coastal and fresh | | | | sometimes holds water and covers 5,000 sq km, that |
| water angling, desert camel riding, scuba diving, 4x4 | | | | is the heart of park. The perennial springs around the |
| desert runs, hiking and mountaineering. | | | | pan, attract many birds and land animals in the dry |
| Namibia has four distinct geographical regions. In the | | | | winter months. The effect of this background is |
| north is Etosha Pan, a great area for wildlife and | | | | magical and some of the best wildlife photographs |
| heart of Etosha National Park. The slender Caprivi | | | | have been taken here. |
| Strip is nested between Zambia and Botswana and is | | | | There are 144 mammal species in the park and |
| a wet area of woodland blessed with a few rivers. | | | | elephants are particularly abundant. Some other |
| Along the coast is the Namib Desert, which at the | | | | interesting wildlife here includes giraffe, leopard, |
| age of 80 million years old, is said to be the world's | | | | cheetah, jackal, blue wildebeest, gemsbok and black |
| oldest desert. At the coast, the icy cold Atlantic | | | | rhino. The birding is great at Etosha and over 300 bird |
| meets the blazing African desert, resulting in dense | | | | species have been recorded. You will get best value |
| fogs. The well-watered central plateau runs north to | | | | by spending at least three days here. There are |
| south, and carries rugged mountains, magnificent | | | | excellent accommodation facilities at the three rest |
| canyons, rocky outcrops and expansive plains. | | | | camps of Namutoni, Halali and Okaukuejo. The best |
| Namibia, one and half times the size of France, is | | | | time to see animals is between May and September, |
| very sparsely inhabited and carries only 1.8 million | | | | when water draws them in huge numbers to the |
| souls. The people are as unique as the land they live | | | | edge of the pan. Etosha is 400 km to the north of |
| on. The most intriguing are the San, otherwise known | | | | Windhoek by road. |
| as Bushmen. These most hardy of people have a | | | | The Fish River Canyon is unrivalled in Africa and only |
| highly advanced knowledge of their environment. It is | | | | the Grand Canyon in the U.S in larger. The Canyon |
| a marvelous thing how well they are adapted to their | | | | runs for 160 km and reaches a width of 27 km and |
| difficult habitat. Just pause and think that these are | | | | depth of 550 m. But size alone does not explain the |
| the only people in the world who live with no | | | | appeal of the canyon. You experience incredible |
| permanent access to water. In the Kalahari Desert, | | | | views at various points along the rim. Adventure |
| one of their domiciles, surface water is not to be | | | | lovers do not merely come for the views. Hiking |
| found. Tubers, melons, and other water bearing | | | | through the canyon is the ultimate endurance |
| plants as well as underground sip wells supply their | | | | adventure for hikers. There is an established 90 km |
| water requirements. | | | | hiking trail that will take you 4-5 days to cover. |
| In Namibia today, Bushmen number about 50,000. | | | | The trail ends at Ai-Ais hot spring resort where you |
| Historians estimate that they have lived, mostly as | | | | can unwind. You are allowed to hike between early |
| hunters and gatherers, for at least 25,000 years in | | | | May and end of September. The hike is quite |
| these parts of the world. Bushmen speak in a peculiar | | | | strenuous and needless to say, you must be |
| click language and are very gifted in the arts of | | | | physically fit. The authorities disbelieve the capacity |
| storytelling, mimicry, and dance. Namibia's other | | | | of most people to undertake the hike and will actually |
| people, who are indigenous to the continent, are | | | | insist on seeing a medical certificate of fitness before |
| mostly of Bantu origin. They are thought to have | | | | allowing you to start off. Fish River Canyon is 580 km |
| arrived from western Africa from about 2,400 years | | | | to the south of Windhoek. |
| ago. The African groups include the Owambo, | | | | The Skeleton Coast has been the graveyard of |
| Kavango, Caprivians, Herero, Himba, Damara, Nama | | | | seafarers and whales and deserves that morbid |
| and Tswana. | | | | name. The problem is the dense fogs. And woe to |
| The Africans aside, other groups comprise about | | | | the ship wreck survivor who expects respite |
| 15% of the population and have played an important | | | | onshore! Ahead is the Namib Desert, one of the |
| role in the emergence of the modern nation. White | | | | driest and most unwelcoming places. Adventure |
| Namibians amount to about 120,00 and are mainly of | | | | travelers love trekking along the coastline as they |
| German and Afrikaner heritage. Germans arrived in | | | | enjoy the stark beauty of the area. To the south at |
| significant numbers after 1884 when Bismarck | | | | Cape Cross, you find a seal colony carrying tens of |
| declared the country a German Protectorate. | | | | thousands of seals. The Skeleton Coast Park covers |
| Afrikaners, white farmers of Dutch origin, moved | | | | 16,400 sq km and begins at 355 km northwest of |
| north from their Cape settlements, especially after | | | | Windhoek. |
| the Dutch Cape Colony was ceded to the British in | | | | The Portuguese explorer Diego Cao reached this part |
| 1806. This strongly independent people, whose | | | | of the world in the year 1486. He is probably one of |
| ancestors had lived in the Cape from 1652 resented | | | | the people whose experiences discouraged |
| British control. | | | | Europeans from venturing ashore until the arrival of |
| Two other distinct groups complete the spectrum of | | | | the Germans 400 years later. Further south is the |
| Namibia's people - Basters and Coloureds. Coloured in | | | | Namib-Naukluft National Park, a vast wilderness |
| Namibia and southern Africa refers to people of | | | | covering 50,000 sq km. The landscape is very diverse |
| mixed racial heritage, black- white for example. They | | | | and covers mountain outcrops, majestic sand dunes, |
| have a separate identity and culture. This makes | | | | and deep cut gorges. For really spectacular dunes, |
| sense considering that Namibia was run by South | | | | the Sossusvlei area is unsurpassed. Here you have |
| Africa after the First World War. Even in | | | | dunes rising to 300 m! The orange tint giants extend |
| pre-Apartheid South Africa, racial classification was a | | | | as far as the horizon and the area has an unreal, |
| fine art. The Afrikaans-speaking Basters, descended | | | | unforgettable atmosphere. |
| from Hottentot women and Dutch settlers of the | | | | To the northeast of the country, the well-watered |
| Cape. Alienated from both white and black | | | | Kavango and Caprivi Strip region offers an unspoilt |
| communities, they trekked northwards, finally | | | | wilderness suitable for rugged game viewing and |
| founding their own town Rehoboth, in 1871. Baster is | | | | camping. The area also promises a feast for bird |
| actually derived from "bastard", but it is not | | | | lovers. Game reserves in the area include: Kaudom, |
| derogatory, and the Basters are indeed proud of it. | | | | Caprivi, Mahango, Mudumu and Mamili. Poachers did |
| Namibia's barren and unwelcoming coastlines served | | | | great damage to wildlife during the years of the civil |
| as a natural deterrent to the ambitions of European | | | | war in neighbouring Angola. Animal numbers are |
| explorers. That was until 1884 when the German | | | | however building up rapidly. Some of the wildlife in |
| merchant Adolf Luderitz established a permanent | | | | the region includes leopard, elephant, buffalo, cheetah, |
| settlement between the Namib Desert and the | | | | lion and various antelope species. The Caprivi Reserve |
| Atlantic seaboard that afterwards took his name. | | | | falls in an area of swamps and flood plains. Here you |
| Bismarck subsequently declared the territory covered | | | | have an opportunity to partake fishing, hiking, game |
| by Namibia a German colony and named it | | | | viewing safaris and river trips in traditional mokoro |
| Südwestafrika or South West Africa. As | | | | boats. |
| German settlers moved into the interior, conflict was | | | | In Namibia you can enjoy up to 300 days of sunshine. |
| inevitable with the inheritors of the land. | | | | The coast is temperate and thermometers run |
| The German occupation was a particularly unhappy | | | | between 5C-25C. Inland, daytime temperatures range |
| experience for the Herero. The Herero resented the | | | | from 20C-34C, but can rise to 40C in the north and |
| German's harsh and racist rule and the effect of the | | | | south of the country. Winter nights can be quite cold |
| encroachment on their lands on their livelihood and | | | | and frost occurs over large parts of the country. The |
| way of life. On the first day of the year 1904, the | | | | rains inland fall in summer (November-April) and are |
| Herero led by Chief Samuel Maharero, rose suddenly | | | | heaviest in the Caprivi region. Rains do not much |
| and unexpectedly in arms against their colonial | | | | affect travel, but beware of flash floods in the |
| overlords. The Nama joined the insurrection and the | | | | vicinity of riverbeds. The best time to travel is over |
| authorities did not regain control even after six | | | | the dry months of March to October, when it is |
| months of trying. Over 100 German settlers and | | | | easier to see animals at waterholes. It is best to |
| soldiers died in the uprising. Historians now consider | | | | avoid the Namib Desert and Etosha between |
| events that followed to constitute the first genocide | | | | December and March when it can get unbearably hot. |
| of the twentieth century. | | | | Before you travel to this country, make sure you |
| Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha was furnished | | | | review our Namibia safari and tour offers. |
| with a contingent of 14,000 soldiers and tasked to | | | | You can get by wearing light cottons and linens in |
| put down the rebellion. The governor general of the | | | | summer. Over winter nights and mornings, you need |
| territory was then Rudolph Goering -the father of | | | | heavier cottons, warmer wraps and sweaters. |
| Herman Goering, Hitler's right hand man. Lothar von | | | | Comfortable walking shoes are essential, as the |
| Trotha was a generation ahead of his time and his | | | | ground gets very hot. Some useful stuff to pack |
| kind of thinking was to become government policy | | | | includes: camera, binoculars, sunglasses, sun hats, |
| under the Third Reich. He argued that the Herero | | | | sunscreen and mosquito repellant. Be ready for dusty |
| must be destroyed as a people and he did not wince | | | | conditions and carry your clothing, equipment and |
| at the murder of women or children. At the end of it | | | | supplies in dust proof bags. Do not be tempted to |
| all, 100,000 Nama and Herero were killed. The | | | | buy items made of ivory. You may not be allowed to |
| survivors were herded in concentration camps where | | | | carry them through customs at home. And it also |
| unspeakable things happened. The Herero fared very | | | | good that you do not encourage the trade in ivory |
| badly and 80% of her people perished. The | | | | products that keeps poachers busy. |
| population of the Nama diminished by 35-50%. | | | | |