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