Travelling in Namibia
Discover Luderitz, ghost town of the desert.
Situated between the barren desert and the cold Alantic Ocean, with the ghost towns of Kolmanskop and Elizabeth Bay and the forbidden Sperrgebiet diamond area just outside town, adds to its eeriness.
The fierce desert wind whistles through a truly remarkable architectural mix of Jugendstil Art Nouveau and German Imperialism, highlighted by the Goerke house, the Felsenkirche on the rocks, the railway station and the core of the historical town, the Alstadt.
Outside of town, true Namibian beauty enchants its visitors as it did its discoverer, Bartholomeus Dias in 1488 with his flotilla of three ships. Visit Dias point and its replica of the Dias cross as well as Sturmvogelbucht, the old whaling station.
Dwell in the remnants of the diamond fever of 1908, dig for sand roses at Agate beach, camp on Shark Island or spend a night in its lighthouse. The Sedina Schooner will take you to the nearby seal colonies with the opportunity to spot dolphins on the way.
Between Luderitz and Aus, some 20 kilometers away, you may be lucky to observe the famous wild desert horses, a flock of between 100 and 150, especially after a rainy period when the Garub water hole’s normally sandy earth is covered by a blanket of grass.
A good place to head for in the opposite direction from Aus is the Tirasberge Conservancy and Dead Vlei, a little further on. Look out for its dead, contorted, camel thorn trees.
Contact Luderitz’s information bureau at 002 64 63 202 719.
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Etosha, home of the desert elephant
Etosha, like Kruger, provides the perfect self-drive, family holiday. Undoubtedly, the elusive desert elephants, about 500 of them, a little more shy and uptight than Kruger ellies, are a highlight.
The desert black rhinos (Diceros bicornis bicornis), brought back from near extinction by the Save the Rhino Trust, feed off euphorbia plants, also known as the “half-mens”, which are extremely poisonous to all other animals.
Red hartebeests, gemsbok, springbok, Burchell’s and Hartmann’s mountain zebras, sporting darker socks, all seem to get along famously. Antelopes wade far into the water, never having heard of such a thing as a crocodile. At times, in this harsh landscape, the place may seem devoid of animal, but the hieroglyphic world of spoor tells a different story. The weird and wonderful Welwitchia mirabilis, no-where to be found but in the Namib desert, sporting only two leaves through its entire life-time of up to 2000 years,
Experience the indescribable early morning or late afternoon view over the Fish River Canyon. The Fish River Canyon is 1 800 million years old, 160 km long, 27 km broad and 500 m deep. Impressed? Second to only the Grand Canyon in America, the “Fish” is best admired from above, by helicopter.
For exploring on foot, Ais-Ais campsite is ideal. Some say Ais-Ais, or “very hot” in Nama, indicates the presence of hot springs, if you’re not in for a cool swim in the Fish River, flowing right past the camp site. Others say its an indication of the mercury level in the area. You make up your own mind!
Contact Southern Tourism Forum at 002 64 63 221 266/211 for more information.
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Explore the unforgettable Kaokoland.
This isolated, northwestern corner of Namibia is impossible to describe in a paragraph or two. Distances are vast, the colours a kaleidoscope of browns, rusts and sands.
Tourism facilities and fuel are scarce, and deep Kaokoland is serious 4x4 terrain only, so fine planning is necessary to experience the wonder of the landscape beyond the Epupa Waterfall in the Kunene river.
This is the country of desert elephants, springbok and gemsbok. However, non-deserved vehicle tracks, ignorance and poverty are leaving its toll on the landscape and the ochre-red Himba people, or rather Ovahimbas, some of Africa’s last traditional nomadic people subsisting in the desert from goats and hunter-gathering.
Proud on its traditions and culturally rich, the women sport thick dreadlocks. Children wear loincloths, their hair sculpted into horns. A visit to a Himbakraal is an exceptional cultural experience with excellent photo opportunities, but do make use of a guide and negotiate before you start clicking away.
Behave like respectful guests, not in-your-face tourists. Jaco Burger from Kamanjab, an honorary Himba married to two Himba women, lives in a traditional kraal outside town and offers tours.
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Sossusvlei
The end of a river which will never teach the Atlantic ocean, just 60km away through the impenetrable dune barrier.
The waters of the Tsauchab river, rising from the Naukluft mountains sometimes do reach down into Sossusvlei, lying for some time in great sheets in the open valleys between the dune bastions, feeding the underground water in the area.
Evidence thereof is the thriving camelthorn trees in contrast to the wisened black stumps that did not survive the fickleness of the environment. Sossusvlei provides some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.
It’s one of those rare places where, no matter your level of skill as a photographer, you can almost always get stunning pictures. Colors glow as the sun rises over the dune sea of the Vlei, the sun’s slanted rays creating deep shadows. Early on, the dunes are rich deep browns and russet colors, but as the sun rises higher, the hue change, going to lighter tans and browns and them almost cream as midday approaches.
The Namib’s dunes here are at its most majestic. Some rise as high as 300m, and are said to be the highest in the world. Sossusvlei sits in the middle of the longest continuous stretch of sand dunes in the world, running 500km from just near Walvis Bay in the north to Luderitz in the south. It’s amazing that anything can survive here, let alone thrive as the tenebrionid beetle does.
On foggy mornings, the beetles back themselves into the moisture laden fog atop a dune, with their back legs in the air. Eventually droplets of water from the fog condense and run down their legs and back and into their mouths.
Also look out for shrew, desert mole, hyena, baboon, gemsbok, barking gecko and black eagle.
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Spergebiet!
Dunes, wrecks and skeletons…
The beauty of the Namibian Skeleton Coast is astounding. Nothing can prepare you for the experience of this desert wilderness.
For years the virgin beach and dunes of this area were exclusively accessible to miners, scientists and hardened desert animals such as gemsbok, jackal and brown hyenas. Now, vast parts of this area have been incorporated in the Namib Naukluft Park.
Like Siberia and Antarctica, it is considered one of the world’s oldest and last wilderness areas. Signs of human activity are visible where German prospectors drilled for diamonds decades ago, leaving only a dilapidated wooden hut, a bore hole that did not deliver on its promises and an old Willys engine, polished to a shiny lustre by the wind and sand, with crows nesting in it from time to time.
Guided tours from Luderitz takes one to Saddle Hill, an old miners camp, offering spartan accommodation, where the cooking and camp tending is done by resident Ovambos. Even though getting an average of only 1mm rain a year, a lot of water condenses in the form of mist and dew and one can hear the water dripping from the roofs at night.
Cute, but devious little black-backed jackal hang around, looking for morsels left behind. They are also keen on any clothing or shoes left abandoned by guests, never to be found again.
On to Spencer Bay where the wreck of the Otavi lies in a rock surrounded enclave. A ghostly reminder of the craft which beached there in 1945 with a cargo of ghwano. A colony of seals laze around in the area of the wreck. Left completely intact, probably because it was impossible to try and salvage anything in the harsh, distant environment, one can explore the ship inside and out.
Past Mercury Island, where a secluded couple cares for a penguin colony, on the way to the wreck of the United Trade, is the silent testimony of the drama that might have played off in this inhabitable land.
The wreck of the United Trade is scattered about in thousands of pieces over a radius of 5km. It stranded in the seventies with a cargo of explosives. The whole ship, cargo and all, was detonated.
Then on to the wreck of the Arcona. Towards Saddle Hill South, another previous mining town, a shadow of it’s hey day with buildings and machinery almost completely buried by sand – from dust to dust…
Back to Luderitz on a different route, past gemsbok, jackal, geckos and lizards brown hyena and weird and wonderful desert plants. Strict rules have to be abided – one is not allowed to leave the designated path and have to follow directly in previous vehicles tracks, no pets, no touching or removing fauna and flora.
For more details contact Westcoast 4X4 on 022 715 4843 or, Coastways Tours, Luderitz, Namibia, 002 646 320 2002.
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Swakopmund and Walvisbay
Swakopmund or Germany by the sea isa favored holiday destination for many a Namibian.
Here you can find anything from a snake park and an aquarium to a museum and a leather tannery. The Crystal gallery sports a quarts crystal of 14 tons! You can also enjoy Eisbein in the Brauhaus in Kaiser Wilhemstraat: a feast of German gastronomical precision.
If you’re in for adventure, Swakopmund is the place to be for sandboard surfing, desert rides on quad bikes, tandem parachuting and boatrides – all within a kilometer or so outside town.
But do mind the fragile ecology and stay on designated trials and within marked areas! The coastal road of 35 kilometers between Swakop and Walvisbay is an awesome sight: soft yellow dunes on the one side and the Atlantic ocean on the other. Stop over at Long Beach holiday resort, or stay for a week.
Camping, flats, chalets and cottages are available with a range of amenities and a tidal pool is nearby. In Walvis Bay, Climb Dune 7, if you have enough breath, or picnic at its foot. Outside the cosmopolitan harbor town of Walvisbay is a wetland area, consisting of a lagoon and salt works, which is one of the most important wetland areas for coastal bird of Southern Africa, proven by the 150 000 birds visiting each year, including flocks of pink flamingoes and pelicans.
The lagoon is also a playground for dolphins and seals. Eat in the stilted restaurant in the lagoon, watching the animals at play. Stay in a charming little cottage on the edge of the lagoon, offering you a spectacular view of the lagoon and a fire place to keep the cold wind at bay in the night.
50 kilometers south of Walvisbay is a destination warranting lots of film – Sandwich Harbour. The lagoon is popular amongst anglers and bird enthusiasts. According to legend a treasure ship was stranded here more than 200 years ago…
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The Caprivi Strip
A curious strip of land nestled between Angola, Zambia, and Botswana, thanks to Britain and Germany’s bright idea, a century or so ago, to sort out their colonial tiffs with a few pen strokes on a ma
In spite of civil wars and border wars, neither Britain nor Germany left a lasting impression and today, the Caprivi is in Namibia, but a different Namibia with thickets and wetlands and rivers abundant with rapids such as the Kavango, Kwando, Zambezi and Linjanti, where elephants and buffalo seek refuge in the thick, surrounding bush.
About 1 200 km’s easy traveling from Windhoek on the Trans-Caprivi high way takes you past Grootfontein to Rundu, from where you will travel east with the then “Golden Highway” to Katima Mulilo, the Caprivi’s capital in the far north east corner or Namibia.
You can smell, taste and experience Africa in five national parks in a radius of a mere 400 kilometers: the great Caprivi Wildlife Reserve, Kaudom Wildlife Reserve with its thick trials of serious 4x4 sand, Mahango Reserve with its abundant bird life, Mudumo National Park with its isolated camp sites and Mamili, originally Nkasa Rupara National Park, Namibia’s own swamp park.
If you want to see abundant wildlife and really get away from it all, there is no better place than the Caprivi. Kick off from Rundu, by no means picturesque, but a good place to stock up on provisions, with a quick pitstop in Andara for a well worthy visit to its waterwheel and Christ’s statue.
Fill up for the last time in Divundu before entering the Caprivi in all ernest. Visit the Popa Falls, but don’t expect a second Victoria Fall! If you’re in a 4x4, travel to the Susuwe Triangle, also known as the Golden Triangle, which is abundant in wild life and intended to form part of the planned Bwabwata National Park. And if you are a serious adventurist, do the world’s first hippo and croc cage dive in Ngepi.
If you want to stay in a luxury lodge, don’t go there. This is the untamed, truly intended for those who want to go the extra mile to see Namibia and African in its breathtakingly beautiful nakedness.
Phone Namibia Wildlife Resorts in Windhoek for more information: 002 64 61 285 7000 or Nature Conservation at 002 64 61 284.
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Windhoek - modern, African city offering you all amenities – theatre, shopping, art, museums and more.
Here Mugabe meets Castro, or at least the street named after them – Robert Mugabe Avenue, Nelson Mandela Avenue, Fidel Castro Street.
Architectural highlights include the Gibeon meteorite exhibition in the Post St. Mall in the heart of the shopping district, the Kaiserliche Realschule where the first German primary school were built and the Alte Feste, remains of the oldest building in Windhoek, now a national museum.
The Christuskirche, built of sandstone in Gothic and Art Nouveau style on a traffic circle and the parliamentary building, Tintenpalast. Two unique statues that deserves mentioning is the monument for elephant hunters from the stone age, 5 000 years ago in Zoo Park and the Kudu- statue in honor of thousands of kudus which died in the 1896 runderpest epidemic.
South of the city is a Hero’s acre for those who paid with their lives for the struggle against colonialism. If you have a sweet tooth, a visit to the Springer Schokoladenfabriek is obligatory. For the adventurous who always dreamed of being Lawrence of Arabia, or at least feeling like Lawrence of Arabia did, book a camel tour from Windhoek.
These ships of the desert will take you on an enchanting four day trip through orange-tinted dunes past the Kuiseb River during daytime for much needed, peaceful sleep under the starry night sky. If the camels’ spitting habit don’t agree with you, saddle up a horse for an awesome ride of 9 days and 400 kilometers in the saddle from Windhoek through the Namib Naukluft Park to Swakopmund.
You don’t have to sleep in the saddle, but by day 7 your legs might persuade you to do so!
Call Windhoek’s tourism office at 002 64 61 290 2092 or 002 64 61 290 2401
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Click on the regional link below to get great advice on more Top South African Travel Destinations.
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