Where is Namibia? If you look at a Google map of Namibia, you will see that it is on the southwest coast of Africa.
| Namibia map |
It is a big country, as large as Texas and Louisiana combined. Namibia became a country in 1990. Prior to that, it was a protectorate of South Africa.
There are 13 regions and 11 ethnic groups in Namibia. The population
2.3 million. English is Namibia's official language, but some inhabitants speak Afrikaans, German and indigenous languages.
Namibia is a welcoming destination with first-world infrastructure. It has a very stable government. Preservation of the land, animals and natural resources is built into the constitution.
Namibia flights
How do you get to Namibia? There are daily flights on Lufthansa to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, from Frankfurt, Germany.
How long does it take to fly between Frankfurt (airport code: FRA) and Windhoek (airport code: WDH)? Non-stop overnight flights from Frankfurt are 9.5 hours long. Frankfurt flights to Namibia land at Hosea Kutako Windhoek International Airport.
| Elephants and springbok in Etosha National Park |
Namibia hotels
Accommodations in Namibia include brand name hotels, such as the Hilton Windhoek Hotel, the Kempinski Mokuti Lodge in Etosha National Park and the Kempinski Midgard Country Estate in the Otjihavera Mountains. Across from the downtown Windhoek Hilton is Kalahari Sands which, like Sun City, is owned by Sun International.
Located just outside downtown is The Olive Exclusive Boutique Hotel. With seven deluxe opulent suites, it has the best accommodations in Windhoek, Namibia.
Nkasa Lupala Lodge, located in the Caprivi Strip, has 10 luxury tented rooms on stilts. Because this northeast region of Namibia is not a desert, it offers great game-viewing.
Also ideally located for safaris is the Namibia Wildlife Resorts Dolomite Camp. The 20-room property is located in the west side of Etosha National Park, in a previously restricted area, which has 15 waterholes where animals gather.
| Fish River Canyon |
| Photo by Gert Kiding |
What to do in Namibia
In the Southern Region of Namibia, Luderitz is a popular destination for travelers who like watersports, such as wind-surfing and kite-boarding. A German outpost from diamond-mining days, Luderitz offers German architecture, tours of former mining towns, now ghost towns, and great seafood, especially lobster and oysters.
Fish River Canyon is the second-largest canyon in the world, after the Grand Canyon. Hard-core hikers can follow the Fish River Trail. A doctor's certificate is required before hiking it. Those who take the three-to-five day hike are rewarded with amazing biodiversity.
Driving in Namibia
Namibia is also ideal for self-drive vacations. Roads are paved and well sign-posted. Europeans, especially the British, have been enjoying Namibia driving holidays for years.
Especially popular is the self-drive Cape Town to Namibia Route, along the B1 and N7 to Windhoek and Etosha National Park. Highlights include bird-watching and sand dunes.
| Sossusvlei sand dunes |
| Photo by Gert Kiding |
Tours of Namibia
No tour of Namibia is complete without experiencing the desert. The Namib Desert, in the west, has the highest sand dunes in the world.
In Sossusvlei, you can climb Big Daddy, one of the world's tallest sand dunes (800 feet or 245 meters high). It takes nearly an hour to climb up Big Daddy, but only about three minutes to run down.
Namibia safaris
Safari tour operators, game lodges and safari camps offer numerous opportunities for viewing Namibia wildlife, including rhinos, lions, springbok, leopards, giraffes, zebras and cheetahs.
There are 17 national parks and game reserves in Namibia. Namibia has nearly half of the world's free-roaming cheetahs.
| Cheetah |
The Cheetah Conservation Fund and other wildlife conservancy programs enable visitors to help with wildlife research. Volunteer work ranges from elephant patrols to cheetah tracking.
Namibia is a leader in developing communal conservancies (partnerships between Namibian communities and private businesses). These conservancy programs improve the standard of living for the Namibian people, preserve the land and animals and attract tourists.
Namibia, along with Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, has signed a treaty to form the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. KAZA removes borders between these countries so wildlife can migrate freely through them. Encompassing 36 nature preserves, as well as the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, KAZA is larger in size than California.
Namibia weather
When is the best time to visit Namibia? Safaris are best in the dry season (May to September) because, as the grasslands dry up, animals gather around waterholes, making game viewing easier.
When is the rainy season in Namibia? Although the wet season is between October and April, rainfall varies from region to region. (The Atlantic coast gets less rainfall than the Caprivi Strip, for example.) Even with a wet season, Namibia gets more than 300 days of sunshine per year.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
More African safari and wildlife information:
How to Pick an African Safari
The Africa Book -Information About Every African Country
Planning An African Safari
