Namibia is a very tourist friendly country, it's clean and modern cities, a fully developed infrastructure, quality hotels and restaurants and most importantly, friendly Namibians.
Travelling in Namibia is easy and rewarding but that does not mean to say boring, The Untamed Wilderness is, although beautiful to look at, still untamed.
Located on the south western side of the African continent, Namibia borders the Atlantic Ocean on the western side, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south. To the north it is a bit of a cross roads and Namibia has borders with Botswana, Angola, and Zambia. Namibia has had a rich colonial history.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans here. Diego Cao arrived in 1486 and erected a stone cross at what is now known as Cape Cross. Bartholomew Dias visited one year later in 1487, returning shortly afterwards in 1488 to also erect a stone cross at what is now called Dias Point.
It was many years later before other countries showed any interest in Namibia. 1n 1784 American whale ships used the harbour at Walvis Bay and in 1793 the Dutch Flag was raised in the same place. This however did not last long and in 1795 the British seaman, Captain Alexander was sent to claim the area for Queen Victoria.
The biggest European interest that took hold of Namibia however was that of Germany. They were later in coming, Adlof Luderitz arrived at the location that still bears his name today in 1833 and the German Kaiser (Kaiser Wilhelm 11) took almost complete possession of the whole territory after making deal with his cousin, Queen Victoria, and traded land in east Africa for a much bigger slice of the pie in South West Africa.
The Germans were in control here until the end of the First World War and their influence remained strong until the end of world ward second. After peace was declared in 1945, the League of Nations officially gave the territory to South Africa as reward for the part they played fighting with the allies.
Namibia became independent from South Africa in 1990. The German influence here is still very much in evidence today, even after over ten years of Namibian independence. Many streets are still named after Germans and German is still one of the main languages spoken in Namibia. (The official language is English but Afrikaans is also widely used).
Today, Namibia has a population approaching 2 000 000 people and the capital city is Windhoek.
1.The main industry here is mining, Namibia being one of the world's biggest diamond producers but also has many other valuable minerals hidden below the desert sands.
2.Agriculture, (predominantly livestock farming and fishing) is the second largest industry and
3.Tourism comes in at a respectable third. Tourism is also the fastest growing industry in Namibia.
The whole landmass of Namibia is 825 418 Square Kilometres and the whole country is either desert or semi desert. The Namib Desert, to which nearly the whole country can lay claim to being within, is generally considered to be the oldest desert in the world. This is assumed and not proven, however the basis of this assumption lies in the fact that the flora, fauna and insects that inhabit the Namib are so totally adapted to their environment, more so than anywhere else on the planet, that the evolutionary process must have started here long before it started in deserts to be found elseware.
Namibia is also home to one of Africa's largest and most important game reserves. Visitors to Etosha can experience close contact with a huge variety of wildlife while at the same time preserving the natural habitat of the animals.
You will also find the worlds highest sand dunes over 300 m high, in the dune fields contained within the Namib Naukluft National Park, the fourth largest National Park in the world.
Namibia is well known for it's own cultural history. The Himba Tribes in Kaokoland are still largely living their original stone age existence in the far north of Namibia and in Bushmanland, the old hunter-gather traditions of these original southern African inhabitants are still being preserved.
The in-hospitable Skeleton Coast is famed for it's beauty and fragile but unique eco-system, but for the main part, the coastline of Namibia is one of Namibia's most in-accessible areas.
Damaraland offers easy access to the most beautiful scenery, tortured rock, open gravel plains, mountains and beautiful desert vistas make up this north central region
Travelling here is safe and easy and it is one of the few destinations in the world where you can have it all. Beautiful scenery, amazing locations and people and world class wildlife viewing to name but a few and with modern towns and a modern infrastructure to back everything up and ensure comfort and hassle free travelling. |
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