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Extreme VacationBy Cindy-Lou DaleNamibia -- there is more to it than sand dunes, endless colors and rock formations. This barren region in the south western corner of the African continent, wedged between Angola, Botswana and South Africa and the foreboding Atlantic Ocean, is hauntingly empty. Remarkably, only two-million people call this place home.
Namibia contains one of the oldest deserts in the world; the largest canyon, second only to the Grand Canyon; and is also home to the world’s highest dunes, towering over their nearest rivals in Arabia. *** I started my Namibian experience in the south at the remote and immensely appealing hamlet of Luderitz, a tiny fishing village forgotten by time. The barren beauty of the desert
landscape offsets the colonial architecture, revealing its
My first notion of Luderitz was that of a slightly run-down, middle aged lady. Its appeal comes from the various selections of brightly colored colonial homes, churches with tall spires and buildings complete with steeples, gables and bow windows. Heading a few miles out Luderitz,
towards the ghost town of Kolmanskop, I became
Further south and some distance inland is the spectacular Fish River Canyon. At its base, the Fish River twists and turns, its clear water tumbling over rocks. In the early morning you can hear the bark of baboons echo around the rocks and small buck dart up gullies. Wild life teems in the area -- kudu, leopard and mountain zebra, whose tracks you may come across, but seldom see, secret themselves away from humans. From the top of the canyon the view can only be described as breathtaking. There are no shops or kiosks, only a bench in the shade. You may find your camera unable to do justice to this natural magnificence.
Further north is Namibia’s summer capital, the old coastal town of Swakopmund -- one of the most otherworldly spots in the country. Approaching the town at sunrise I witnessed the arrival of the morning fog, born out of the sea. It washed over the beach then rolled along the sleepy town’s roads, first obscuring the gutters, then the sidewalks, finally blurring the buildings themselves. The mist had a distinctive seagull smell about it and my line of sight was shortened, which made my heart uneasy when all I could see was the Bavarian spires and the only sound was the constant boom of the sea. But the sun soon dissolved the fog and revealed a town whose architecture was an unusual Bohemian and Bavarian mix. I was captivated by its people though – a melting pot of young, old, rich, poor, artists, miners, fishermen, and Herero women dressed in their everyday clothing of Victorian dresses. Swakopmund is a little corner of old Bavaria wedged between a barren wilderness and an inhospitable coastline. North of Swakopmund are the golden dunes
of the Skeleton Coast, home to an immense I treated myself to a few days of luxury
at the Serra Cafema Camp, located in the extreme north of Namibia, bordering
Angola. Sipping champagne and languishing in my private pool I contemplated the
sunset, rugged mountains and sand dunes about me and felt certain this had to
rank as one of life’s ultimate indulgences. Serra Cafema is built on an island
of Albida trees and overlooks the Kunene River -- home to Africa’s rarest bird,
the Cinderella Waxbill. This peaceful and spacious rustic camp is one of the
most remote in
The next morning, at breakfast, the camp’s guide, Moses, advised the small Japanese tourist group and me that we would all be going for a boat ride down the Kunene to watch crocodiles basking on the river banks. Knowing the perils which lay ahead I took the sensible precaution of aestheticizing myself with several glasses of red wine, a suggestion I shared with my fellow travelers, who were all unusually subdued when climbing into the boat. I felt certain we were all quietly aware that this very morning we would all meet our certain deaths. All with the exception of Moses, who clearly feared nothing. By the time we returned to camp I was almost calm. The Japanese tourists, now exhilarated, continued with numerous activities – quad biking on the dunes and a 4x4 safari game drive. I opted for recovering next to the pool. The next day I boarded a light aircraft
bound for Gobabis, which is on Namibia’s eastern border with Botswana. The
flight itself was without incident but a perplexing problem arose when the pilot
could not find the runway on which to land. He was convinced someone had
forgotten to switch on the runway lights before going home.
Still feeling a little weak, I slowly
walked towards the chauffeur and vehicle parked adjacent to the hanger, sent for
me by the Harnas Wildlife Sanctuary. Harnas is the only sanctuary of its kind in
Africa and runs a working guest program, which was especially
In the morning a San-bushman guided me to the waterhole where we silently observed numerous wild animals converge to the waters edge. He told me of the animals the sanctuary saves, rehabilitates and then releases back into the wild. We walked past the nursery and I watched in amazement as one of the working guests bottle fed a frisky lion cub.
I left Namibia with a little sand in my pocket and a full appreciation for her beauty. There much more to experience and many places to see but for this middle-aged traveler with now somewhat frayed nerves, I needed to head home. This was an extreme vacation I would definitely repeat. Did you know?
CLIMATE Namibia has a sub-tropical desert climate -- low rainfall and huge temperature fluctuations between day and night. During the dry season, which runs broadly from April to October, the skies are blue with rarely a cloud in sight. However, I do suggest you avoid August – this is the season of desert storm winds, which is a wall of wind, no visibility, hotter than summer for four days continuously. In November the rains start to build but tend not to fall until early December. Then, through the rainy period there will typically be a downpour for around an hour on some days, before the skies clear again. The atmosphere is clear and the desert blooms. WILDLIFE Namibia has wild game all over the country. In the desert areas it is widely dispersed, whilst around the permanent water sources such as in Etosha and the Caprivi, game concentrations are high. Predators are well represented with lion, spotted hyena and leopard. Cheetahs are thriving and Namibia has an estimated 40% of Africa's cheetah population. Elephant occur in hundred strong herds in the Caprivi and Etosha whilst Damaraland has populations of the desert-adapted elephant and black rhino. Giraffe, wildebeest, impala, springbok and gemsbok are common whilst you may need to search for eland, brown hyena and bat eared foxes. Namibia's birds will not disappoint, with many endemic species such as the Ruppell's korhaan and the dune lark. The coast sees flocks of greater and lesser flamingos and white pelicans all year, while, during the rains Namibia's birds are swelled with an influx of Palearctic and intra-African migrants. VISAS & OTHER DOCUMENTS
CLOTHING & PERSONAL CARE Skincare:
Clothing:
Electric:
Diseases:
Photographers:
Security:
Road travel:
Water:
ACCOMMODATION: For all game park and reserve
accommodations, contact: WINDHOEK Hotel Pension Handke Hotel Heinitzburg SWAKOPMUND Sam’s Giardino Hotel Strand Hotel ACTIVITIES AND TOURS Whilst individual travel is a great way to go, it will likely require extensive planning and bookings from six to twelve months in advance. Just turning up in the country, renting a vehicle, and setting out will likely end in great frustration, or worse; organized tours generally offer good value for money and relieve the burden of accommodation bookings as they are pre-arranged, lightening the load of other travel logistics. TYPES OF SAFARI TOURS The word safari means more than game drives. It encompasses virtually any adventure outing. Generally, a safari takes one of the following three forms, and varies in length from a few days to several months: Mobile: Mobile Permanent: Permanent: USA |
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The many faces of Namibia
weaves an equally wonderful tapestry, threaded by a dozen cultural groups,
including the Wambo, who comprise nearly half the population; the Herero,
historically a nomadic pastoralist people; and the San bushmen, hunter-gatherers
by tradition. There are also a number of Namibians of European decent,
reflecting the land’s occupation by Germany and South Africa before independence
in 1990. 
Bavarian history as the first German settlement in South West Africa, the name
Namibia was formerly known by. Luderitz was initially a trading post and a
fishing port, then the first diamonds were found in a small town nearly and
Luderitz enjoyed a swift rush of riches. Now, after the depletion of diamonds,
Luderitz again finds itself shrouded in solitude between the encroaching
tangerine colored dunes and the inhospitable South Atlantic Ocean attacking its
shores.
mesmerized by the
sand blowing over the road, it made for difficult driving conditions as I could
not see where the desert began or the road ended. Once home to several hundred
wealthy colonists who lived in grandness, Kolmanskop is now abandoned. The
numerous grand and elegant dwellings which remain are now eroded by the winds
and are steadily being shrouded and eaten into by the Namib sands.
From the Fish River I traveled north and found the famed dunes of Sossusvlei, home to the world’s
highest dunes. Viewed from a hot air balloon at sunrise, I could see why this
country was considered a photographer’s dream as around me, and beyond the
horizon rose immense apricot colored dunes. Below I saw a lone antelope making
its way up a dune, when he reached the summit he tossed his head then stabbed at
the sky with gigantic horns. As I passed overhead, he looked up, snorting
defiantly at my intrusion.
seal colony, flocks of
flamingos and skeletal shipwrecks -- the strong currents, treacherous fog and
shifting underwater sandbanks marooned many early explorers. Most of these
relics are strewn along the misty, unending stretch of coast – a gripping sight
and spectacular photography. 
Southern Africa and has a Himba settlement
nearby, allowing interaction with some of the last nomadic tribes in Africa --
an unforgettable cultural experience. 
Afternumerous fly by’s an alarm sounded, soon followed by an audible “oh-oh”,
which was by no means comforting as the alarm indicated a fuel shortage. A
moment later the pilot shrieked and announced that he had found the runway. He
tilted the plane so steeply that I sometimes still sit upright in bed at 3am
thinking about it. I was again comfortably certainty that I was going to die and
then, I saw the runway. The plane landed hard and felt as if it was
broad-siding. For a long and frightening moment I felt certain the plane would
disintegrate, but the pilot held it together. After a small eternity we came to
a stop just outside of a hanger and that was where I made a silent promise, a
promise that however many years were left to me and wherever my travels took me,
the only way I would ever be killed by a light aircraft is if one fell on me.
designed to fulfil most eco-tourists dreams of working in the wild. Harnas is
located on 100 square miles of land as has been fenced by its international
patron, Angelina Jolie, who has a house on the sanctuary’s land. 
