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Namibia:
A Country That Has It All
by
Joyce Dalton
Some
countries just seem to have it all. The southern African country of Namibia,
for example. A short list includes spectacular desert scenery, including some
of the world’s highest dunes; fascinating ethnic groups free (so far) from the
negative affects of mass tourism, and game parks second to none. Add to this a
stable government, good infrastructure and an official language that just
happens to be English. Dunes and Desert Elephants
Covering
50% of Namibia’s 318,250 square miles, the Namib Desert is several terrains
rolled into one.
The Human Equation
To
mingle with some of the world’s most intact traditional cultures, head north from
Damaraland into Kaokoland, then east to Bushmanland. At Sesfontein, a former
German fort, dating to 1904, provides atmospheric lodgings and good meals. From
here, visits can be made to various Himba settlements.
Living
primarily on Namibia’s eastern border with Botswana, a few groups of San, or
Bushmen, allow visitors to share their lives, for a day at least. At Tsumkwe,
Arno Oosthuysen and his wife operate Tsumkwe Lodge, five individual wooden
units with teak interiors which are attractively, if not luxuriously,
furnished; all have private baths. Despite its wilderness setting, the lodge
provides electricity and hot water.
Four-legged Life Aplenty
A good guide also can supply fascinating
animal trivia. For example, did you know that zebra babies recognize the
mother’s stripe pattern within half an hour of birth; that female hyenas are
the family bosses; that elephants are the best of animal parents and that a
black rhino’s calf walks behind the parent while the white rhino’s walks in
front. About
25% of the park is covered by Etosha Pan, a white clay expanse that can remain
dry for decades. Classified as a saline desert, the pan turns into a vast,
shallow lake when flood waters from the Oshigambo and Owambo Rivers
occasionally inundate it. At these times, algae flourishes, attracting up to a
million flamingoes. Just
outside the park’s eastern entrance, luxurious Mokuti Lodge, consistently
ranked as one of the country’s top properties, features private and
semi-detached bungalows, complete with air-conditioning, ceiling fans,
attractive decor and large private baths with all amenities. The central lodge
offers comfortable conversation areas and a museum’s worth of African
artifacts, while two restaurants, plus a traditional boma (a large
circular enclosure where buffets are set up around a roaring fire) serve tasty
meals. In addition, there’s a large pool area, complete with thatched bar,
tennis courts and a game room. Game
parks, exotic ethnic groups, awesome scenery --- whatever your African dream,
Namibia manages to fulfill it. Did I mention the country seems to have
it all? IF YOU GO
GETTING
THERE: There are no direct flights from the U.S. to Namibia. Air Namibia flies
from London and Frankfurt, Germany to Windhoek, the capital, as well as from
Johannesburg, South Africa. (800) NAMIBIA (626-4242). WHERE
TO STAY:
Karos
Lodge: fax (011) 27-11-484-6206 (Johannesburg office) Wolwedans:
fax (011) 264-61-230-616 Damaraland
Camp: fax (011) 264-61-239-455
Fort
Sesfontein: fax (011) 264-61-220-103 Tsumkwe
Lodge: fax (011) 264-67-220-060
web: www.mokuti.namib.com TOUR
OPERATORS: Conservation Corporation Africa: fax (011) 27-11-809-4514
(Johannesburg office) INFORMATION
ABOUT NAMIBIA: (800) NAMIBIA (626-4242) Images
by Joyce Dalton |
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TM
To
start with the most dramatic, head southwest where dunes tower 1,200 feet and
form curves and angles right out of a geometry text. At Sesriem, gateway to the
highest dunes, Karos Lodge offers attractively furnished bungalows with
amenities unexpected in this desolate setting. An early wake-up call has
everyone piling into four-wheel drive vehicles to reach the sculptured sand
mountains in time for the best play of shadow and light. Rising on all sides,
some dunes are topped by multiple peaks, others by gently sloping lines. After
time for climbing, strolling or just staring, breakfast is set out under a
straggly tree. 
An
hour’s drive from Sesriem leads to Wolwedans, a member of the prestigious
Classic Safari Camps of Africa. Comfortable tents, housing twin beds, a luggage
stand, a small night table and a solar lamp, perch atop wooden platforms,
barriers to drifting sand. An elevated walkway leads to nearby toilet and bath
facilities while the bar, lounge and dining room are in a separate building.
Candlelit meals are memorable as are Land-Rover excursions past white-trunked
shepherds’ trees, fairy circles (pockmarked spots where nothing grows) and the
occasional oryx, zebra, ostrich or bird (up to 120 species). 
To
the northwest, the aptly named Skeleton Coast offers desert of a different
sort. Gates emblazoned with skulls and crossbones allow entry into a 4 million acre
national park bordered on the west by the Atlantic. Sights include the sad
remains of wooden ships wrecked long ago on shoals and sandbars; a rusting oil
rig now occupied by cormorants; concrete pier posts, all that’s left of
Toscanni, once a whaling station; parched skeletons of jackals, and endless
gravel plains punctuated here and there by low dunes. 
For
starkly beautiful desert scenery, Damaraland, east of the Skeleton Coast, is
hard to beat. Slowly drifting “walking dunes,” forests of petrified driftwood,
ancient granite mountains, fields of dolerite, and engravings etched into
sandstone by Bushmen millennia ago make an ever-changing panorama. From
Sesfontein, explore the Hoanib River’s dry bed in search of desert elephants
and rhinos. The former are surprisingly easy to find. The comfortable tents at
Damaraland Camp provide en suite facilities and great views. 
Another
good base for desert exploration is Swakopmund, Namibia’s fourth largest town
(despite a population of only 18,000). For the most comfortable quarters,
choose the Swakopmund Resort Hotel. With a knowledgeable guide, count on a day
that’s part learning experience, part sheer adventure. Drop a little water onto
rocky black spots and watch them blossom into green lichen. Immerse skinny
brown twigs in a cup of water and suddenly, they transform into something
resembling miniature clumps of broccoli. Other desert flora include dollar
plants, tshama melons (small, yellow and round attached to the thinnest of long
stems running across the dry soil) and an odoriferous specimen called Bushman
perfume. Save plenty of film, though, for the Welwitchia mirabilis. Like a
creeping creature from a horror flick, its hard black center resembles lava
while two broad leaves rip and tangle as they stretch in all directions. This
weird species can live more than 1,500
years. 
A
handsome, nomadic people, the Himba live in beehive-shaped mud huts erected
atop frames of bent saplings. The women, especially, exhibit a proud bearing.
Clothed in skirts of animal skin plus multiple rows of copper or leather
bracelets and massive collars fashioned of an ochre and palm oil mix into which
beads or small pieces of metal have been pressed, they sport elaborate hairdos,
also heavily caked with ochre. Donations of sugar, flour or tobacco serve as
currency for village visits. 
While
less exotic in appearance and dress than the Himba, Herero women favor enormous
hats shaped from a single long strip of colorful cloth. As many as six layers
of clothing might be worn, with the outer skirt forming a sort of puff in the
back, not unlike an old-fashioned bustle. Pipes, typically homemade of metal
stripped from abandoned cars, are popular with both men and women. 
Oosthuysen
is an expert on Bushman culture and has arranged with local settlements to
bring small numbers of visitors. Far from a passive stare-and-photograph
session, tourists accompany hunters, clad in beaded loincloths and armed with
bows and duiker skin bags of arrows, as they check snares, set traps, make fire
by twirling a stick over dried grass and dig up larvae which are squeezed onto
arrows until a poisonous liquid dots the tips. 
Namibia
is a land of superlatives. Along with some of the world’s tallest dunes, it
boasts one of Africa’s first and largest national parks. Covering 8,598 square
miles, Etosha is home to all the species visitors long to see on an African
safari: lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes, rhinos, cheetahs, antelope in
their many varieties, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and more. 
Unlike
most game parks, visitors drive around in their own vehicles (or those provided
by guides and tour operators), following maps supplied by park offices, lodges
and camps. Even if touring on your own in a rental car (Namibia is so safe that
many tourists choose this option), it’s wise to pick up a local guide who keeps
abreast of the most likely places to spot the “big five” within Etosha’s vast
boundaries. 
Swakopmund
Resort Hotel: fax (011) 264-64-400-801
Mokuti
Lodge: fax (011) 264-67-229-091email: