Namibia

Namibia lies in Southwest Africa and borders the South Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola to the north, Zambia in the northeast, Botswana in Southeast and South Africa to the South. The country encompasses broad geographical variations and can be divided into four regions: the dunes and desert coastal plains of Namib, the Skeleton Coast, the Kalahari Basin and the wooded bushveld of Kavango and Caprivi. South Africa once occupied this, the original German colony of South-West Africa, during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after World War II, when it annexed the territory. In 1966, the Marxist South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group launched a war of independence for the area, eventually gaining full independence in 1990.

Namibia is hauntingly empty, with only two million people calling this place home. Namibia contains one of the oldest deserts in the world, the Namib Naukluft, the largest canyon, Fish River Canyon, second only to the Grand Canyon, and is also home to the world’s highest dunes – at Sossusvlei. It also contains Africa’s first National Park, at Etosha.

North of the coastal town of Swakopmund are the golden dunes of the Skeleton Coast, home to an immense seal colony, flocks of flamingos and skeletal shipwrecks -- the strong currents, treacherous fog and shifting underwater sandbanks having marooned many early explorers. Most of these relics are strewn along the misty, unending stretch of coast – a dramatic sight and one which provides spectacular photography.

Game concentrations are high in both Etosha and Caprivi, with Namibia possessing an estimated 40% of Africa’s entire cheetah population. Add to this the desert elephant and black rhino, bushmen and quad-biking, giving a wide range of possible experiences. The Caprivi strip itself reaches almost to Victoria Falls (best visited from the Zambian side), and many people choose to experience a two centre holiday, combining the variety of Namibia with the more traditional African bush experience provided by Zambia, linking these via a trip to the Falls themselves.

Namibia is not a country in which AfricaAway currently offers a major tourism product, although, as alluded to above, we can readily arrange side trips here from neighbouring countries.