Namib desert, Etosha, Skeleton coast and Kaokoland
Everyone identifies the Sahara desert as the typical African desert, but exactly in Namibia in western-south Africa extends the “Namib desert”, the oldest in the world, "the place with no one", as is said in the local language, with its spectacular 300 meter-high sand dunes. But, in the course of a trip through Namibia, not only do you encounter the dry areas of the desert but also the many and beautiful scenes that make the African continent such a magical place where wild nature is shown at its best: the national parks and nature reserves which are home to a rich sample of African flora and fauna, the endless landscapes of the savannah, pristine mountains with majestic canyons, volcanoes and lagoons populated by migratory birds.
Namibia: Sossusvlei sand dunes in the Namib Naukluft National Park
In this primordial land there is also space for the testimonies of indigenous populations like the Bushmen, Ovambo and Himba, descendants of ancient ethnic groups which hand down, from generation to generation, customs and traditions unchanged since prehistoric times.
The Namibian capital Windhoek
The capital Windhoek - which means "Windy Corner" - is the heart of the country and still maintains a distinctly Germanic imprint. The massive German presence (in 1884, with the Congress of Berlin, the region became a German colony and remained so until 1915), is still tangible. It comes as no surprise, therefore, the presence of Volkswagen and Mercedes cars moving along the streets of the city, the smell of sauerkraut and cheesecake or the delicatessens still preparing in keeping with German traditions. But the typical symbol of the capital is the Christ Church, the Lutheran cathedral, neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau style, designed by Gottlieb Redecker.
The Namib Desert
The Namib is an archaic desert which stretches from north to south near the Atlantic Ocean coast with some of the highest sand dunes in the world (including those of Sossusvlei, the most spectacular ones), grand canyons and monoliths of granite, ancient lakes with salt marshes can be seen during a visit to the Namib-Naukluft National Park.
Offroad trail with 4x4 in Namibia
Due to its remarkable age Namib is a living desert, densely populated by a specialized fauna and flora, which has had that time to develop strategies that allows it to survive in an extreme environment, such as elephants, lions, gazelles, zebras, oryx antelope, or plants such as the dollar bush, a shrub with succulent leaves in the shape of money, the Lithops, a plant that turns into a rock shape to defend itself from animals, but it betrays itself when is flourishing and The Welwitschia mirabilis, the living fossil, considered the queen of plants for its impressive longevity: the oldest specimens reach the ripe old age of 1,500 years.
Discovered in 1859 by Austrian naturalist and botanist Friedrich Welwitschia – from which it takes its name - the plant has become a national monument and protected species. From the ecological point of view it is quite extraordinary because it can eat through the leaves, rather than by the rare rains, by moisture produced by the cold Atlantic current that every morning covers the dunes of the Namib with a thick blanket of fog.
Skeleton Coast and Damaraland
In a environment that still retains desert characteristics, we are looking north of the Namib towards the Atlantic Ocean to Swakopmund, a village with half-timbered houses or pure German Jugendstil (Liberty stile), and north along the beautiful Skeleton Coast, so called for the numerous ghost shipwrecks stranded along the seashore, to the Cape Cross Reserve to see the spectacular colony of thousands of seals who have found an ideal environment here.
Entering then into the arid and mountainous region of Damaraland, you can see ostriches, oryx, springbok (a sort of gazelle), rhinos, jackals and hyenas, but also the increasingly rare small-sized desert elephants. A true step back in time is the visit to the Petrified Forest near Twifelfontein, with trees that date back 260 million years and to the site of carvings and cave paintings made by Bushmen hunters over 6,000 years ago.
Elephants in the Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park
A must see for a trip in northern Namibia is the Etosha National Park, one of the largest, oldest and richest of fauna of the whole African continent, where the presence of many springs and sparse vegetation allow tourists to have an incredible contact with animals. Developed in a protected area of over 22,000 square kilometers, it is a true sanctuary for big animals, the ideal photo safari for images of elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, leopards, antelopes and hippos.
Kaokoland (Kaokoveld)
To go back in time and history you must then go to the Kaokoland (or Kaokoveld), at the extreme north-western region bordering Angola, an arid and semi-desert area of high ground and mountains, and crossed by few roads and some tracks in bad condition, with poor facilities, because until about fifteen years ago it was the battleground for the insurgency involving Namibia, South Africa and Angola. Not by chance it is defined as one of the last great wilderness and silent regions of Africa and at the same time the most primitive face of the country.
However, Kaokoveld, while poorly populated due to its harsh environmental conditions, is also home to the Himba people, direct descendants of the Herero, the original population of East Africa who arrived in Namibia several centuries ago. The area offers the greatest concentration of prehistoric cave paintings, evidence of a very remote human settlement, and has a fauna of great interest. As well as gemsbok, kudu, springbok, ostriches, giraffes, mountain zebras you can, in fact, meet the rare black rhinoceros, more aggressive than the white species, and the unusual elephant of the desert, now reduced to a few hundred specimens overall, with its small-body and long fangs.
Himba women with their typical hairstyle and ornaments
The Himba ethnic group
The last Himba herdsmen are now living in wretched huts in the most remote places preserving intact their identity and traditions. Approaching them means entering into a real human adventure, which requires the utmost respect for these fragile and vulnerable cultures. Women, really beautiful, go around dressed only in a leather miniskirt and splendid ornaments that adorn the neck, wrists and ankles: real tribal jewelry, distinguished and elegant, mostly made of leather and studded with iron and bone decorations, but the most precious jewels are still shells coming from countries far away.
Marital status of Himba women are differentiated by hairstyle: unmarried women wear a braid on their foreheads, while brides leave their hair falling over their shoulders, gathered in long pigtails, and on the center of the head wear a kind of tiara in leather. To protect themselves from sun and insects, Himba spread their skin, hair and clothes with a mixture of butter, ash and red ocher, scented with aromatic herbs. Judging by the results it is a cost-effective treatment. In marginal and most civilized areas of Kaokoland you can also find women dressed in typical clothes with big and colorful crinoline worn over a series of petticoats and horn-shaped hats: they are ethnic Herero women and their clothes are a modest inheritance of rules imported by German missionaries in the Victorian era.
Tourist Information
- Namibia Tourism Board official site: www.namibiatourism.com.na