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Intro

Wedged between the Kalahari and the South Atlantic, Namibia is a country of breathtaking contrast and enjoys vast potential as one of the youngest countries in Africa. It is magnificently vast, rugged and seemingly empty land: there are areas where you can drive for over 250km (155 miles) between service stations and camp in places having your nearest neighbour over 100km (62 miles) away. In addition to having a striking diversity of cultures and national origins, Namibia is a photographer’s dream – it boasts wild seascapes, rugged mountains, lonely deserts, stunning wildlife, colonial cities and nearly unlimited elbow room.

Weather

The cold Benguela Current keeps the coast of the Namib Desert cool, damp and free of rain for most of the year, with a thick coastal fog. Inland, rain falls in summer. Summer temperatures are high while the altitude means that nights are cool. Winter nights can be fairly cold, but days are generally warm and pleasant.

Language

The official language is English; however, approximately half of Namibians speak Oshiwambo. While English is the official language, most of the white population speaks either German or Afrikaans. Even today, 90 years after the end of the German colonial era, the German language plays a leading role as a commercial language. Afrikaans is spoken by 60% of the white community, German is spoken by 32%, English is spoken by 7% and Portuguese by 1%.

Tourist Attractions

• Windhoek, in the Central Highlands, is the country’s geographical heart and commercial nerve centre, with an ethnic mix of people
• Surfers and beach-lovers won’t want to miss Swakopmund, a former German colonial city at the Atlantic coast of Namibia which reinvented itself as the adventure-sports capital of the country.
• Fishriver Canyon: By far the most popular hike in Namibia and one of Southern Africa’s top five. The route takes hikers through an ancient landscape of rock and utter silence.
• Fly-fisherman’s paradise: The far eastern tip of Caprivi, at the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi rivers, is regarded as a fly-fisherman’s paradise second to none.
• Stargazing: Namibia’s climate, altitude, minor light and air pollution offers stargazers sights of the southern as well as the northern hemisphere, missing only a few degrees around the celestial North Pole. The Hess Telescope is situated 100 km west of Windhoek, an area well known for its excellent optical quality.
• The Namib Desert: is said to be the oldest in the world, with its high dunes and awe-inspiring sense of space. Don’t miss Sossusvlei, a major tourist attractions with some of the biggest sand dunes in the world!

Despite its harsh climate, Namibia has some of the world’s grandest national parks, including:

• The Skeleton Coast Park, one of the world’s last great wildernesses. Its windswept beaches are littered with shipwrecks, bones and other debris and give the area a spooky and mysterious atmosphere – indeed a photographer’s paradise!

• Ai-Ais/Richtersveld National Park: An arid mountainous wilderness with splendid scenery, rugged kloofs, high mountains and dramatic landscapes crossing 2 countries on both sides of the Orange River. Also click here for more information.
• Etosha National Park: the third largest park in Africa. Etosha features a unique landscape due to the Etosha Pan, a vast shallow depression of approximately 5000km². A series of waterholes along the southern edge of the pan guarantee rewarding and often spectacular game viewing.
• The Namib-Naukluft Park: one of the largest National Parks in the world (and also thought to be the oldest), covering an area of nearly 50000 square kilometres. A surprising collection of creatures survives in the hyper-arid region, including snakes, geckos, unusual insects, hyenas, gemsboks and jackals. plenty of dune fields and desert plains

Sources

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/Namibia

http://www.namibiatourism.com.na/index.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namibia

http://www.places.co.za/html/5090.html

http://www.met.gov.na/Pages/DefaultNew.aspx

http://www.met.gov.na/Documents/Skeleton%20Coast%20Park%20Profile.pdf

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