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Africa Travel: Namibia
Namibia is a South African country bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between Angola and South Africa. The complex shaped, wind swept sand dunes found in country look so perfect and painted it's almost eerie. I'm pretty sure I mentioned them before or the country's Skeleton Coast known from tales of shipwrecked vessels and lost sailors wandering for miles in search for water, if only a drop and food to keep them from falling faint. After days without even a crumb lost men disappear, hungry desert animals come along, and I'm sure you can gather the rest. The Namib desert is one of the world's oldest and driest deserts on Earth and while a shipwreck hasn't been reported in some time there are other reasons to visit this vast barren landscape. Take to the skies on a fly-in safari to cover a large amount of the desert coast in a short amount of time or you can roam around by foot for a closer look should you have the stamina and verses the funds for an expensive plane ride. There are a number of ways and reasons to visit the land and sand of Namibia. My first suggestion is through these two photo galleries. The first comes from Courtney Milne's travels and the other from Culture Focus. For extra first-hand tales in Namibia visit Calvin and Sharon's Africa Travel blog. If luxury on the coast is still of interest pop into the Skeleton Coast Camp for what looks like a very nice place to crash after your day-time safari. Unlike some of the previously mentioned African countries, a Google search on Namibia will generate several results. So happy travels and remember to take lots of water.
Filed under: Festivals and Events, Angola
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jon Feb 21st 2006 4:31AM
I went there a few years ago, awesome place. Not as many shipwrecks as you might expect (nowhere near as many as in Mauretania on the Sahara coast), but an amazing amount of animals in the desert - elephants sledging down sand dunes, lions stalking sealions - all sorts of weird stuff.
Go to Cape Cross and stay at Cape Cross Lodge, or at least drop in for food. Right next to the biggest seal colony in the southern hemisphere, and also if you surf there is an awesome point break there. Slightly scary though, lots of sharks here! Dylan, who runs the lodge, is super cool and, living in the absolute middle of nowhere, is always up for long chats. (www.capecross.org)
Blurb from my trip there:
http://www.localsurfer.madasafish.com/namibia.html
PrepaID Feb 21st 2006 8:22AM
The South Atlantic Ocean is quite cold and although Swakopmund and Luderitz are local holiday destinations, there are no beach resort facilities as such.
Willy Feb 21st 2006 12:13PM
Namibia is a great destination on many levels: you can easily get "real African culture" without much effort; there are luxury resorts everywhere, if that's your thing; it boasts ample safari opportunities; self-driving Namibia's roads is very easy; and it's "developed" enough that getting around is easy, but it's "authentic" enough that you'll feel like you accomplished something special.
I missed the Skeleton Coast -- it's pretty remote, although I know some people who went and had a blast. I stayed around Swak and Etosha and had a very comfortable, cultural time. I was very cold when I visited Swak, although I enjoyed my trip immensely.