Namibia travel guide

Namibia’s people consist of 11 major ethnic groups scattered around the country. From semi-nomadic cattle herders and hunters to the sophisticated black and white urban elite, ethnicity is an important unifying force in this sparsely inhabited country. Since independence in 1990 there has been a resurgence of support for traditional leaders who the government has banned from becoming political leaders. At the same time there are tensions between different ethnic groups, in part for historical reasons and in part due to the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Oshiwambo-speaking peoples and their strong support for and involvement with SWAPO – the governing party.

Nevertheless, for the time being, unlike some other African countries, Namibia is largely free of tribal conflict. The government’s stance on the issue was summarized by Prime Minister Hage Geingob shortly after independence at a 1993 conference on tribalism. “For too long we have thought of ourselves as Hereros, Namas, Afrikaners, Germans, Owambos. We must now start to think of ourselves as Namibians.” These sentiments are still very much the case today.

Agriculture is a very important sector in terms of the employment it provides. Despite the fragile environment and constant threat of drought, the sector contributes around 11% to the GDP. The most important component is livestock, beef and mutton production accounting for about 70-80% of the gross agricultural income. The livestock population of Namibia is about 2.5 million cattle, 2.4 million sheep and 1.8 million goats. Cattle farming is concentrated in the northern and central parts of the country where a variety of breeds freely roam the nutritious grasslands. White farmers have developed Bonsmara and Afrikaner breeds as well as Brahman and Simmentaler to suit local conditions. About 70-80% of Namibia’s beef is exported and most beef products are chilled and vacuum packed before being sent frozen to South Africa and the EU. The sector directly or indirectly supports over 70% of the total population. Of all the economic sectors agriculture is the most emotive: under successive colonial governments much of the land was expropriated from the black majority to a few white settlers. This led to a dualistic agricultural sector with just over 4000 white farmers owning 48% of agricultural land under freehold title, though these support up to 70,000 black families through employment.

Namibia’s low and erratic rainfall pattern places severe limits on potential rain-fed agriculture and only 2% of the land is considered arable. It is only possible to grow a single rain-fed crop each year and this has to be in areas where the annual summer rainfall is more than 450 mm. The yields for rain-fed crops are affected by the uneven distribution of rains during the wet season and by poor soils. Many of the soils in the north suffer from deficiencies of zinc, phosphorus and organic matter. In order to obtain high yields the government is forced to use expensive imported fertilizers and other chemicals. Namibia remains a net importer of basic food crops particularly from South Africa and in 2005 the country was importing 50% of the cereals it required.

Namibia is the world’s fifth biggest diamond producer and mining is mostly in the hands of the Namdeb Diamond Corporation, which is equally owned by the Namibian government and De Beers Centenary AG. While the income from diamonds has declined, they remain an important source of income for the government. Namibia contributes some 30% of world output and has produced more than 70 million carats, of which 85% are gem quality. In recent years, a recovery in prices has led to several operations being reopened but overall the trend around Lüderitz and Oranjemund is to increase the exploitation of offshore diamond fields. The Namibian Minerals Corporation, NAMCO, holds the concession rights to more than 7000 sq km offshore, which yields about 25,000 carats of gem diamonds per year.

Namibia ranks amongst the top 10 in the world in terms of the value of its catch. The fishing industry is in the same league as Norway and Canada and bigger than the UK or Australia. Some 60,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish are landed annually for processing on shore. The cold waters of the Benguela Current produce a nutrient-rich system which is very productive and typified by a low number of species being present but with large numbers of individuals per species. While these waters are ideal for industrial-scale exploitation the careful management of the resources is vital .

The recently revived Namibian industry is subdivided into two sectors, white fish and pelagic. The white fish species – kingklip, hake, sole, monk and snoek – occur along the continental shelf which stretches from the Kunene River in the north to the Orange River in the south. The total exploitable area is some 60,000 nautical square miles. The pelagic species – pilchard and horse mackerel – are found in more shallow waters which stretch from just south of Walvis Bay to Cape Frio in the north. The industry has yet to start exploiting the waters beyond the edge of the continental shelf.

The fishing industry is an excellent example of how conditions have changed to the benefit of Namibia since independence. Prior to independence Namibia had no control over the illegal fishing that took place within the internationally recognized fishing zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km), the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). As Namibia did not exist as an independent nation no foreign fishing fleet was obliged to pay any of the taxes or licence fees that would normally be due when fishing within another nation’s EEZ. Without any controls in place this nearly resulted in the total destruction of some of the richest fishing waters in the world. Over-fishing during the 1980s resulted in the closure of five out of nine processing factories and the loss of jobs for four-fifths of the work force. It was estimated that foreign fleets were catching over 80% of the fish within Namibian waters, and that this catch was worth at least 227 million US dollars.

Immediately after independence the new government proclaimed the existence of Namibia’s EEZ and instructed foreign vessels to respect the zone and cease fishing within it. The government has been quick to introduce legislation that promotes the conservation of the marine environment and the managed exploitation of marine resources. The National Fisheries Act was passed at the end of 1992. By introducing new quotas and awarding long-term concessions the government has managed to facilitate the recovery of stocks while at the same time seeing its revenue grow each year. In 1992 a government-owned National Fishing Corporation was set up.

Since then more than US$63 million has been invested in upgrading the Namibian fishing fleet and the construction of new onshore processing plants. A new factory has been built in Lüderitz and a processing plant in Walvis Bay. The number of people employed by the sector has increased to over 15,000, making the fishing sector the second largest source of private-sector employment behind mining. In the last few years the fishing industry has contributed about 7.5% to the GDP.

It is estimated that fish stocks have more than doubled since independence, but the government has been wary not to increase the catch limits too quickly, despite pressure from within the industry, as it is very easy to over-judge the extent of any recovery. A good example of how effective the recovery has been is to look at figures for hake, one of the most important species. Before the Namibian government was able to introduce controls hake was being heavily over-fished. As much as 600,000 tonnes had been caught in a single year. In 1991 the catch was limited to 60,000 tonnes, which allowed for the fish to replenish for a few years before the catch was increased slowly over the years to today’s quota of 130,000 tonnes.

As long as Namibia is careful in its management of its marine resources the sector will continue to be a valuable source of income. Further investment is required but this will lead to a more efficient industry and greater profits in the long term. A final positive point that will help ensure the future success of the industry is that all the fish come from one of the least-polluted coastal seas in the world. There are no perennial rivers polluted by industry and virtually no sewage, either raw or treated, flows into the ocean. With expert quality control the industry should be able to expect premium prices for most of its products.

In simple statistical terms Namibia is mineral rich and mining accounts for 8-10% of GDP and the largest source of corporate tax. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of non-fuel minerals in Africa and the country has the world’s largest uranium mine at Rössing Uranium Mine near Swakopmund. It is the world’s fifth largest producer of uranium, and the producer of large quantities of zinc, copper and lead copper. The diamond mines around Lüderitz are the leading producers of gem-quality diamonds in the world; and then there are significant reserves of silver, gold, tin, cadmium, vanadium, tungsten and germanium. There are more than 40 different operating mines and quarries in the sector, producing a wide range of precious metals and minerals, though the sector only employs 3% of the country’s workforce.

The April 1994 Minerals Act was promulgated to govern all future prospecting and the government has been working hard to diversify the sector and promote small-scale mining. It will take some time before the sector is not dominated by large-scale foreign- owned companies, which employ a limited number of Namibians, and repatriate a large proportion of their profits overseas. At present many of the locally owned small mines suffer from a lack of financial assistance, technical expertise and administrative skills. Mining also is always vulnerable to demand and world-wide price fluctuations, and during the 1996 industrial dispute at TCL it was claimed that the company had had to cope with a 30-35% drop in world copper prices.

Prior to independence there was no investment in the exploration for hydrocarbon potential because of political uncertainty. Since 1990 offshore geological investigations have revealed conditions to be similar to the coast of Angola, where oil has already been discovered. A World Bank study has indicated that there may be up to 31billion cubic metres’ of natural gas reserves in the Kudu fields offshore from Lüderitz. In 1993 the exploration rights were awarded to a consortium of Shell and Engen. A proposed project is the US$1 billion Kudu Gas Fields Project or Kudu Power Project (KPP) which entails piping the gas from the Kudu fields to Oranjemund to be used in a gas-fired power station that will generate electricity for Namibia and South Africa. This project is expected to contribute to providing many rural communities with electricity, and if it stays on track, power should be produced from 2010.

The touristsector is rightly regarded as having a tremendous potential for growth. Namibia has a wild and varied landscape ideal for upmarket, high-value, low-volume tourism. Since independence the country has enjoyed a peaceful existence, an important factor for the tourist industry. Many tourists from overseas are attracted to remote areas that are essentially ‘unspoilt’ and Namibia has an abundance of such areas. These are also the areas where the local communities have no employment opportunities and have suffered the most during periods of drought. If the right training can be provided, these people will be able to directly benefit from tourism. Since independence there has been a 50% growth in the hotel and restaurant sector, and new hotels and guest farms have opened and continue to open across the country. Currently the country receives about 900,000 foreign visitors with about 30% of these coming from South Africa and 37% coming from Angola. Today the sector contributes 7-8% to GDP, the third largest foreign- exchange earner, and as it employs some 18% of the population, is the country’s biggest employer. For future developments the government is looking closely at community- based tourism and the NACOBTA (Namibia Community Based Tourism Association) today oversees many successful projects where rural communities enjoy the benefits of tourism and conservation policies. Once people start to derive significant benefits from wildlife and conservation policies they are more likely to work with the government and private sector to preserve the environment. Rural households must enjoy a cash income as well as job opportunities.

The small manufacturing sector is limited to the processing of meat, fish and minerals for export. Most other goods are imported from South Africa and thus the sector remains underdeveloped within Namibia.

Some 50 km inland from Swakopmund is the RössingUranium Mine, the world’s largest single producer of a low-grade uranium. The mine has been developed by the Rio Tinto-Zinc group. The first oxide was extracted in 1976, since when the mine’s fortunes have fluctuated along with world prices. Most of the uranium is sold to Europe, Japan and Taiwan on long-term contracts. In 1994 a deal was struck with Electricité de France which ensured survival through to 2001, and more recently an upturn in world uranium prices allowed the shareholders to extend the life of the mine at least until 2016. Once the reserves are eventually exhausted the mine is committed to a major environmental clean-up project; while it will not be difficult to dismantle machinery and housing, how best to deal with the giant hole in the ground that measures 3 km by 1.5 km and is 330 m deep, is another matter.

With the consolidation of German control of central and southern Namibia came rapid economic growth and infrastructural development. Land in the most productive areas in the country was parcelled up and given to settler families, forming the basis of much of the existing white agricultural wealth in the country today. The railway network, already in place between Lüderitz and Aus in the south and Swakopmund, Okahandja and Windhoek in the centre of the country, was expanded to reach the central-northern towns of Tsumeb and Otavi and Grootfontein, Gobabis in the east and Keetmanshoop in the south.

The discovery of diamonds at Kolmanskop near Lüderitz in the south in 1908 financed the economic boom in that part of the country – between 1908 and 1914, German mining companies cut a total of 5,145,000 carats of diamonds. Theintroduction of the karakul sheep to the south saw the start of the highly successful karakul wool and leather industry, which brought tremendous prosperity to white farmers in the ranchlands south of Windhoek. Finally, the development of the Tsumeb mines producing copper, zinc and lead brought wealth and development to the Tsumeb-Grootfontein- Otavi triangle in the central-northern areas.

While the wealth that accrued from this flurry of economic activity was concentrated in the hands of white settlers, the labour which built the railroads and worked the farms and mines was predominantly black. A vivid example of this was the estimated 10,000 Oshiwambo-speaking workers who came down from Owamboland in the far north (an area still outside German colonial control, although technically part of German Southwest Africa) to work on the railroads and in the mines. This was the start of migratory work patterns upon which the apartheid era contract labour system was built.

Self-government for the white population was granted by Germany in January 1909 and the following month the main towns including Windhoek, Swakopmund, Keetmanshoop, Lüderitz, Okahandja and Tsumeb were granted the status of municipalities. In Windhoek this period up to the beginning of the First World War in 1914 saw the building of many landmarks – in particular the Christuskirche (German Lutheran Church) and the Tintenpalast – now the seat of the Namibian Parliament. Self-government in German Southwest Africa lasted until the peaceful surrender of the territory to South African troops fighting on the side of the British in July 1915. This brought to an end the brief period of German colonial rule and ushered in the beginning of 75 years of South African rule.

Following the end of the First World War and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the newly formed League of Nations gave the mandate for governing Namibia to Britain. The mandate, which was to be managed by South Africa on behalf of Britain, came into effect in 1921 and was the beginning of South African control of Namibia, which was to end only with independence in 1990.

The pattern of South African rule over Namibia was established from the start with the relentless expropriation of good farm land for white farmers and the removal of the black population, first to native reserves and later to the so-called homelands. When South Africa took over control of Namibia about 12,000,000 ha of land were in the hands of white (mainly German) farmers, however by 1925 a further 11,800,000 ha had been given to white settlers.

A great number of these new settlers were poor, illiterate Afrikaners who the Union government in South Africa did not want within their own borders. In this way Namibia effectively became a dumping ground for these unwanted farmers, who were given the most generous of terms. New farmers were not only given land for free, but also received credit in the form of cash, wire fences and government-built bore holes to help them get started.

In contrast, in 1923 the Native Reserves Commission proclaimed a mere 2,000,000 ha for the black population of the country who made up 90% of the total population. At the same time a series of laws and regulations governed where the black population was entitled to live and work, severely restricting their freedom of movement in the white- controlled areas. The most obvious consequences of these laws was the creation of a pool of readily available, cheap labour – the nascence of the contract labour system.

The bulk of the population of Namibia was forced to live in a narrow strip of land north of Etosha and south of the Angolan border, marked by the Kunene and Okavango rivers. The Red Line, a veterinary fence established by the Germans to prevent the spread of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease, effectively separated the communal grazing lands of the north from the commercial white-owned land of the centre and south of the country. This strip of land was far too small to support the number of people living there, obliging many to put themselves into the hands of the contract labour system by seeking work further south.

In 1925 two recruitment agencies were established to find workers for the mines in the centre and south of the country, and in 1943 these two original agencies were amalgamated into the South West Africa Native Labour Association (SWANLA). Potential workers were sorted into three categories – those fit and able to work underground, those suitable for work above ground at the mines, and the rest only suitable for farm work. Workers themselves had no choice in this and a document of the time stated that “Only the servant is required to render to the master his service at all fit and reasonable times.”

The period following the Second World War saw further land give-aways, mainly as rewards to Union soldiers who had served in the war. By the mid-1950s a further 7,000,000 ha of farmland had been put into white hands and the number of whites in Namibia had increased by 50% to around 75,000. The last viable farmland was given away in the 1960s to white conservatives who supported the South African regime’s hard-line apartheid policies.

At the same time the Odendaal Commission of Inquiry formulated a plan for the creation of bantustans, or black homelands, around the country, involving the forced removal of the black population from all areas designated for whites. The commission also called for the even closer integration of Namibia into South Africa and stated explicitly that “the government of South Africa no longer regards the original (League of Nations) mandate as still existing as such”.

The almost constant conflict brought about the breaking down of social structures, although the missionaries armed with their Christian rules proved effective control mechanisms for tribal leaders. In 1815, referring to the Afrikaner clan, Ebner noted that “it is only the baptised who are allowed ... to use the gun.” Blameless Christian behaviour was also a prerequisite to political positions in communities such as Bethanie, Rehoboth and Warmbad (behaviour defined, of course, by the missionaries). Missionaries also performed the roles of social worker and doctor, and Jonker Afrikaner once explained to Schonberg why he wanted a missionary at Otjimbingwe “... traders come and go, but the missionary stays, and consequently we know where to get our medicines from”.

The first Europeans had appeared off the coast of Africa in the 15th century. In 1486, the Portuguese explorer Diego Cao erected a cross at Cape Cross and Bartholomeu Diaz planted another at Angra Pequena near Lüderitz in 1486. However, the coast was barren and inhospitable, and the interior of the country at this time would have only been accessible to these explorers by crossing the Namib Desert. No other Europeans are believed to have visited Namibia until the late 18th century when a small number of Dutch settlers trekked north from the Cape Colony and established themselves as farmers. Following them a small number of traders also came to Namibia but without initially having any significant impact.

The earliest missionaries, from the London Mission Society, began to operate in southern Namibia at the beginning of the 19th century and were soon joined by the German Rhenish and Finnish Lutheran Mission Societies. The appearance of the earliest missionaries coincided with increasing numbers of Oorlams crossing the Orange River, and the presence of these missionaries was crucial to the success of the Oorlam commando groups in establishing themselves in Namibia.

Missionaries were important in 19th-century Namibia as they fulfilled a number of different roles, in addition to their primary aim of preaching the gospel. Indeed one early missionary, Ebner, regretting that he was unable to provide the Nama leader Titus Afrikan with a supply of gunpowder as earlier preachers had done, was driven to write that “it seems to me that he is more interested in powder, lead and tobacco than in the teachings of the gospel”.

Until the arrival of the missionaries, the Nama communities in the south of Namibia were semi-nomadic, however, the building of churches and the development of agriculture saw the establishment of the first stable settlements. The stone-walled churches fulfilled the role of mini-fortresses, and the brass bells that the missionaries provided were an effective warning system during raids. Many missionaries also introduced agriculture to the communities in which they lived, and the more stable food supply that followed allowed larger numbers of people to settle in an area. In turn, these larger settlements allowed for improved defence against raids through better organization.

Second, the missionaries acted as focal points for traders from the Cape, who were able to supply the missionaries and their families with the goods they needed. In this way the trade routes to the Cape were established and kept open, thus guaranteeing the Oorlam leaders continued supplies of the guns and ammunition upon which they depended for their supremacy. In the early years of the 19th century it seems as if some missionaries even supplied the guns themselves. Schmelen, who established a mission at Bethanie in southern Namibia, found it necessary to “furnish some of my people with arms”. Even in later years when the export of guns and gunpowder from the Cape was prohibited, Kleinschmidt, who operated the mission at Rehoboth, provided Chief Swartbooi with gunpowder.

By the 1860s an extensive network of trading posts existed in Namibia, the most important being Otjimbingwe northwest of present-day Windhoek. Set up by the Anglo- Swede Charles John Andersson, Otjimbingwe was also a key mission station for the Herero-speaking peoples. Under Andersson’s influence the European community of missionaries, traders and hunters were gradually sucked into the escalating Herero-Nama conflict .

Following the death of Jonker Afrikaner in 1861 and the defeat of the Afrikaners and their allies at Otjonguere south of Windhoek in 1864, the years leading up to 1870 saw a virtual constant jockeying for position amongst the various Nama and Oorlam leaders. Once again the southern and central parts of Namibia were the scene of skirmishes and cattle raids. This infighting amongst the Oorlam/Namas effectively allowed the Herero-speaking people under the leadership of Kamaherero to break free of Afrikaner dominance.

In 1880, after 10 years of relative peace, fierce fighting broke out once more in central Namibia. Once again the disputes were over cattle and grazing rights and they involved all the key players in central Namibia at the time. There were the Herero – led by (Ka)Maherero as he came to be known – the Nama Swartboois, the Afrikaners under Jan Jonker and the Rehoboth Basters (relative newcomers to the scene). All through 1880 and 1881 the fighting continued with a number of important leaders falling in battle, in particular Maherero’s eldest son Willem in the fight for Okahandja in December 1880. Up until 1884 and the rise of Hendrik Witbooi, a bewildering series of shifting alliances, cattle raids and skirmishes characterized the scene in south and central Namibia.

However, it was the arrival of German representatives in 1884, the subsequent treaties with the Herero and the effective subduing of Hendrik Witbooi 10 years later that fundamentally changed the way in which Namibia was governed. Power steadily shifted away from traditional leaders, such as Witbooi and Maherero, into the hands of the German colonial administrators. Furthermore, over the next 25 years vast tracts of Namaland and Hereroland passed into the hands of the colonial government and individual settlers. This fundamental change culminated with the 1904-1907 German-Namibian war which saw the final consolidation of colonial authority over the country, and the subjugation of the Namibian peoples by Europeans.

Between 1883 and 1885, the German trader and businessman Adolf Lüderitz negotiated a series of agreements which saw him buy practically the entire coastal strip of Namibia between the Orange and Kunene rivers, extending as far as 150 km inland. Asettlement was established at Angra Pequena, soon renamed as Lüderitzbucht, which helped open the country up to German political and economic interests. German policy in Namibia was that private initiative and capital would ‘develop’ the country, secured by German government protection.

In order to bring ‘order’ to Namibia, the German authorities pursued a policy of persuading local leaders to sign so-called protection treaties (Shuzverträge) with them. This they achieved by exploiting local conflicts to serve their own ends, and in the face of continuing conflict between Maherero and Hendrik Witbooi, were able to persuade Maherero to sign a protection treaty with the German authorities in 1885. In the same year Commissioner Göring wrote to Hendrik Witbooi ordering him to desist from continuing with his cattle raids against the Herero and threatening him with unspecified consequences.

However, these threats were empty gestures. During the period 1884-1889 the official German presence in Namibia consisted of three officials based in a classroom at the mission school in Otjimbingwe, plus a small number of business representatives who effected the protection treaties. It was not until 1889 that the first force of 21 soldiers (Schutztruppe) landed in Namibia, to be followed by another 40 the following year, and only after 1894, following the subduing of Hendrik Witbooi, that significant numbers of settlers were able to enter the country.

Between 1894 and 1904 the Witboois sold a third of their land to European settlers, and the treaties that Samuel Herero signed with the German colonial government in 1894 and 1895 ceded Herero land to them. Meanwhile, following the death of old Maherero in 1890, the German administration established its headquarters in Windhoek and during the confusion over the succession of the Herero leader was able to consolidate its position there. However, the greatest sale of Herero land took place in the years after 1896 – the result of the trade on credit systems in operation at the time, the rinderpest epidemic of 1897 and the fever epidemic of 1898.

With the further opening of Hereroland to trade following the treaties signed with the German colonial administration, there was a dramatic increase in the number of traders operating in the country. For Europeans without their own capital but prepared to put up with the hardships of living in the veld, this was a perfect opportunity to make money and acquire cattle and land. Large firms employed these traders to go out to Herero settlements in the veld and sell their goods there. Due to the risks involved, all parties attempted to maximize profit, often adding 70 to 100% onto the value of goods to achieve this. They were also quite happy to give the Hereros credit in order to encourage them to buy more and more, until the situation arrived whereby an individual or community’s debt was greater than their assets.

In addition, following the rinderpest epidemic of 1897 in which up to 97% of unvaccinated cattle died, the only way in which the Hereros could pay for the goods they wanted or settle their debts was to sell land. An addiction to alcohol amongst many Hereros, not least their leader Samuel Maherero, also caused large debts which had to be settled through land sales. Although the colonial government attempted to put all business dealings between Europeans and Namibians on a cash basis, the protests of the traders brought about a suspension of this regulation almost immediately after its introduction.

Inevitably tension grew among the Herero as they saw their traditional lands gradually disappearing. The Rhenish Missionary Society petitioned the colonial government to consider creating reserves for the Herero where the land could not be sold, and despite initial resistance both within Namibia and from Germany, so-called paper reserves (because initially they only existed on paper) were created around Otjimbingwe at the end of 1902 and around Okahandja and Waterberg in 1903. However, there were many Herero leaders who were deeply dissatisfied with the land issue, and pressure was growing on Herero leader Samuel Maherero to take some action to recover lost lands – although he himself had been responsible for the sale of much of it.

The emergence of industrial capitalism in England during the second half of the 18th century drastically changed the economy of the satellite Cape Colony. Urban centres grew and Boer farmers moved progressively inland, claiming land and resources further and further away from the reach of the English authorities in the Cape Colony. The Boer farmers’ freedoms were won largely at the expense of the local Khoisan population who lost their land, their hunting grounds and livestock, and even their liberty, as many became servants or even slaves of these European farmers.

In the wake of these developments a new group of frontiers people emerged. These were the Oorlams, a mixed bunch of Khoi-khoi, runaway slaves, and people of mixed race descent who worked for the Boer farmers and traders as hunters and guides. They were baptized, had access to guns and horses and had shed the traditional lifestyles of other Nama groups. Some of these formed themselves into commandos, autonomous groups living separate from the European farmers and traders, surviving by hunting, trading and raiding the cattle of the Nama tribes living over the Orange River into southern Namibia.

Early missionary reports at the time described the Nama tribes of southern Namibia to be living in highly organized communities numbering in some cases more than 1000 individuals. They had large herds of cattle, sheep and goats, and were completely self- sufficient, producing all their own food and manufacturing the reed mats for their huts, as well as growing tobacco and dagga. The different Nama tribes co-existed peacefully, sharing and respecting each other’s water and grazing rights.

Initial contact between the first Oorlam groups to cross the Orange River and the local Nama tribes was relatively peaceful, but as more and more Oorlams poured over the river, demanding watering and grazing rights, the level of conflict increased to open warfare. Although the Nama were superior in numbers to the Oorlams, they had far fewer guns and horses and with their large herds of livestock were less mobile than the Oorlams. Consequently the Oorlams were soon able to establish footholds in the region from where they continued to harry and raid the Nama tribes.

During a 40-year period up until the 1840s, southern Namibia – or Namaland as it became to be known – was in a virtually constant state of turmoil. Traditional patterns of living were disrupted, a new economy emerged and previously pastoral people started to settle in more permanent settlements.

In the 1840s Chief Oaseb, a paramount Nama chief, and Jonker Afrikaner, the foremost Oorlam leader, struck a deal that allowed Nama and Oorlam groups to live in peace. This deal was struck against the increasing realization that there was now little difference between the Oorlam and the Nama. The intense struggle for land and water had brought the two groups close together and intermarriage had become commonplace, so that making distinctions between the two groups was increasingly difficult. Furthermore, Herero-speaking groups who had been migrating southwards for almost 100 years were threatening the common interests of both Oorlam and Nama.

Oaseb and Afrikaner divided the land south of Windhoek amongst themselves and Afrikaner was declared overlord of the Herero lands north of the Swakop River up as far as the Waterberg Plateau. By force of arms, Afrikaner was able to maintain his hegemony over these Herero groups with their large herds of cattle, and in so doing was able to control loosely most of central and southern Namibia. Until his death in 1861, Jonker Afrikaner was probably the single most influential leader in this part of Namibia.

Archaeological finds from southern Namibia suggest that humans have been wandering the vast plains, dense bush and harsh deserts of the country for around 45,000 years. Ancient cave paintings at the Apollo 11 shelter in the southern Huns Mountains have been estimated to be 27,000 years old and similar rock art of the same period has also been found at a number of sites around Damaraland in northwest Namibia. These are believed to have been the work of the San, or Bushmen as they are most commonly known, descendants of pre-historic people who had migrated from southern Africa into East and North Africa before subsequently returning to the tip of the continent.

The San were traditionally hunter-gatherers, extraordinarily successful at surviving in the bush and desert despite their limited technology and weapons. They lived in small bands of up to 50 people roaming across the veld in a continuous search for food and water, rarely coming into contact with other San groups. Rock art all around Namibia, clearly seen at sites such as Twyfelfontein and Brandberg, provides vivid evidence of the widespread distribution of San communities all over the country.

Around 2000 years ago the San were joined by groups of Khoi-khoi (Nama) who had migrated from Botswana to the middle stretches of the Orange River. From here, it is believed that the group split into two, one group heading north and west into present-day Namibia, the other group moving south into the Cape Province area of South Africa. Unlike the San, the Khoi-khoi were both hunter-gatherers and livestock herders, living a semi- nomadic existence moving around the country with their herds of animals. Despite the differences in lifestyle, it appears as if Khoi and San people co-existed peacefully.

By the ninth century AD a third group was settled in Namibia living alongside the Khoisan (Nama and San); these were the Damara people. Sharing common cultural and linguistic ties with the Nama (rather than the Owambo, Herero or other Bantu-speaking tribes in Namibia), the exact origin and migration route of the Damara into Namibia remains a mystery. Some anthropologists argue that they must have originated in West Africa, whilst others maintain that they developed alongside the Khoi-khoi in Botswana and merely migrated later to Namibia.

By the early 19th century the Damara were living all over Namibia both alongside Nama and Herero communities as well as in their own settlements, which were reported to be more permanent than those of the Nama. They had also evolved a number of distinct characteristics; they practised communal hunting techniques, the cultivation of tobacco and dagga (marijuana), mined and smelted copper and manufactured soapstone pipes.

Bantu-speaking tribes started arriving in Namibia during the 16th and 17th centuries, having migrated south and west from the Great Lakes area of east and central Africa. These tribes settled in the northern parts of the country alongside or close to the perennial Kunene, Kavango and Zambezi rivers which more or less correspond to their distribution in present-day Namibia.

These peoples brought with them a variety of skills such as pottery and metal-working and lived by a mixture of farming, fishing and hunting. This influx of people looking for land to establish semi-permanent settlements inevitably put pressure on existing groups, and the San and Damara in particular were forced to move further south or into less hospitable parts of the country on the fringes of the Namib and Kalahari deserts.

The Herero people had arrived in Namibia from East and Central Africa during the 16th century and had originally settled in the Kaokoland area in the extreme northwest of the country. As cattle herders they required increasingly large areas of land to feed their growing herds and by the middle of the 18th century the marginal veld of the Kaokoland had become overgrazed and, suffering severe drought, was no longer able to support the Herero.

Gradually the majority of the Herero migrated southwards, and by around 1750 the first groups of Herero came into contact with groups of Khoi-khoi in the Swakop River area. Pressure from the Herero pushing southward more or less coincided with the northwards migration of Oorlam groups from the Cape Province. These two opposing movements created enormous pressure, which was to erupt into almost a century of upheaval and at times open warfare in central Namibia. It was against this backdrop that the first European missionaries and traders came into the country, and their presence contributed significantly to the eventual establishment of the German colony of Southwest Africa.

Following the end of the Second World War, the newly formed United Nations Organization assumed responsibility for the administration of the former German colonies, such as the Cameroons, Togo and Namibia. The UN set up a trusteeship system intended to lead to independence for these territories and in response the South African government sought to incorporate Namibia into South Africa. A series of ‘consultations’ with Namibian leaders during 1946 were intended to convince the UN that Namibians themselves sought to become part of South Africa. Although these efforts were unsuccessful, it was not until 1971 that the South African presence was deemed to be ‘illegal’.

Organized resistance to South African rule took off in the 1950s and was initially led by Herero Chief Hosea Kutako, who initiated a long series of petitions to the UN. In 1957 the Owamboland’s People’s Congress was founded in Cape Town by Namibian contract workers lead by Andimba Toivo Ja Toivo, its prime objective being to achieve the abolition of the hated contract labour system. In 1958 Toivo succeeded in smuggling a tape to the UN giving oral evidence of South African suppression and for his pains was immediately deported to Namibia. The same year the name of the organization was changed to the Owamboland People’s Organization (OPO) and in 1959 Sam Nujoma and Jacob Kuhangu launched the organization in Windhoek.

The same year also saw the founding of Southwest Africa National Union (SWANU), initially an alliance between urban youth, intellectuals and the Herero Chief’s Council. In September of that year the executive of the organization was broadened to include members of the OPO and other organizations, thereby widening its base and making it more representative of the Namibian population as a whole.

These new organizations were soon in conflict with the South African authorities and the December 1959 shootings at the Old Location effectively marked the start of concerted resistance to South African rule. 1n 1960 the OPO was reconstituted into the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), with the central objective of liberating the Namibian people from colonial oppression and exploitation. SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma had managed to leave Namibia and was to lead the organization in exile until his return in 1989.

In 1966, SWAPO appealed to the International Court of Justice to declare South Africa’s control of Namibia illegal. The court failed to deliver, even though the UN General Assembly voted to terminate South Africa’s mandate. SWAPO’s response was to launch the guerrilla war at Ongulumbashe in Owamboland on 26 August, with the declaration that the court’s ruling ‘would relieve Namibians once and for all from any illusions which they might have harboured about the United Nations as some kind of saviour in their plight’.

In the early stages, the bush war was by necessity a small-scale affair. SWAPO’s bases were in Zambia, close only to the Eastern Caprivi Region, and it was only after the Portuguese withdrawal from Angola in 1975 that it became possible to wage a larger-scale campaign. In response to the launching of the guerrilla war, the South African government established military bases all across Namibia’s northern borders, and as the scale of the fighting escalated during the 1980s, life became increasingly intolerable for the inhabitants of these areas.

On the political scene, SWAPO activists in Namibia were arrested, tried and sentenced to long prison terms. Among the first group to be sentenced in 1968 was Toivo Ja Toivo, at that time regional secretary for Owamboland. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on Robben Island where he was to remain until 1984. Following the International Court of Justice ruling in 1971 that “the continued presence of South Africa in Namibia [was] illegal”, a wave of strikes led by contract workers broke out around the country, precipitating a further round of arrests of strike leaders.

Although the South African government succeeded in quelling the strikes of late 1971 and early 1972, the rest of the decade saw growing resistance to South African rule of Namibia. Ordinary Namibians everywhere, but especially in the densely populated north, buoyed by the International Court of Justice ruling, became politicized, resisting South African attempts to push forward apartheid policies to create separate bantustans around the country.

In response to pressure from Western countries South Africa struggled to find an ‘internal solution’ to the deadlock in Namibia which would both satisfy the outside world and at the same time defend white minority interests in the country. In 1977 the Turnhalle Conference produced a draft constitution for an independent Namibia based on a three-tier system of government which would change little. Needless to say, no one was fooled and the war continued.

During the 1980s South Africa’s position in Namibia became increasingly untenable. The bush war was expensive and never-ending and was seriously affecting the South African economy; at the same time attempts to find a political solution within Namibia that excluded SWAPO were proving impossible. Furthermore, opinion amongst the influential Western nations was swinging away from South Africa, making it inevitable that sooner or later Namibia would have to be granted independence with black majority rule.

The key to the solution was the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola in return for the withdrawal of South African soldiers from Namibia. At the same time a United National Transitional Government (UNTAG) was to oversee the transition to independence, with elections taking place in November 1989. The final months leading up to the elections saw the return of SWAPO President Sam Nujoma from 30 years in exile along with thousands of ordinary Namibians who had also fled into exile during the long years of the bush war.

The main political parties were SWAPO and the DTA, formed in the wake of the unsuccessful Turnhalle Conference. Support for SWAPO was almost universal in Owamboland where the majority of the population lived, while the DTA looked to the south and much of the white community for its support. Although SWAPO won the elections it did not gain the two-thirds majority required to draw up a new constitution for the country.

Following the successful elections a new constitution was drafted by the various political parties, with the help of international advisers from a number of countries including the USA, France, Germany and the former Soviet Union. Widely viewed as a model of its kind, the new constitution guaranteed wide-ranging human rights and freedom of speech, as well as establishing a multi-party democracy governed by the rule of law. The final date for independence was set for 21 March 1990.

In 1870 Jan Jonker Afrikaner arrived at Okahandja with a large group of armed men with the intention of renewing the old alliance between Kamaherero and the Afrikaners. However, missionary Hahn intervened and when the treaty was concluded in September of that year the Afrikaners had lost their old rights over the Herero-speaking peoples. Furthermore, Hahn obtained permission for the Cape Basters to settle at Rehoboth. The Basters were a farming community of mixed Khoi-European descent who, having been forced from their lands in the Cape Province, had been looking for a place to settle. The Baster settlement at Rehoboth acted as an effective buffer between the Herero-speaking peoples and the Oorlam-Namas.

Peace was preserved between the Nama and Herero-speaking peoples throughout the 1870s, and it was not until the beginning of the 1880s that conflict broke out once more. However, this period of relative peace amongst indigenous Namibians also saw the consolidation of the position of the missionaries and traders – particularly the latter. As the Nama leaders developed a taste for manufactured goods and alcohol, the economy of Namaland – virtually all the land south of Windhoek as far as the Orange River – became inextricably linked with that of the Cape. As a result the numbers of hunters, traders and explorers entering Namibia grew uncontrollably, and this in turn saw the over-exploitation of animal and natural resources in the central-southern part of Namibia.

The hunters and traders were chiefly interested in obtaining ivory and ostrich feathers to export to the Cape. At the same time they were selling guns, coffee, sugar, soap, gin and brandy to the Namibians. The only way the Nama chiefs could support their habit for western manufactured goods and alcohol was by granting licenses to the hunters and traders, leading one explorer, A Anderson, to complain to the Cape government that “every petty kaptein claims a license fee” for hunting, passing through and trading.

However, while the Oorlam/Namas of southern Namibia became caught up in this trading network, the Herero-speaking peoples living north of Windhoek remained largely aloof from this burgeoning trade. True, they were the main purchasers of guns, for they had learned during the middle part of the century of the importance of modern weapons, but for the rest, trade with Hereroland was tightly controlled.

Given the vast numbers of cattle which the Herero were breeding, it seems strange that the European traders were not more active in their contact with the Herero. The main reason for this it seems, was a lack of interest on the part of the Herero in exchanging their cattle for Western goods.

Unlike the inhabitants of Namaland who were experiencing a spiralling circle of dependency on imported manufactured goods together with the virtual invasion of their territory by Europeans of one description or another, the Herero-speaking peoples retained their traditional kinship-oriented pastoral way of life. In other words the Herero valued their cattle far more highly than any manufactured goods, and rather than exchanging cattle for goods, they actually increased the size of their herds.

Despite renewed raids during the early part of the 1880s by Oorlam/Namas who succeeded in stealing thousands of head of cattle, ex-missionary Hahn – now a full-time trader – remarked that the Herero “will in a few years make up for these losses. There is, perhaps, no people in the world who equals the Damaras (Hereros) as cattle breeders ...”.

The three years of fighting between the German colonial forces and various Namibian tribes ended with victory for the Germans and the consolidation of their colonial rule over Namibia. Thousands of Namibians died either as a result of the fighting or in the aftermath and the effect that this had was to put a stop to organized resistance to outside rule. The trauma of defeat and dislocation meant that 50-odd years were to pass before the emergence of the independence movements in the late 1950s.

The war began following a revolt of the Bondelswarts Namas in the extreme south of the country at the end of 1903. The majority of German soldiers were sent to the south to quell the uprising and in January 1904 Samuel Maherero, under intense pressure from other Herero leaders and fearing for his own position as paramount Herero leader, gave the order to the Herero nation to rise up against the German presence in Namibia. At the same time he also appealed to Hendrik Witbooi and other Namibian leaders to follow suit.

During the first months of the uprising the Herero were successful in capturing or isolating German fortified positions, however, following the appointment of Lothar von Trotha as German military commander, the Herero were gradually forced to retreat from around Okahandja and other strongholds in central Namibia. They made a final stand at the waterholes at Hamakari by the Waterberg Plateau south of Otjiwarongo in August of 1904. The German plan was to encircle the assembled Herero, defeat them, capture their leaders and pursue any splinter groups which might have escaped. The Herero objective was to hold onto the waterholes, for without these they and their cattle would either die or be obliged to surrender.

The German troops attacked the Herero forces on 11 August with the battle continuing on a number of fronts all day. By nightfall no clear picture had yet emerged, however, the following day it became apparent that although the Herero had not been defeated, their resistance was broken and Samuel Maherero and the entire Herero nation fled into the Omaheke sandveld in eastern Namibia en route for Botswana. Stories from those who eventually arrived in Betchuanaland (Botswana) tell horrific stories of men, women and children struggling through the desert, gradually dying of thirst.

A section of the German forces initially gave chase but by 14 August they had returned to the battle site, both soldiers and horses suffering from exhaustion, hunger and thirst. The chase was once again taken up on 16 August but finally abandoned at the end of September as it was impossible to provision both troops and horses in the inhospitable sandveld.

On 2 October Von Trotha issued a proclamation ordering all Herero-speaking people to leave German Southwest Africa or face extermination, and then turned his attention to subduing uprisings in the south of the country. Just over a month later, Von Trotha received orders from Berlin to spare all Herero except the leaders and those ‘guilty’. Following the retreat of the Herero, three more years of sporadic resistance to German rule took place in the centre and south of Namibia as the Nama-speaking people continued the revolt.

Much has been written on the German-Namibian War, specifically of the deliberate intention of the German colonial administration to ‘exterminate’ the Herero nation. Until recently it was widely accepted that the Herero nation was reduced from a population of 60,000-80,000 people before the war, to between 16,000 and 18,000 people after the war. Similarly, the generally accepted view is that the population of the Nama-speaking peoples was also reduced by 35-50% to around 10,000 people.

It is impossible to obtain accurate figures to either confirm or refute the allegations of genocide. Nevertheless, some recent research, especially by the late Brigitte Lau, former head of the National Archives, challenges a number of popular conceptions of the war. In particular questions have now been raised on how the numbers were calculated and on the capacity of the German forces to actually set about the deliberate process of genocide.

The only figures available were based on missionary reports in the 1870s, but the missionaries only worked in a relatively small area of Hereroland. Furthermore, any accurate estimate of the numbers of Herero would have been near impossible, as the Herero were scattered across the veld. In addition, the effects of the rinderpest epidemic of 1897 and the fever epidemic of 1898 were also not taken into account. The suggestion is therefore that there were far fewer Herero than was originally believed.

As far as the capacity of German military to wipe out the Herero is concerned, medical records of the time show that the average military presence during the war was 11,000 men. Of these an average of 57% per year were sick from the effects of lack of water and sanitation, typhoid fever, malaria, jaundice and chronic dysentery. This information suggests that the German military presence was simply not capable of a concerted attempt to commit genocide – even if that had been the intention.

There is no question, however, that following the war both Herero and Nama prisoners of war died in concentration camps; there were executions of captured leaders and many survivors were forced into labour – working on the railroads and in the mines. By the end of the war, the German colonial administration was firmly in control of Namibia from the Tsumeb-Grootfontein area in the north down to the Orange River in the south. In 2004 Germany offered a formal apology for colonial-era killings of tens of thousands of ethnic Hereros, but ruled out compensation for victims’ descendants.

Namibia, like so many countries in Africa, eagerly waits for the first rains to fall every year. The country lies within the dry latitudes and depends upon the unpredictable movements of the climatic zones for its rainfall. These zones are known as the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), the Mid-Latitude High Pressure Zone (MLHPZ) and the temperate zone. Generally rains can be expected in areas dominated by the ITCZ or the temperate zone, whereas the MLHPZ is associated with little or no rainfall. The weather in the north of the country depends upon the southerly movement of the ITCZ, while in the extreme south the rains can be expected if the temperate zone pushes north into the MLHPZ. Predicting the movement of these climatic zones is the key to understanding Namibia’s weather.

Namibia is blessed with a climate in which the sun shines for more than 300 days per year. Most of the year sees clear blue skies, and it is only during the height of the rainy season that days are cloudy. In general the rainy season lasts from November to March, although during this period it might not rain for several weeks. However, by February most parts of the country should have received a significant proportion of their annual rainfall. By April and May the country is far greener than most would imagine or expect. The Caprivi Region receives the most rainfall each year, the annual average for Katima Mulilo being over 700 mm. The isohyets run northwest to southeast, with total rainfall decreasing as you travel from the Caprivi towards the Karas Region in the south. In a good year Lüderitz may receive 20 mm, which is insignificant when you take into account the high evapotranspiration rates. The first rains in the north have been known to fall as early as October, which can cause havoc with the agricultural system if farmers plant their seed expecting the rains to continue. There is always the danger of planting too early with the young shoots of millet and maize emerging only to die from lack of water because the next rains don’t fall until mid-November.

A quick glance at any map of Namibia will clearly show the entire coast to be desert. The three major coastal settlements all depend upon water piped from the interior for their survival. The cold Benguela Current has a modifying influence on the weather, although one negative aspect of the coastal climate is the frequent sea fog which forms when the cool ocean air mixes with the hot Namib Desert air. It really can get very gloomy, but this fog is vital to the survival of plants and animals in the Namib Desert.

Namibia is located on the west coast of Africa between the 17th and 29th latitudes. The territory stretches from Angola and Zambia in the north to South Africa in the south; most of the eastern border is with Botswana. The total surface area is 824,269 sq km, nearly four times the size of the UK, or twice the size of California.

As you travel around the country you are likely to form the impression that the countryside is harsh and forbidding and that most of the country is either desert or semi-desert in appearance. If you do not like hot, dry and dusty countries then Namibia is not for you. There are only five perennial rivers, the Cuando, Kunene, Kavango and Zambezi in the north and the Orange River in the south, which forms the border with South Africa.

Every visitor to Namibia will at some point have read or perhaps been told something about the country that sparked their imagination and desire to see the place for themselves. For many holidaymakers it is the beauty and variety of the flora and fauna that initially tempts them to visit southern Africa – few return home disappointed. But Namibia can also prove to be an exciting and interesting destination for a much smaller interest group, for it is a country that has an outstanding assembly of precious and semi-precious stones as well as grand and spectacular rock formations. Throughout the Namib Desert and the surrounding countryside there is a superb record of the events that took place millions of years ago as the landscape was formed and sculptured. The magnificent Fish River Canyon, the isolated Waterberg Plateau, the Spitzkoppe, Etosha Pan, the Naukluft Mountains, the Hoba Meteorite are just a few of the more popular sites. Namibia is often described as a geologist’s paradise, and rightly so.

The few notes below are intended for the visitor who has never really taken an interest in rocks and gemstones, someone whose knowledge of semi-precious stones is confined to the jewellery which has been in the family for generations. One stone you are unlikely to be picking off the ground and carrying back home in the suitcase, is a diamond. Most of the diamonds are found in the south of the country around Lüderitz, in the Atlantic as well as on land. When you look at a map of the Lüderitz district the National Diamond Areas can clearly be seen. This area is closed to the public and well patrolled as the diamond industry is an important component of the Namibian economy, and many of the diamonds are literally on the surface waiting to be picked up! Where there are diamonds you will also usually find garnets, a dark maroon semi-precious stone. Along the Skeleton Coast the fine garnet sand can be sometimes seen on the dunes forming dark patterns.

If you set your sights on something a little less valuable then you may well stumble across a few small samples to take back home. The area around the northern town of Tsumeb has long been a popular mining region. Here you will find a wide variety of copper ores. One of the most beautiful semi-precious stones is amethyst, the deeper the violet in colour, the better the gem quality. This is a versatile stone which can be turned into rings, necklaces and broaches with great effect. Many stones are found around Omaruru and Otjiwarongo as well as the tiny town of Uis close to the Brandberg mountain. Further south is the small town of Usakos, where you may come across tourmalin, both blue and green varieties; elsewhere it occurs in red, pink, yellow and black. The uranium mine at Rössing had found aquamarine and elsewhere in the desert, just inland from Swakopmund, you are bound to come across outcrops of rose quartz, as well as some ancient rock formations which date back to the time when Africa and the Americas were one.

Where there is a town museum you are likely to come across a small display of locally found rocks and minerals. If you wish to collect pieces for your own collection, ask around until you find who the local specialist is – there is always someone. Check with the local police station about access to the land, and once in the bush don’t forget about the other more popular attraction – wild animals. Leopards tend to live in rocky regions. In Windhoek you can buy a geological map of the country which shows farm boundaries and mines as well as the major rock types. One final point to note is that in order to remove or possess meteorites or fossils a permit is needed from the government. Semi-precious stones can be picked off the land as long as you are not trespassing and have a good eye for small glinting stones.

While much of the Namibian landscape is characterized by deserts and mountains, the country extends far enough north into the tropical latitudes to have a varied range of plant life. The most interesting ecological area is the Namib Desert where the diverse flora and fauna have had to adapt to a unique set of climatic conditions. Botanists from all over the world have visited the Namib to study some of the more unusual plants and the ways in which they cope with the hot and dry conditions. A good tour of the desert should include an introduction to some of these plants. This is also the only desert in the world where you can see elephant, lion and rhino.

Although a large proportion of the country is desert there are four distinct vegetation zones which together support more than 4000 seed-bearing vascular plants, 120 different species of tree, over 200 endemic plant species and 100 varieties of lichen. These zones are loosely defined as follows: the tropical forests and wetlands along the banks of the perennial rivers in Kavango and Caprivi; the savannah plains with occasional trees in the Kalahari; the mountainous escarpment regions such as Kaokoland and Damaraland, which support a mixture of succulent and semi-succulent plants; and the low altitude coastlands and Namib Desert.

Along the mountainous escarpment most of the plants are either arborescent, succulents or semi-succulents. The most common species are the quiver tree, or kokerboom (Aloë dichotoma), the spiky tall cactus-like plants known as Euphorbia and the paper bark tree, or Commiphora which can be seen along the road between Sesfontein and Opuwo in Kaokoland. The vegetation mix in the Kaokoland is largely determined by physical and climatic factors. In the extreme north the Marienfluss and Hartmann’s valleys are covered with open grasslands with very few trees and shrubs. Further to the south a few more trees start to appear in the savannah, notably the mopane (Colophospermum mopane) and purple-pod terminalia (Terminalia prunioides). Along the Kunene River the dominant trees are leadwood (Combretum imberbe), jakkalsbessie (Diospyros mespiliformis) and sycamore fig (Ficus sycamorus). After the rains look out for the magnificent pink flowers of the Boesmangif (Andanium boehmianum), a creeper which is found on many of the larger trees. The palm trees along the river are makalani palms (Hyphaene petersana), a common sight further east in Owamboland. In areas where there is slightly more rainfall there are a variety of flowering annuals which will cover the land with a carpet of colour for a couple of months. Most of these annuals are of the Brasicaceae and Asteraceae families.

The Kavango and Caprivi regions are the only areas where you will see large stands of forest. Most of the trees are deciduous so, like the rest of the country, the area looks at its best after the rains. Along the riverbeds you can expect to see mopane, the palm (Hyphaene ventricosa) and a couple of reed species on the flood plains, Phragmites australis and Typha latifolia. The woodland areas of the game reserves are dominated by Terminalia shrubs, Boscia albitrunca, Bauhinia macrantha and Grewia.

Along the edge of the Kalahari desert the sands gradually give way to trees and tall shrubs, although most of the vegetation is restricted to grasslands – Stipagrotis is the dominant grass. The most common flower is the driedoring (Rhigozum trichotomum).

As noted above, the Namib Desert has the most interesting mix of plants in Namibia, many of which have been subjected to intensive studies. One of the most unusual of all plants is the Welwitschia mirabilis, a plant first seen by the white man in 1859. These plants are found in small groups inland from the coast at Swakopmund. Each plant has two long leaves which are often torn and discoloured. Using carbon dating they have been shown to live for over 1000 years in the harshest of conditions. One of the oldest plants in the Namib is now protected by a fence but you can still get close to smaller plants. After the welwitschia it is the lichens which attract the greatest attention in the desert. The lichens are found on west facing slopes and surfaces where they are able to draw moisture from the sea fogs. If it were not for the fog the plants would have no source of water. They are now recognized as a vital component of the Namib environment and most areas are protected. Many of the animals rely upon the lichen as an important source of water after the fog has condensed on the plants. While they can survive long periods of drought they will quickly die when disturbed.

Visitors with a keen interest in the plants of Namibia will find the following publications helpful for background and identification purposes: Namib Flora (86), P Craven & C Marais; National List of Indigenous Trees (86), Von Breitenbach; Trees of Southern Africa (77), KC Palgrave; Waterberg Flora (89), P Craven & C Marais.

It is a reasonable assumption that anyone interested enough in wildlife to be travelling on safari in Africa is also able to identify the better-known and more spectacular African animals. For example an elephant (Loxodonta africana) or a lion (Panthera leo) can hardly be confused with anything else, so they are not described in great detail here. It is indeed fortunate that many of the large animals are also on the whole fairly common, so you will have a very good chance of seeing them on even a fairly short safari. They are often known as the Big Five. Unfortunately, no one agrees on quite which species constitute the Big Five! The term was originally coined by hunters who wanted to take home trophies of their safari. Thus it was that, in hunting parlance, the Big Five were elephant, black rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard. Nowadays the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is usually considered one of the Big Five for those who shoot with their cameras, whereas the buffalo is far less of a ‘trophy’. Equally photogenic and worthy to be included are the zebra, giraffe and cheetah.

But whether they are the Big Five or the Big Nine these are the animals that most people come to Namibia to see. With the possible exception of the leopard, and the white rhino, you have an excellent chance of seeing all of these animals in Etosha National Park or in the parks along the Caprivi Strip. Namibia also has a number of privately owned guest farms and game ranches which offer good game-viewing opportunities, but perhaps not the variety of wildlife that you will find in the larger national parks. Some of the private concessions represent the luxury top end of the game-viewing safari market; it is worth bearing in mind that when you pay top dollar there is far greater pressure on the operator to guarantee his guests see the Big Five or Big Nine. This takes something out of the thrill of game viewing when you know you are just as likely to see a rhino or a leopard as you are a family of impala. Yes you have the pleasure of seeing all these magnificent animals, but a lot of the thrill in looking for them at dawn or dusk has gone.

Of the better-known animals the only two that could possibly be confused are the leopard and the cheetah. The leopard (Panthera pardus) is less likely to be seen as it is more nocturnal and secretive in its habits than the cheetah. It frequently rests during the heat of the day on the lower branches of trees. A good place for viewing leopard is Tsaobis Leopard Nature Park close to Otjimbingwe.

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is well known for its running speed. In short bursts it has been recorded at over 90 kph. But it is not as successful at hunting as you might expect with such a speed advantage. The cheetah has a very specialized build which is long and thin with a deep chest, long legs and a small head. But the forelimbs are restricted to a forward and backward motion which makes it very difficult for the cheetah to turn suddenly when in hot pursuit of a small antelope. They are often seen in family groups walking across the plains or resting in the shade. The black ‘tear’ mark on the face is usually obvious through binoculars. Any visit to a private game farm in Namibia should be rewarded with a sighting of cheetah as Namibia has the largest population of these animals in southern Africa not contained within national parks. The excellent Okonjima Guest Farm, 50 km from Otjiwarongo, is home to the Africat Foundation; here guests are guaranteed to see cheetah and leopard in natural and artificial surroundings.

Elephants are awe-inspiring by their very size and it is wonderful to watch a herd at a waterhole. Although they have suffered terribly from the activities of war and poachers in recent decades they are still readily seen in many of the game areas, and you will not be disappointed by the sight of them. Everyone has their elephant tale. But it is the rhinoceros which has suffered the most from poaching. Both species are on the verge of extinction, and indeed if there had been no moves to save them during the last 20 years they probably would have gone from the wild by now. The white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) and the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) occurred naturally in Namibia. Although today you will find that in many of the reserves where you find them they have in fact been reintroduced. Their names have no bearing on the colour of the animals as they are both a rather non-descript dark grey. The name white rhino is derived from the Dutch word ‘weit’ which means wide and refers to the shape of the animal’s mouth. The white rhino has a large square muzzle and this reflects the fact that it is a grazer and feeds by cropping grass. The black rhino, on the other hand, is a browser, usually feeding on shrubs and bushes. It achieves this by using its long, prehensile upper lip which is well adapted to the purpose.

The horn of the rhino is not a true horn, but is made of a material called keratin, which is essentially the same as hair. If you are fortunate enough to see rhino with their young you will notice that the white rhino tends to herd its young in front of it, whereas the black rhino usually leads its young from the front. The white rhino is a more sociable animal, and they are likely to be seen in family groups of five or more. Their preferred habitat is grasslands and open savannah with mixed scrub vegetation. The black rhino lives in drier bush country and usually alone. They will browse on twigs, leaves and tree bark. Visitors to Etosha National Park have a good chance of seeing rhino with their young at one of the three floodlit waterholes in the evening. It is worth staying up late one night to see these magnificent ancient creatures.

The buffalo (Syncerus caffer) was once revered by the hunter as the greatest challenge for a trophy. But more hunters have lost their lives to this animal than to any other. This is an immensely strong animal with particularly acute senses. Left alone as a herd they pose no more of a threat than a herd of domestic cattle. The danger lies in the unpredictable behaviour of the lone bull. These animals, cut off from the herd, become bad-tempered and easily provoked. While you are more likely to see them on open plains they are equally at home in dense forest. To see a large herd peacefully grazing is a great privilege. Not found in Namibia south of the so-called Red Line separating the communal grazing lands to the north from the commercial lands to the south, Mahango Game Park in the Caprivi Strip has a good record for sightings of herds of buffalo.

The most conspicuous animal of inland waters is the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius). A large beast with short stubby legs, but nevertheless quite agile on land. They can weigh up to four tonnes. During the day it rests in the water, rising every few minutes to snort and blow at the surface. At night they leave the water to graze. A single adult animal needs up to 60 kg of grass every day, and to manage this obviously has to forage far. They do not eat aquatic vegetation. The nearby banks of the waterhole with a resident hippo population will be very bare and denuded of grass. Should you meet a hippo on land by day or night keep well away. If you get between it and its escape route to the water, it may well attack. They are restricted to water not only because its skin would dry up if not kept damp but because the body temperature is regulated closely to 96.8°F. It is essentially an aquatic animal and needs to live in a medium where the temperature changes relatively slowly. Mudumu, Mamili and Mahango game parks all have family groups of hippo, if you are lucky you may also see them in the vicinity of Popa Falls Rest Camp.

The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) may not be as magnificent as a full grown lion, nor as awe-inspiring as an elephant, but its elegance is unsurpassed. To see a small party of giraffe strolling across the plains is seeing Africa as it has been for millenia. You should note that both male and female animals have horns, though in the female they may be smaller. A mature male can be over 5 m high to the top of its head. The lolloping gait of the giraffe is very distinctive and it produces this effect by the way it moves its legs at the gallop. A horse will move its diagonally opposite legs together when galloping, but the giraffe moves both hind legs together and both forelegs together. It achieves this by swinging both hind legs forward and outside the forelegs. They have excellent sight and acute hearing. They are browsers, and can eat the leaves and twigs of a large variety of tall trees, thorns presenting no problem. Their only natural threat are lions, which will attack young animals when they are drinking. Giraffe can be spotted both inside the game parks and in the communal lands of Damaraland and Kaokoveld.

The zebra is the last of the easily recognized animals. There are two common types in Namibia, Burchell’s zebra (Equus burchelli) and Hartmann’s mountain zebra (Equus zebra hartmannae). Burchell’s zebra will often be seen in large herds, sometimes with antelope. You are most likely to see them in Etosha National Park. They stand 145-150 cm at the shoulder whereas Hartmann’s mountain zebra are larger, standing 160 cm at the shoulder. Generally the latter only occur in mountainous areas close to the Namib Desert. They are found in three isolated pockets: in Kaokoland and as far south as the Brandberg, along the escarpment to the south of the Swakop River and in the Huns Mountains close to the Fish River Canyon. As the name suggests they live on hills and stony mountains. They are good climbers and can tolerate arid conditions, going without water for up to three days. During the heat of the day they seek shade and keep very still, making spotting them more difficult. They are closely related to the Cape mountain zebra, but stand about 25 cm taller than the southern sub-species.

There are no restrictions for South African travellers. For overseas visitors duty-free allowances are: 400 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 g of tobacco, 50 ml of perfume and 250 ml of eau de toilette, 2 litres of wine and 1 litre of spirits. Gifts up to the value of N$50,000 (US$6660) can be imported duty free. All hunting rifles must be declared on arrival; permits are issued by customs when entering the country, other firearms are not permitted.

There is a small duty-free shop at Hosea Kutako airport for outbound travellers, but the choice is limited. Remember to use up your currency (Namibian dollars are not generally transferable once overseas) and buy any souvenirs before you reach the airport. Failing that, Air Namibia has a limited stock of goods for sale in the air.

The CITES Convention made it illegal to trade in products derived from endangered species, such as elephant ivory, sea turtle products and the skins of wild cats. Restrictions have been imposed on the trade in reptile skins, coral, and certain plants and wild birds. The restricted animal products that tourists are most likely to encounter in Namibia are ivory, biltong made from protected species such as elephant or endangered antelope, and wallets, shoes and handbags made from kudu, crocodile or snake skins. While these products may be freely available for the domestic market, you should always consider the environmental and social impact before purchasing any such item.

Within the country, be aware that you are not permitted to transfer any animal products as you travel from the Far North, Caprivi or northwest regions across the Red Line (veterinary fence) to the south. This includes souvenir animal horns and skins and fresh meat, ostensibly to prevent the spread of disease, without prior clearance from a vet.

VAT of 14% for accommodation and goods is included in the price. Visitors may reclaim the VAT back on purchases bought in Namibia exceeding the value of N$250 (US$33) at the VAT reclaim desks at Hosea Kutako International Airport or at the main border posts when leaving the country.

Refunds are given by cheque in South African rand, which can be paid into home bank accounts. Goods need to be shown to the refund officer as proof of purchase with VAT receipts, so be sure to ask for these when you buy something, and at the airport this needs to be done before you check in your luggage. Refunds only apply to items taken out of the country and not on services rendered such as accommodation or goods consumed or used within the country. For example, if you are buying clothes, keep the shop tags on them to prove that you haven’t worn or ‘used’ that item in Namibia and you’ll get the tax back. If you are buying expensive items like diamonds, but sure to claim the tax back as the refund can be quite considerable. For more information pick up the VAT Refund leaflet at the airport or the tourist offices or contact the Ministry of Finance, T061-230773.

Botswana, 186 Morana Close, Gaborone, T3902181, nhc.gabs@info.bw.

France 80 ave Foch/ 17 Square de l’ave Foch, Paris, T044-173265, namparis@club-internet.fr.

Germany Wichmannstrasse 5, Berlin, T030-2540950, hrumpfnamibia@web.de.

South Africa 7702 Church St, Arcadia. Pretoria, T012-4819100.

UK 6 Chandos St, London, W1G 9LU, T020-7636 6244, namibia-highcomm@ btconnect.com.

USA 1605 New Hampshire Av, NW, Washington DC 20009, T01-202-9860540, embnamibia@aol.com.

Zambia 30B Mutende Rd, Lusaka, T01-263858.

Zimbabwe 69 Borrowdale Rd, Borrowdale, Harare, T04-885841.

Ideally, you should see your GP/Practice nurse or travel clinic at least 6 weeks before your departure for general advice on travel risks, malaria and recommended vaccinations. Your local pharmacist can also be a good source of readily accessible advice. Make sure you have travel insurance, get a dental check (especially if you are going to be away for more than a month), know your own blood group and if you suffer from a long-term condition such as diabetes or epilepsy make sure someone knows or that you have a Medic Alert bracelet/necklace with this information on it.

Lankester, T Travellers’ Good Health Guide (2nd edition, Sheldon Press, 2006).

http://www.btha.org British Travel Health Association (UK). This is the official website of an organization of travel health professionals.

http://www.cdc.gov US government site which gives excellent advice on travel health and details of disease outbreaks.

http://www.fco.gov.uk Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)

http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk A-Z of vaccine/health advice for each country.

http://www.masta.org Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad (MASTA), provides a quick A-Z of vaccine and travel health advice requirements for each country.

http://www.nathnac.org The National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC)

http://www.who.int The WHO Blue Book lists the diseases of the world.

In the event of a medical emergency in Namibia International SOS Namibia, T061-231236, 24-hr emergency number T061-230505, http://www.internationalsos.com, are likely to be the medical company that comes to your assistance. This offers 24-hr countrywide emergency medical rescue specifically for tourists, with permanent bases in Windhoek, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Tsumeb, Otjiwarongo, Kombat and Rosh Pinah. They are the only doctor-based paramedical emergency evacuation provider in Namibia with 18 dedicated response vehicles and ambulances throughout Namibia and a number of air ambulances that can reach every corner of the country. When arranging medical insurance it is a good idea to ask if your insurer will cover you for the use of this service. Medical facilities in Namibia are on par with Europe, but most of the facilities are in Windhoek or Swakopmund. This means that because of the remote distances, air evacuation in the event of an emergency is much more common than in other countries and the service here is very developed. Unfortunately, the majority of accidents involving tourists are road accidents on the gravel roads by drivers unaccustomed to driving 4WDs on unsealed roads.

If it’s local scandal, crime and debate that you’re after, head straight for the newspaper stand. The Namibian is the country’s only English-language, independent daily, with some international news; you can get a year’s subscription sent to Europe, or perhaps better value to check http://www.namibian.com.na from time to time. Others are the Observer on Saturday and Tempo (multilingual) on Sunday; Republikain (daily, Afrikaans); Mail and Guardian (weekly South African and international news). For tourists, Travel News Namibia, bi-monthly, provides relevant updates. You can subscribe through http://www.holidaytravel.com.na. German visitors will enjoy the monthly Tourismus publication.

The government encourages free speech and there are lively oral debates and phone-ins on the radio each day. As well as the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), available almost everywhere throughout the country, and broadcast in English, there are 5 commercial radio stations in Windhoek. The best for up-to-date music are Wave FM and Radio Kudu. Don’t expect much reception (other than NBC) out of urban centres. Self- drive visitors should consider getting Tourism Radio Namibia .

The state broadcaster, NBC, broadcasts one television channel in English. Many hotels will have satellite TV. This is usually DSTV (Digital Satellite Television), South African satellite TV, with over 100 channels of film, music, sport and light entertainment. The most popular are the sports channels, especially Supersport, which provides extensive coverage of European football.

The following are the main branches of the high-street banks, each of which offers foreign exchange services: Bank of Windhoek, T061-2991122, www.bank windhoek.com.na; First National Bank, T061-2992222, http://www.fnbnamibia.com.na; Nedbank, T061-2952222, www.nedbank namibia.com; Standard Bank, T061-2942126, http://www.standardbank.com.na. Banks are open Mon-Fri 0900-1530 and Sat 0830-1030. Some small branches may close for an hour over lunch. All branches should be able to sell you foreign currency (ie South African rand or US dollar) should you need the cash for continuing your travels in southern Africa or elsewhere after Namibia. You will need to produce your passport and source of funds outside Namibia (eg ATM receipt) if not withdrawing directly with a credit card. Interestingly, First National Bank has a single branch network across South Africa and Namibia, while all the others are separate legal entities. This makes access to funds easier for South Africans if they bank with First National back home.

Accommodation will represent your other principal daily expense. With the introduction of accommodation grading in 2004, when the less expensive accommodation options were forced to close or refurbish, coupled with the mushrooming of new lodges, guest farms and hotels aimed at the top end of the market, there is now limited budget accommodation in the country. However there is always the option to camp. In first- rate luxury lodges, tented camps or guest farms expect to pay in excess of US$150 per night for a double, rising to US$500 per night per person in the most exclusive establishments. For this you will get impeccable service, cuisine and decor in fantastic locations. If staying in less expensive lodges and hotels, budget US$75-150 per couple per night, or about US$40-60 in simple B&Bs and guesthouses. By camping, you can bring this down to about US$9-12, on average, per person per night.

Namibia is fairly good value for money for tourists spending US dollars, pounds sterling or euro.

If you are travelling independently and propose to hire a car, you will need to budget US$80-150 per day, depending on season, type of vehicle and equipment included – a considerable outlay, but for a family of four or group of friends, the cost per person is obviously spread out. The cost of fuel is similar to that in the US, about 60% of what Europeans are used to, but distances travelled can be considerable so be prepared for a hefty fuel bill too.

Food and drink is good value in Namibia and an evening meal with wine in a reasonable restaurant will cost under US$40 for 2 people, and you can be pretty assured of good food and large portions. Costs can be brought down by making your own food either at campsites or in self-catering accommodation. Food in supermarkets is considerably cheaper than, say, in Europe, especially meat, and wine is inexpensive as it comes straight from South Africa. There are also some reasonably cheap locally brewed beers available in Namibia’s ubiquitous bottle stores.

Credit and debit cards are widely accepted all over the country; there are ATMs at every bank and some petrol stations and the larger hotels, shops and restaurants accept them. However, most campsites, remote guest farms or smaller guesthouses may not have facilities. It is a convenient way to cover large transactions and purchase Namibian dollars/ South African rand, allows you to book accommodation in advance (particularly useful in national parks), or to leave a deposit for a hire car or mobile phone without having to hand over cash. In most shops, Visa, MasterCard/Eurocard, American Express and Diners Club are accepted, although some shops charge extra for Amex due to the high service cost to them. Once approval is granted, staff in shops in Namibia and South Africa hardly look at your signature or check it against your card so be sure to cancel lost/stolen cards quickly and take emergency numbers with you. All the major banks are connected to the Cirrus and Plus global cash systems, meaning that, as long as you have your card and PIN, you can use ATMs as easily as at home. Withdrawing cash from an ATM offers the most competitive (wholesale) exchange rate, though your bank at home will charge approximately 1-2% per transaction for an ATM withdrawal in a foreign country. The amount you can withdraw seems to vary between systems and cards, but you should be able to take out up to N$2000 (just under US$260) per day. The chip and pin system is slowly being introduced in southern Africa for foreign cards. Note that cards are not accepted at petrol stations and fuel can only be paid for in cash. What with increasingly rising fuel prices, this means you’ll need a fair wad of cash to fill up especially if your vehicle has long range fuel tanks.

In 1993 Namibia issued its first set of bank notes, prior to which the South African rand had been legal tender (which it still is). Notes come in dominations of N$10, N$20, N$50, N$100 and N$200; coins come in 5c, 10c, 50c, N$1 and N$5. The famous Nama chief, Hendrik Witbooi, features on all the notes. There are few forged Namibian notes in circulation and no black market for currency. Whilst the prices listed in this book are mostly in US dollars, unlike other African countries US dollars cash cannot be spent in Namibia and is of no use here at all except for changing at a bank into Namibian dollars.

As South African rand is still legal tender you will certainly come across notes and coins, particularly in national parks and in the south where you encounter a higher frequency of South African visitors. If your return flight is via Johannesburg, you might want to stash some rand away for a meal, drink, duty free or souvenirs on the way home (the choice is poor at Hosea Kutako).

One advantage of traveller’s cheques is that if you lose them there is a relatively efficient system of replacement which should not cost the customer anything. For this reason, make sure you keep a full record of their numbers and value, separate from the cheques themselves, and/or send yourself a detailed email (to a web-based service). One drawback with traveller’s cheques is that only the banks in Windhoek are likely to be able to issue replacement cheques.

A major disadvantage of traveller’s cheques is the time it takes to cash them and the commission charged by the bank. Different branches of the same bank tend to raise their commission as the distance from major banking centres increases. Bank commission ranges between 0.2% and 0.5%. The most widely recognized cheques are American Express, Citicorp, Thomas Cook and Visa. US dollar, Eurocheques and sterling traveller’s cheques can be exchanged at banks throughout the country. Whilst these can only be cashed, by contrast South African traveller’s cheques can be spent, as they of course match prices rand to Namibian dollars. If you are arriving in Namibia from South Africa, you may want to consider purchasing traveller’s cheques in rand. These can be used at many hotels and the parks’ rest camps to pay for accommodation.

http://www.visa.com.

http://www.americanexpress.com.

http://www.mastercard.com.

For up-to-the-minute exchange rates, go to http://www.xe.com.

As with all larger towns and cities in the world, care should be taken with valuables such as wallets and expensive jewellery when walking in the streets. Obvious rules like putting money safely away before leaving the bank and not leaving purses or wallets on tables in outdoor restaurants/cafés apply in Namibia as much as anywhere else.

Car crime is particularly bad in the more populated northern part of the country, in towns such as Oshakati, Ondangwa and Grootfontein. Keep an eye over your shoulder when getting into your car or when unloading shopping and don’t leave anything on the dashboard that could be grabbed through an open window.

Pickpockets operate in the busy shopping areas of Windhoek by day. Recently, there have been isolated incidents where tourists have been mugged or cars broken into in Windhoek and Swakopmund. Travellers should therefore exercise caution, particularly at night and at weekends, when the central shopping districts of all towns generally become deserted and a lone traveller might be unlucky. Overall, common sense precautions will be sufficient to ensure that your holiday is not spoiled by any unpleasant incidents.

All central and southern Namibian towns have townships, the largest being Khomasdal and Katutura in Windhoek. While by no means out of bounds to tourists, it would not be wise to wander into a township by yourself. On the other hand, if you know a local or have friends living and working in Namibia who know their way around, a trip to a township market or nightclub can be an interesting and rewarding experience. If you do have the chance to spend some time in a township, it will undoubtedly give you a different picture of the way a very large number of urban Namibians live .

Namibia’s Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC), http://www.mtc.com.na, provides a reliable but limited-range GSM system for mobile phones. A cell phone can be very useful, both for booking ahead and keeping in touch with your loved ones. Overseas visitors are able to use their phones in the country provided they have arranged roaming with their service providers at home. Not only are outgoing calls (both local and international) expensive, beware of high charges for receiving calls under these arrangements. A better value alternative is to buy a Namibian SIM card which, along with pay-as-you-go top-up cards, are available from phone shops. Approximately 30% of Namibia has cellular telephone coverage, mainly limited to towns and some main roads, but be aware that you will not get coverage in the more remote regions that are often a long way from the nearest phone mast. Be Local, T081-2752257, http://www.be-local.com, rents out mobile phones and SIM cards as well as satellite phones (very useful if you’re going off the beaten track), which already have local emergency numbers programmed into them, and GPSs equipped with detailed coordinates for Namibia. Collection can be arranged at Hosea Kutako Airport or anywhere in Windhoek. Increasingly, car hire companies are also offering satellite phones and GPS’s for hire; be sure to ask your company when booking your car.

Telecards are sold for N$10, N$20 and N$50, divided into 20 cent units. They are obtainable at post offices, dealers and teleshops. These are normally the type that you insert into the phone, although there are cards with a PIN that you dial.

African Wildlife Safaris, T(0)3-9249 3777, http://www.africanwildlifesafaris.com.au.

Classic Safari Company, T1300-130218, T(0)2-93270666, www.classicsafari company.com.au.

Peregrine Travel, T(0)3-86014444, http://www.peregrine.net.au.

Djoser Travel, T(0)21-9201580, http://www.djoser.de.

A & E Reiseteam, T(0)40-27878870, http://www.ae-reiseteam.de.

Iwanowski’s Individuelles Reisen GmbH, T(0)21-3326030, http://www.afrika.de.

Adventure Centre, T0800-2288747, T151-06541879, http://www.adventure-centre.com.

Africa Adventure Company, T0800-8829453, T954-4918877, http://www.africa-adventure.com.

Bushtracks, T1707-4334492, http://www.bushtracks.com.

Pulse Africa, T011-3252290, http://www.pulseafrica.com.

Thompson’s Tours, T011-770770, http://www.thompsons.co.za.

Wild Frontiers, T011-7022035, http://www.wildfrontiers.com.

Somak, T020-84233000, http://www.somak.co.uk.

Aardvark Safaris, T01980-849160, http://www.aardvarksafaris.com.

Abercrombie & Kent, T0800-5547016, http://www.abercrombiekent.com.

Acacia Adventure Holidays, lower ground floor, 23A Craven Terr, London, T020-77064700, http://www.acacia-africa.com.

Africa Travel Centre, New Premier House, 3rd floor, 150 Southampton Row, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 5AL, T0845-450 1520, http://www.africatravel.co.uk.

Africa Travel Resource, T01306-880770, http://www.africatravelresource.com.

Audley Travel Ltd, T01993-838500, http://www.audleytravel.com.

Expert Africa, 10 & 11 Upper Square, Old Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 7BJ, T020-8232 9777, http://www.expertafrica.com.

Footprint Adventures, T01522-804929, http://www.footprint-adventures.co.uk.

Global Village, 102 Islington High St, London N1 8EG, T0844-8442541, http://www.globalvillage-travel.com.

Odyssey World, T0845-370 7733, http://www.odyssey-world.co.uk.

Rainbow Tours, T020-72261004, http://www.rainbowtours.co.uk.

Safari Consultants, T01787-888590, http://www.safari-consultants.co.uk.

Safari Drive, Windy Hollow, Sheepdrove, Lambourn, Berkshire RH17 7XA, T01488-71140, http://www.safaridrive.com.

Steppes Travel, T01285-880980, http://www.steppestravel.co.uk.

Tim Best Travel, T020-75910300, http://www.timbesttravel.com.

Wildlife Worldwide, T0845-1306982, http://www.wildlifeworldwide.com.

Germany 42-44 Schillerstrasse, 60313 Frankfurt, T69-1337360, info@ namibia-tourism.com.

South Africa Cape Town, ground floor, Pinnacle Building (beneath the Cape Town Tourist Office), Burg St, Cape Town, T+27(0)21- 4223298, namibia@saol.com. Also here is the desk for Namibia Wildlife Resorts, T+27(0)21- 4223761, ct.bookings@nwr.com.na. If starting a trip to Namibia from Cape Town this is the perfect place to get ideas and make reservations for parks accommodation. Johannesburg, 1 Orchard Lane, Rivonia, T+27(0)11-7854626, namibia@lloydorr.com.

UK Parkway House, Sheen Lane, London, SW1 48LS, T020-88789124, info@namibiatourism.co.uk.

http://www.travelafricamag.com For subscriptions to Travel Africa Magazine.

There are literally hundreds of websites about travel in Namibia, both in English and German and a number of other languages.

http://www.africaonline.com Comprehensive site covering news, sport and travel all over Africa.

http://www.economist.com.na Business news and economic outlook.

http://www.fco.gov.uk UK’s Foreign Office site, for the ‘official’ advice on latest political situations.

http://www.go2africa.com Full accommodation and safari booking service for Africa, with useful practical information.

http://www.grnnet.gov.na Namibian government site, for up to date visa requirements.

http://www.met.gov.na Website of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, with environmental policies and park information.

http://www.namibian.com.na The country’s independent newspaper online, with useful classifieds.

http://www.namibianews.com Also comprehensive latest news and sport.

http://www.namibiatourism.com.na Official site of the Namibia Tourist Board, indispensable.

http://www.namibweb.com Multilingual, hugely informative online travel agent and information source, but not very stylish or easy to navigate.

http://www.nwr.com.na Website of Namibia Wildlife Resorts which manage accommodation in the national parks; offers online bookings.

http://www.overlandafrica.com A variety of overland tours offered throughout Africa.

There are a number of small companies offering short sightseeing flights over the dunes, down to the Fish River Canyon, along the Skeleton Coast, out to the Kalahari for a ‘Bushman experience’, or to Opuwo to visit the Himba. Most of the charter planes in Namibia are Cessna 210s, which can carry a pilot and five passengers. The advantages of these planes is that the wings are above the windows, allowing for better sightseeing, they are fast over long distances and hardy enough to land on dirt runways. In the past, flights only attracted the top end of the tourism market, but today seeing the Namibian landscapes from the air is an inarguable highlight, and short sight- seeing flights can work out as a reasonable expense for a group of four or five people (a two-hour sightseeing flight from Swakopmund over Sossusvlei and back costs about US$375 per person if there are four people in the plane). If there are only two of you the companies will endeavour to find other people to fill the plane. The Sossusvlei trip is the most popular of the scenic flights and the planes invariably fill up. If you have more cash to splash, charter operators and tour companies can organize multi-day fly-in safaris to remote regions, game parks and private guest farms and lodges. Fly-in safaris offer a more expensive alternative to long road trips. A typical fly-in safari would be Windhoek-Sossusvlei-Swakopmund-Opuwo-Caprivi-Windhoek. A tour like this can be completed in only eight days or so, with most of the time spent on the ground exploring the sights and familiarizing yourself with the environment, rather than on the road. These can be combined with longer trips to Victoria Falls or Botswana. Tour operators will tailor a trip to your interests, and advise what is possible and what is over-ambitious. Four-day safaris start at about US$2500 per person including flights and accommodation. The main charter companies are based in Windhoek, with a few others in Swakopmund.

Internal flights are the quickest way to get around the country. Namibia has almost 300 airstrips and most destinations are within two hours’ flying time of each other. Ensure to get a window seat to fully enjoy the landscape. Air Namibia serves all the regional centres and has regular services between Windhoek and Lüderitz, Katima Mulilo, Ondangwa, Oranjemund and Walvis Bay; and between Walvis Bay and Lüderitz and Oranjemund. All internal flights arrive/depart from Windhoek’s Eros Airport, which is next to the Safari Court Hotel complex, a 10-minute drive south from the city centre. Prices for flights change regularly but expect to pay in the region of US$370 for a one-way flight between Windhoek and Lüderitz, for example.

Africa Travel Co, T021-3851530, http://www.africatravelco.com.

Wildlife Adventures, T021-3851530, http://www.wildlifeadventures.co.za.

Dragoman, http://www.dragoman.co.uk.

Exodus Travels, http://www.exodus.co.uk.

Explore, http://www.explore.co.uk.

Kumuka Expeditions, http://www.kumuka.com.

Oasis Overland, http://www.oasisoverland.co.uk.

The best map and travel guide store in the UK is Stanfords (12-14 Longacre, Covent Garden, London WC2 9LP, T020-78361321, http://www.stanfords.co.uk) with branches in Manchester and Bristol. In South Africa The Map Studio (T+27(0)21-4624360, http://www.mapstudio.co.za) produces a wide range of maps of Africa. The Namibia Tourist Board produces a very good road map highlighting all the minor roads and road numbers. This is available from all their offices and very usefully it can also be found online; try http://www.orusovo.com/nammap.

TransNamib runs two luxury services from Windhoek. The Desert Express (reservations: Windhoek train station, Bahnhof St, T061-2982600, http://www.desertexpress.com.na, Mon-Fri 0800-1700) runs to Swakopmund and back once a week. It departs Windhoek every Friday at 1130 (1230 in winter) and includes a late-afternoon game drive with sundowner and dinner in the Welwitschia Restaurant before spending the night on the train. After breakfast, there is a dune excursion before arriving in Swakopmund at 1000. The return journey leaves Swakopmund every Saturday at 1430 and the itinerary runs in reverse. Facilities on board the train include accommodation in 24 air-conditioned en suite sleeper compartments that are converted to lounges during the day, an elegant lounge carriage, and a dining car which serves three-course dinners. The experience doesn’t come cheap at around US$500 per person (depending on the season), sharing a room, one way. The train is equipped to take cars; this costs US$70-80 and must be arranged in advance.

The four-day Etosha Break Away has several departures throughout the year. It leaves Windhoek at 0900 and travels overnight to Otjiwarongo. After lunch on Day Two the train arrives at Dr Sam Nujoma station and passengers are transferred to Etosha National Park (King Nehale gate) for a three-hour game drive. The evening is spent having a barbecue on the platform and overnight on the train. Passengers return to Etosha for an early- morning game drive before the train departs for Windhoek. There is an excursion to Okahandja to visit the crafts market on the morning of Day Four. A longer six-day trip also includes Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. The round trip costs from US$660 per person, sharing, and depending on season. Reports have all been positive.

Namibia’s long-distance buses are marginally more comfortable, somewhat more expensive and much quicker than the trains, but are still very limited in terms of destinations. Intercape Mainliner, T061-227847, http://www.intercape.co.za, is a South African company that runs coaches between Windhoek, Livingstone in Zambia and South Africa, stopping at any town of reasonable size en route. It also runs a service between Windhoek and Walvis Bay via Swakopmund. For the budget traveller, this service is only of value for long journeys. Coaches are air conditioned, have toilets, some show videos and serve tea and biscuits. Note that it is illegal to carry or drink alcohol on buses. The departure points are: Cape Town train station; Johannesburg, Park City Transit Centre; Pretoria train station; Windhoek, corner of Michael Scott Street and Peter Muller Street; Swakopmund, Hendrik Witbooi Street; Walvis Bay, Spur Restaurant, Theo-Ben Gurirab Street; Livingstone, South End Travel, 106 Mosi-O-Tunya Road (next to Barclays bank).

Town Hopper (T064-407223 (Swakopmund), http://www.townhoppers.iway.na) is a daily shuttle using a micro/sprinter bus between Windhoek and Swakopmund. It usually departs from Swakopmund at 0800 and arrives in Windhoek at 1200, then departs Windhoek at 1430 and gets back to Swakopmund at around 1730. This costs US$27 one way. In Windhoek the bus stops outside the Tourist Information Office on Independence Avenue, and in Swakopmund it stops at Tobias Hanyeko Street, outside the Standard Bank, but for a small extra fee will pick up/drop off from your hotel or lodge.

Hitching is not recommended, simply because the distances in Namibia are vast, there are few people, and consequently few vehicles. Hitchhikers may have some very long waits in the hot sun at the side of the road. It is a risky method of travelling, particularly if you are alone. If you do decide to give it a try, it is a good idea to walk or take a taxi to the edge of town (perhaps the last petrol station on the main road) and start hitching from there. As a general rule, a sign stating your destination is a good idea, as is standing at a junction or fuel station in full view, so that your hosts can give you a once over from close range before committing and have time to brake safely. Be sure to take food and plenty of liquids with you.

Probably the only European bikers you will see will be bearded, tanned, trans-Africa adventurers, but for the tourist with a motorbike licence and experience at handling gravel roads it is possible to go on a guided motorbike tour of Namibia. Gravel Travel Motorbike Adventures (T+49-(0)5822-1717, http://www.gravel-travel.de) is a German operator offering guided safaris on its desert-modified Yamaha XT600Es. SA Motorcycle Tours, http://www.sa-motorcycle-tours.com, operates out of Cape Town and runs a rather unique tour that involves sailing up to Walvis Bay towards St Helena , with the bikes on board, and then driving the 2500 km back to Cape Town. Based in Tsumeb, African Bike Tours (T081-1228612, http://www.africabiketours.com) also arranges bike tours in Namibia.

For the budget traveller, the best way to see the principal tourist attractions – albeit with a crowd and at a pace that may not be optimal – may be with one of the safari companies that operate from Windhoek and Swakopmund. See tour operators in the relative sections, or ask the tourist office (or fellow travellers in backpacker hostels) for recommendations and advice. Compare prices and itineraries carefully as you may spend the great majority of your time squeezed into a minibus.

In the absence of a public transport network, entrepreneurs have stepped in with vehicles of greater or lesser safety, size and comfort. They are almost without exception serving the non-white market and run from town centre to town centre rather than to the tourist spots. Prices average about US$5 per 100 km, but check out what your fellow travellers are paying and agree to pay exactly that amount, on arrival.

Overland truck safaris are a popular way of exploring southern and East Africa by road. They demand a little more fortitude and adventurous spirit from the traveller, but the compensation is usually the camaraderie and friendships that result from what is invariably a real adventure, going to places the more luxurious travellers will never visit. The standard three-week overland route most commercial trucks take through southern Africa (in either direction) is from Cape Town up to Swakopmund via the Fish River Canyon and Sesriem for the Namib-Naukluft Park. The first weekend is usually spent in Swakopmund to enjoy the activities before heading north to the Etosha National Park via Damaraland, then into Botswana to visit the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park and finishing in either Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe or Livingstone in Zambia to enjoy the activities around the Victoria Falls. This three-week trip can be combined with another three weeks to or from Nairobi via Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Zanzibar, and finishing in Kenya. Again the circuit continues with a two-week route into Uganda to see the mountain gorillas via some of the Kenyan national parks. There are several overland companies and there are departures along the circuit almost weekly from Cape Town, Livingstone/Victoria Falls and Nairobi throughout the year.

Air Namibia operates two daily flights between Cape Town and Windhoek, as well as daily flights between Windhoek and Johannesburg. It also operates five flights a week between Windhoek and Maun in Botswana; five flights a week between Windhoek and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe; and three flights a week between Windhoek and Luanda in Angola.

South African Airways and British Airways each have a daily flight between Windhoek and Johannesburg, and South African Airways has a daily flight between Cape Town and Windhoek. If you are flying to Windhoek via South Africa via one of these services, then there are links in Johannesburg with just about every African airline there is. These include Air Botswana, Air Madagascar, Air Mauritius (also goes to Cape Town), Air Malawi, Air Seychelles, Air Tanzania, Air Zimbabwe, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Ghana Airways and Virgin Nigeria.

Between them Qantas and SAA, on a code share agreement, fly between Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Johannesburg and there are several flights a week. Singapore Airlines has a code share with Air New Zealand, and flights link Wellington with Johannesburg via Sydney and Singapore. Malaysia Airlines has regular flights from Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Darwin in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand to Kuala Lumpur, connecting with a flight to Johannesburg three times a week, which continues on to Cape Town and then Buenos Aires (Argentina). Cathay Pacific flies to Johannesburg from Hong Kong once a week.

Air Namibia flies direct from London Gatwick to Windhoek (10½ hours, twice a week), and Frankfurt to Windhoek (nine hours, five times a week). Expect to pay in the region of US$1000-1800 for a return economy ticket on both these routes. The main problem is seat availability, particularly in July and August, which is the popular time for German visitors; book as far ahead as you can.

LTU, a German charter company, flies from Düsseldorf to Windhoek via Munich (twice a week June to October). It also flies between Canada and the US to Germany. Lufthansa flies daily between Frankfurt and Windhoek via Johannesburg (13½ hours).

By far the most frequent services to Namibia are via South Africa, using either South African Airways or your national carrier from Europe to Johannesburg or Cape Town, and adding the final hop to Windhoek with a local airline such as Air Namibia or South African Airways. South African Airways has at least one or two flights per day between Johannesburg and most of the major European cities. British Airways and Virgin have daily overnight flights from London to Johannesburg and Cape Town. Other European carriers flying to Johannesburg include Air France, Air Portugal, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Iberia, KLM and Swiss International (LX). Indirect flights from other airlines can also be good value: Kenya Airways flies daily from London to Johannesburg via Nairobi, and Emirates flies daily to Johannesburg and Cape Town via Dubai from just about anywhere else in the world. Jetlag is not an issue if flying from Europe to South Africa or Namibia as there is only a minimal time difference, and most flights are overnight.

Delta Airlines has a code share agreement with South African Airways, which runs daily direct flights from Atlanta to Johannesburg, from where there are connections to Windhoek. Alternatively, fly from North America to London, Frankfurt or Düsseldorf to connect to the flights mentioned above.

Flight Centre, T133-133 (Australia), http://www.flightcentre.com.au.

Skylinks, T02-9234277, http://www.skylink.com.au.

STA Travel, T134-782 (Australia), http://www.statravel.com.au, T0800-474400, http://www.statravel.com.nz.

Travel.com.au, T1300-130482, http://www.travel.com.au.

Air Brokers International, T01-800883- 3273, http://www.airbrokers.com.

STA Travel, T1800-7814040, http://www.statravel.com.

Travel Cuts, T1866-2469762 (Canada), http://www.travelcuts.com.

Flightbookers, T0871-2235000, http://www.ebookers.com.

Flight Centre, T0870-4999931, http://www.flightcentre.co.uk.

STA Travel, T0871-23000040, http://www.statravel.co.uk.

Trailfinders, T0845-0585858, http://www.trailfinders.com.

Travelbag, T0800-8048911, http://www.travelbag.co.uk.

Economic links with the north of Namibia are improving; many Angolan traders head south for cheap supplies, and wealthier Angolans come to spend their US dollars in this land of relative plenty. With Angolan businesses taking an ever higher profile, you may hear Portuguese being spoken in the border region. Some Namibians venture north, mainly for cheaper petrol, cattle and goats.

The principal road crossing is between Oshikango and Santa Clara on the B1 (open 0800-1800). This continues over the border as Angola’s main north-south road that eventually runs to the capital Luanda. Driving is on the right in Angola. Despite extensive de-landmining activity, the roads are in a dreadful state, though reconstruction has started on major routes. The customs and immigration offices on the Namibian side are a modern bricks-and-mortar building with air conditioning, while the low yellow buildings on the Angolan side of the border at the town of Santa Clara show all the evidence of war damage. Local people are allowed to cross freely within a 30-km radius of the border on either side but all foreigners require visas obtainable from Angolan embassies in advance. If you are in a vehicle you will need a Carnet de Passages en Douane, which is stamped out of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) and stamped into Angola. Many overlanders have successfully gone into Angola, mostly adventurous South African 4WD owners, and reports so far seem very positive. It is, however, a very new place to visit so get expert up-to-date advice before crossing the border.

The main border crossings between Botswana and Namibia are at Buitepos, 120 km east of Gobabis (the nearest crossing to Windhoek), and Ngoma Bridge at the extreme east of the Caprivi Strip. Both of these border posts are in remote country but the newly completed tarred Trans-Kalahari Highway between Botswana’s capital Gaborone and Windhoek, and the newly tarred Trans-Caprivi Highway in the north, mean that both routes are easily navigable in an ordinary car. Both are open 0700-2400.

The two main border posts between Namibia and South Africa are at Noordoewer, to the south of Keetmanshoop and the Fish River Canyon en route to Cape Town, and Ariamsvlei to the east of Karasburg on the road to Upington in South Africa. Both are open 24 hours. If coming from Cape Town the N7 goes all the way up to the border with Namibia at Voolsdrif–Noordoewer, a distance of 714 km. Note that the last shops on the South African side are at Springbok, though there are simple shops and petrol stations in Noordoewer on the Namibian side of the border. From Johannesburg the best way to get to Namibia is via Botswana. The N4 goes from Johannesburg and Pretoria via Zeerust and enters Botswana at Pioneer Gate. Then the road crosses Botswana via Lobatse as the newly tarred Trans- Kalahari Highway to the border at Buitepos . The journey from Johannesburg to the Namibian border is roughly 1070 km and fuel stations are infrequent so fill up when you see one. The longest stretch between petrol stations on this route is 350 km.

There is one border post, Wanela, at the extreme northeast of the Caprivi Strip, which is open 0600-1800 and involves a bridge crossing over the Zambezi River. The Sesheke Bridge opened in 2004 completing the 2100-km Trans-Caprivi Highway that now links the port of Walvis Bay with Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka. In addition to improving trade, the bridge has already boosted tourism as it offers excellent access to all the sights in the region. From the Zambian side of the bridge it is less than an hour’s drive to Livingstone.

Although Namibia does not share a border with Zimbabwe, it is close and easily accessible, and many visitors combine a trip to northern Namibia with a visit to the Victoria Falls. You need to cross at the Ngoma Bridge border at the extreme east of the Caprivi Strip into Botswana. From here the road runs 64 km along the very top of Botswana’s Chobe National Park to Kasane and the border with Zimbabwe. If you are only transiting though Chobe, you do not have to pay park fees, but keep your speed down as there are often elephant on this road. Once in Zimbabwe, it is only 70 km from Kasane to the town of Victoria Falls. If coming from Victoria Falls or Kasane to Namibia via Ngoma Bridge, it is best to leave Victoria Falls no later than 1530 and Kasane no later than 1630 to reach Ngoma Bridge by 1800 when the border shuts.