Namibia

Welcome to Namibia

 

With its pleasantly warm and dry climate, clean air, good water and an unspoilt coast, vast untouched scenery and nature conservation areas, and excellent infrastructure, Namibia is healthy by nature and sheer bliss for body and soul. It is in fact one of the few countries in Africa where tourists do not have to worry unduly about picking up health problems. But should it so happen that you do require medical assistance you can rest assured that health care in towns and cities matches European standards. In cases of dire emergency there is a 'flying' rescue service. For your financial security it is advisable that you take out travel insurance.

Namibia is located in southwest Africa. It is a large and mainly arid country sharing borders with Angola to the north, Botswana to the east, South Africa to the south and, in the Caprivi Strip, a narrow panhandle of Namibian territory jutting from the northeast corner of the country, with Zambia and Zimbabwe.

To the west is 1280km (795 miles) of some of the most desolate and lonely coastline in the world. The port of Walvis Bay, situated roughly halfway down Namibia’s coast, was returned by South Africa to Namibian jurisdiction in February 1994.

Namibia’s Coast

Along its entire length, the vast shifting sand dunes of the 80-million-year-old Namib Desert spread inland for 80 to 130km (50 to 80 miles). In the interior, the escarpment of a north–south plateau slopes away to the east and north into the vast interior sand basin of the Kalahari. In the far northwest, the 66,000 sq km (25,500 sq miles) of the Kaokoland mountains run along the coast, while further inland lies the Etosha Pan (a dried-out saline lake), surrounded by grasslands and bush which support a large and varied wildlife. The Etosha National Park & Game Reserve is one of the finest in Africa, in that it remains, to a large extent, free of human influence.

Namibia: - “The land God made in anger”. The first country to incorporate the protection of the environment into its constitution, Namibia’s wild, frontier character permeates its vast, wide-open spaces, with fire-coloured dunes merging with an endless sky. These mountains of sand are most magnificent at the remote desert moonscape called Sossusvlei, home to the world’s tallest standing dunes.

Namibia is named after the Namib Desert, one of the driest places on earth. Known as ‘The Living Desert’, the Namib is a world of vast space, endless horizons, dramatic desertscapes and jagged mountain heights. The ancient dunes span the entire Atlantic coast, covering the 800 mile-long, Skeleton Coast.