Namibia

Understand

History

Namibia was inhabited by San people until about 1,000 years ago. If you have the rare opportunity to talk to a San (most do not speak English), do not call them Bushmen, that's considered derogatory. Due to the Bantu migration, Ovambo people and Ovaherero people moved into northern and central Namibia. In the South the Damara people established themselves; it is unclear where they came from. About 200 years ago the Oorlam people moved in from the South. Then the Oorlam and the Herero clashed.

Namibia was colonized by Germany in the late 19th century. Colonial control was established by private interests before the German Reich itself got involved as Bismarck was rather skeptical of colonial endeavors. German business and colonial interests, among them Adolf Lüderitz, tried to co-opt local rulers into their schemes and to that end signed treaties of varying honesty and even-handedness. One treaty famously mentioned a strip of land from the coast several "miles" inland to be handed over to the colonizers. What the treaty failed to mention was that the British miles of roughly 1.6 km wasn't what the Germans meant - they insisted upon much larger "Prussian miles" that were obscure even then and entirely unknown to the locals. Conflict broke out, but the colonizers had the better weapons and backing from Berlin so the locals stood no chance. By 1884 "Deutsch Südwestafrika" had officially become a colony and unlike Germany's other colonies, it did attract significant settlement from the mother country, soon leading to serious debates in the Reichstag about the "problem" of "mixed" descendants of settlers and locals. Another problem were local uprisings and when the Herero rose up in 1904 the Germans under general Lothar von Trotha responded with an amount of genoc

See

Namibia is a land of astounding natural beauty. To truly appreciate the country, you need to get out in the countryside, either on a tour or by renting a car, and take in the deserts, the mountains, the villages and everything else that Namibia has to offer. One of its most dominant features, and the one for which the country is named, is the Namib Desert, which stretches for nearly 1000 km along the Atlantic coast. One of the oldest deserts in the world, its sand takes on a distinctive rust colour, with the desert having some of the highest sand dunes in the world. Sossusvlei is the most accessible part of the desert and is a magical place with its towering dunes that shift hues as the sun rises and sets. Further south, near the South African border, is Fish River Canyon, one of the largest canyons in the world. Stretching for 160 km, it is reaches 27 km across at its widest and nearly 550 m down at its deepest. In the north of the country is the empty and mostly inaccessible Skeleton Coast National Park. It is a seemingly barren expanse of stone and sand famous for its fog and the number o

Getting there

Visas Tourists must have a passport that has at least six months before being expired to enter. Based on Visit Namibia, for citizens of Angola, Botswana, Brazil, Cuba, Eswatini, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, no visa is required. And for Åland Island, American Samoa, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Comoros, Croatia, Cote d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Ecuador, Eritrea, Estonia, Equatorial Guinea, Denmark, Djibouti, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Haiti, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Sweden, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE, United Kingdom, US, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vatican, Vietnam and Western Sahara, they may apply for visa upon arrival. However, not all Namibian entrances of customs have this convenience of visa application, but for most tourists, like tak

Getting around

Legal issues Travellers are expected to produce identification if police, health inspectors or customs officials stop them. A current passport or drivers license will do. Namibia is very concerned about child trafficking. When travelling with children you need to carry their full birth certificate to prove they are yours. When only one parent is travelling, a consent letter from the other parent (alternatively a death certificate) is required, even if you are married or have sole custody. There is a veterinary demarkation between northern Namibia and the rest of the country, at approximately the latitude of Etosha. Check Wikipedia for details. No meat may be taken from north of the line southwards. You will nevertheless be checked both ways; nobody knows why.

By plane Westair Aviation (ex Westwing), ☏ +264 61 372 300, fax: +264 61 232 402, [email protected]. Offers both scheduled and charter flights throughout the country.

By train The national railway company of Namibia, TransNamib, does not operate any scheduled passenger services as of July 2023. Other rail services operating in the country are:

Desert Express, ☏ +264 61 298-2600, fax: +264 61 298-2601. The Desert Express is a luxury tourist train that traverses Namibia regularly, taking tourists to such destinations as Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Etosha National Park. Buses are used to transport visitors from train stations to the various sights.

By car

Despite the vast distances in Namibia, most people get around by land, and not air. Namibia's primary routes (A and B roads) are tarred, and secondary routes (roads designated C or MR) are well-graded gravel. Many D roads are just about passable with a sedan, while F (farm) roads usually are not. An all-terrain vehicle is not necessary to reach the