Namibia – a land of beautiful extremes

Massive, shift-shaping sand dunes. The mangled, blackened trees of the Dead Vlei. The vast expanses of the Namib desert. The ghostly carcasses of wrecked ships along the Skeleton Coast. And the sheer variety of wildlife in this conservation-focused country – from big game and birds, through to sea lions and dolphins. Namibia has everything that a person looking for an African adventure could ask for, and we are thrilled to include this amazing land in two different holiday itineraries: Namibia and Botswana, and An African Journey.

To whet your appetite, Product Manager Gemma Higgs has put together a few fun facts on Namibia:

1. The name ‘Namib’ translates as “vast place”, and Namibia is one of the least crowded destinations on the planet. Only Greenland, the Falkland Islands, Mongolia and Western Sahara (in that order) have fewer people per sq km.

2. More than 40% of the country is under conservation management. It was also the first African country to incorporate environmental protection into its constitution.

3. It’s one of only two African countries with a female leader: Saara Kuugongelwa is the country’s fourth prime minister. The other female leader is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia.

4. More cheetahs live in Namibia than anywhere else.

5. Namibia’s dramatic landscapes have been used as the backdrop for films such as ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968), ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015) and ‘Flight of the Phoenix’ (2006).

6. It was formerly known as South West Africa and was granted independence from South Africa in 1990, which had taken over the territory during the First World War.

7. The Germans had occupied the territory where they committed what is considered the first genocide of the 20th century, killing tens of thousands of Herero and Nama tribespeople during their brutal occupation.

8. The reason for the Caprivi strip across the north of Botswana is due to a deal between the United Kingdom and Germany: the former would give the latter the Caprivi Strip in an exchange. The Germans accepted, believing this would give them access to the Zambezi River and a route to the east coast. But Victoria Falls lay in the way, and the Germans had signed a bum deal.

9. The Namib Desert is the oldest desert in the world, a huge 80 million years old.

10. Dubbed Dragon’s Breath Cave, due to the humid air that rises from its entrance, Namibia has the largest non-subglacial lake in the world.

11. Once a well-heeled mining town, Kolmanskop was abandoned in the 1930s when the diamond rush took prospectors elsewhere, leaving behind a ghost town. It is now a popular tourist attraction.

12. There is the spooky Skeleton Coast which is littered with rusting shipwrecks, surrendered to the desert by the broiling swell of the sea.

13. Pedestrians can be breathalysed having been warned not to “drink and walk” - police will breathalyse anyone involved in a collision with a vehicle.

14. Namibia is one of the thirstiest nations in Africa, with only Gabon and South Africa recording higher rates of alcohol consumption – hence the breathalysing!