Namibia - timeless destination of unique mixture
The legendary wide open space, the vistas and the diverse cultures of Namibia remain in the centre of tourism interest. Even local Namibians discover well known attractions ever anew as the seasons and decades pass and as the country proceeds through natural and man made transformation. It is for the same reason that tourists continue to explore and experience new aspects and adventures with each repeat visit to the country straddling the tropic of Capricorn in southern Africa.
Tourism has remained ever popular since it really took off on the commercial level forty years ago. Up to such time travelling through Namibia was highly individual, even risky in the sense that a trip to the outlying areas resembled an explorer's expedition. The improvement of roads and vehicles, the network of attractive lodges, camping sites, rest camps and guest farms that span the length and width of the land have made the large country accessible as never before. Even so, meticulous care is required in selecting the routes and accommodation according to personal preference and the standard of comfort required in order to put a package together to be commensurate with the visitor's budget and which will be value for money. The parting self-driving visitor should not be grieved the ill-feeling or after-taste that the Namibian experience was overpriced. This can easily be prevented by careful selection of the accommodation establishment which range from modest and practical sojourn, to the middle range and finally to the mundane up-market luxury establishment.
While the visitor arriving in a group, following a package tour, can lean back and allow him/herself to be driven to desired destinations, the same route may be quite a challenge for the self-driver as well as his/her family members and friends. Again, proper selection of the geographical route in the well marked and geneally well maintained road system in Namibia and the accommodation requirement taken care of , the real adventure will start.
Particularly in 2009 Namibia is blessed with plenty of rain which has transformed the central plateau and large stretches of the deserts - Namib and Kalahari - into wonderlands for the roaming eye which in other and frequent drought years encounters many a barren and hostile view. Yet, the countryside will entice you even in such drought years, more so at sunset and during the starry nights. Furthermore the two deserts - or four, as some define the most arid areas of Namibia - offer the deeply impressive, timeless and wide open space experience which remains a particular sensation, even if you already come from a scarcely populated environment. The desert experience counts even more when the visitor hails from a crowded industrial environment where every square meter is at a premium.
The deserts therefore merit some more attention. Jan Spies, the legendary story teller, intellectual und journalist, hailing from the "Pro-Namib", the edge of the desert in the Hardap region, remembered how astonished he was to learn at school that he lived in a "desert country", actually a land of two deserts. He perceived such description with much scorn because a desert in his mind had to be something much more inhospitable and aggressive than his marvelous homeground, as he called it.
Jan Spies, had he lived today, would probably have argued with latter day geographers and tourism marketers who nowadays sell four Namibian deserts, the Namib proper, the southern succulent desert, receiving a rare winter shower, the Karoo desert reaching from the northern Cape into Namibia and the Kalahari, shared with Botswana. Spies wouldn't have turned down the categories but he would have added his own classification. For instance do you want to see the Pro-Namib, the wild Namib or the tamed Namib? A topic to be pursued along the campfire!
Along the official policy line it is to be noted that for quite some time Namibia has placed great emphasis on harmonising tourism with conservation, whether desert or savannah, in order to guarantee the sustainability of the industry. This philosophy is time tested but has acquired a more social dimension during the past two decades. Local communities actively engage in the sustainable use of wildlife and tourism. To care for the fauna, flora and the environment now makes more sense than in earlier times when utilisation simply meant consumption, even to depletion. Furthermore, the nature parks of Namibia have received a priceless addition: 21 752 km" Sperrgebiet in the "succulent Namib", the former prohibited diamond territory, marked by German colonial and digger history.
The spectrum of Namibia, from riverine "Livingstone's Africa" along the Zambezi to the starkest sand dune desert, remains a modern explorer's dream.
Tourism has remained ever popular since it really took off on the commercial level forty years ago. Up to such time travelling through Namibia was highly individual, even risky in the sense that a trip to the outlying areas resembled an explorer's expedition. The improvement of roads and vehicles, the network of attractive lodges, camping sites, rest camps and guest farms that span the length and width of the land have made the large country accessible as never before. Even so, meticulous care is required in selecting the routes and accommodation according to personal preference and the standard of comfort required in order to put a package together to be commensurate with the visitor's budget and which will be value for money. The parting self-driving visitor should not be grieved the ill-feeling or after-taste that the Namibian experience was overpriced. This can easily be prevented by careful selection of the accommodation establishment which range from modest and practical sojourn, to the middle range and finally to the mundane up-market luxury establishment.
While the visitor arriving in a group, following a package tour, can lean back and allow him/herself to be driven to desired destinations, the same route may be quite a challenge for the self-driver as well as his/her family members and friends. Again, proper selection of the geographical route in the well marked and geneally well maintained road system in Namibia and the accommodation requirement taken care of , the real adventure will start.
Particularly in 2009 Namibia is blessed with plenty of rain which has transformed the central plateau and large stretches of the deserts - Namib and Kalahari - into wonderlands for the roaming eye which in other and frequent drought years encounters many a barren and hostile view. Yet, the countryside will entice you even in such drought years, more so at sunset and during the starry nights. Furthermore the two deserts - or four, as some define the most arid areas of Namibia - offer the deeply impressive, timeless and wide open space experience which remains a particular sensation, even if you already come from a scarcely populated environment. The desert experience counts even more when the visitor hails from a crowded industrial environment where every square meter is at a premium.
The deserts therefore merit some more attention. Jan Spies, the legendary story teller, intellectual und journalist, hailing from the "Pro-Namib", the edge of the desert in the Hardap region, remembered how astonished he was to learn at school that he lived in a "desert country", actually a land of two deserts. He perceived such description with much scorn because a desert in his mind had to be something much more inhospitable and aggressive than his marvelous homeground, as he called it.
Jan Spies, had he lived today, would probably have argued with latter day geographers and tourism marketers who nowadays sell four Namibian deserts, the Namib proper, the southern succulent desert, receiving a rare winter shower, the Karoo desert reaching from the northern Cape into Namibia and the Kalahari, shared with Botswana. Spies wouldn't have turned down the categories but he would have added his own classification. For instance do you want to see the Pro-Namib, the wild Namib or the tamed Namib? A topic to be pursued along the campfire!
Along the official policy line it is to be noted that for quite some time Namibia has placed great emphasis on harmonising tourism with conservation, whether desert or savannah, in order to guarantee the sustainability of the industry. This philosophy is time tested but has acquired a more social dimension during the past two decades. Local communities actively engage in the sustainable use of wildlife and tourism. To care for the fauna, flora and the environment now makes more sense than in earlier times when utilisation simply meant consumption, even to depletion. Furthermore, the nature parks of Namibia have received a priceless addition: 21 752 km" Sperrgebiet in the "succulent Namib", the former prohibited diamond territory, marked by German colonial and digger history.
The spectrum of Namibia, from riverine "Livingstone's Africa" along the Zambezi to the starkest sand dune desert, remains a modern explorer's dream.
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