Ongwediva - Jewel of the North

Ongwediva is a town between Ondangwa and Oshakati in the Oshana Region. It was born at a time when the government requires space to build houses for their employees early in the 60’s. That was a time when Oshakati and Ondangwa had not yet been properly zoned and in later years a fast solution needed to be found for people, who wanted to live in an organized urban environment. Consequently it became a bit of an elite living area, until Oshakati and Ondangwa were able to reorganize themselves as the towns they are today.

It comes as no surprise that this town quickly drew more upmarket businesses and traders, so that you now encounter modern shopping centres and probably the biggest hardware store of the country, belonging to the Zaruka family, as well as the fine entertainment centre Bennies Entertainment Park and Lodge, which is part of the BH Group of Companies. The Ongwediva Trade Expo is arguably the biggest in the northern parts of Namibia and similar to Ondangwa offers a variety of hospitality establishments.

Similar to the rest of the O-Regions, this part of the country also still needs to be properly developed in terms of tourism offers, but depending on what you expect from a trip, these are the typical towns that allow you access to the Aawambo-culture at a time, when it is not yet flooded by mass tourism allowing for a special appeal.