NAMIBIA

Namibia
Formerly South West Africa, bounded on the north by Angola and Zambia, on the east by Botswana and South Africa, on the south by South Africa, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The total land area is 824,268 sq km (318,252 sq mi). The capital of Namibia is Windhoek. Namibia is a country of open spaces and great contrasts. It is set between 2 deserts, the Namib in the west and the Kalahari in the east.

The country gained its independence in 1990 and changed its name from South West Africa to Nambia, it  still holds its German and European influence as well as the African traditions. 

The Namib Desert is reputed to be one of the driest places on earth and yet it is home to a huge array of fauna and flora. .This is due to the fact that when the desert landscape meets the Atlantic Ocean and its cold current, a fog is created in the early morning that sustains the abundance of life found there. The desert reaches inland for up to 160 km (100 mi) and is kept cool and dry by the effects of the cold Benguela Current offshore. About 51 mm (2 in) of rain falls each year

Namibia is home to the world’s tallest dunes. The Namib is home to miles of breathtakingly beautiful orange and yellow sand dunes, vast plains, rugged canyons of volcanic rock and distant mountain ranges. 

Vegetation is scanty in both the Namib and Kalahari deserts. Woodland savannah covers the central plateau. True forests are found only in the north-east. Wildlife is abundant and includes elephant, rhinoceros, lion, giraffe, zebra, and hartebeest.

Swakopmund is one of the popular tourist destinations due to the adventure activities that include quad biking, sand skiing and sand boarding. For the slightly less energetic there are desert dinners and dolphin viewing by boat.

The Damaraland region is home to populations of the rare Desert Elephant, Oryx, Hartmann's Mountain Zebra as well as the endangered Black Rhinoceros. The region also offers rock paintings and a petrified forest.

Probably the most well known and frequently visited region is Etosha National Park in the North, It covers about 20,700 sq km (8,000 sq mi)  About a quarter of the park is the Etosha Pan, which was once a lake filled by a river that has changed its course. The pan is now a salt desert, with several waterholes used by animals. It becomes a lake again briefly during the rainy season. Grassland with scattered shrubs surrounds the pan, and beyond it are various kinds of savannah trees, such as date palms and acacia. The park is home to animals that can survive in savannah and semi-desert conditions. They include antelopes, dik-diks, elands, gemsboks, giraffes, kudus, springboks, and wildebeests, and the leopards, lions, jackals, and hyenas which prey on them. There are large herds of elephants, and black rhinoceroses drink at the waterholes. Smaller mammals include genets, honey badgers, lynxes, and mongooses. 

During the rainy season the pan glows pink with thousands of flamingos, and geese and ducks are plentiful. 

The Skeleton Coast  acquired its name from the many ship wrecks which occurred along the coastline. The remains of which can still be seen  today.  The area offers fantastic scenery, large seal colonies, rolling sand dunes, large deserted plains and huge canyons. It is also home to a unique species of plant knows as the Welwitschia which has a lifespan of over 1000 years. Common but unique game sightings here include the regional Black-Faced Impala, Brown Hyena, and "oversized" Black-backed Jackals. Many of these animals are seen on the beaches, making for very interesting photography. This region is also home to the nomadic Himba people.

Rivers and Lakes 

The only permanent rivers are the Orange, Cunene, Okavango, and Zambezi, all of which form Namibia’s borders. The territory has virtually no other surface water.

Africans constitute about 86 per cent of the population of Namibia; whites, including a large German community in Windhoek, about 6.5 per cent; and people of mixed descent ("Coloureds") about 7.5 per cent. The Ovambo, an agricultural people who live primarily in the north, make up about 50 per cent of the black African population. The Ovambo speak a Bantu language. Other groups include the Damara, the Herero, the Dama, the Khoikhoi, and the San (Bushmen).

San (Bushmen) is an ethnic group living mainly in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana and Namibia. In the past, the San have been called Bushmen  but are now often known as the Khoi-San to reflect their cultural affinities. The San speak Khoisan languages, which are characterized by click sounds. Linguistic groups include the Auen, Gwi, Heikum, !Kung, and Naron.

The San number approximately 50,000; about half of these live as hunter-gatherers organized in small groups, or bands, of about ten nuclear families. Each group has exclusive rights to an area of about 775 sq km (about 300 sq mi) and usually moves around its rather desolate territory as a unit, moving their homes about once a month as the food supply is exhausted. Women gather wild plants and fruit, which provide most of the nourishment. Men supplement the diet by hunting animals with light bows and poison-tipped arrows. During the winter, when the overall food supply is reduced, the group's households live apart.

Each band of San is led by a hereditary headman with limited power. Groups are not politically linked, but individuals are linked by an intricate kinship web. The San sometimes live in caves or thatched shelters and wear short aprons and sandals made of skins. They are skilled in painting and engraving pictures on the walls of their caves, and their religion is complex.

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