home        safari prices       photo gallery        frequently asked questions        accommodations       about namibia

namibia

wedged between the kalahari and the chilly south atlantic, namibia has deserts, seascapes, bush-walking, and boundlessness.  blessed with rich natural resources, a solid modern infrastructure and diverse cultures, it is a beautiful country of vast potential.

the desert tastes yellow

the desert tastes
yellow on my tongue
and bitter like herbs
in a narrow gorge
where water waits under the rocks
for the next rain in five years
and where fish suffocate
which were born in the mountain streams
but the frogs play their unending pan-flutes
as soon as the moon rises over the black mountains.

that then is the night:
a dark blue ocean
filled with sounds of shifting sands:
cricket chirping floats
on the air
like a hot breath,
a song turned to ashes,
vibrating between the white teeth
of springbok skulls,
a sigh of the wind.

here all the roads lead to nowhere in particular;
they end in a sandy ford
of soundless tracks
through the whirlpool
of desiccated dreams.

somewhere under the southern cross
you lie on your back
and hear
the desert owl hoot its loneliness
across the curve of the canyon.

author unknown

national reserves and game parks

namibia's national reserves and game parks are owned by the government and are managed on its behalf by the ministry of environment and tourism.  since independence, there has been a rapid escalation in the number and size of private conservation areas.

 1.  the mahango game reserve borders on the perennial okavango river, and extends over 244km/2.

 2.  the 32-km wide caprivi game park of 5,715km/2 extends for about 180km from the okavango river to the kwando river.

 3.  the mudumu national park is a vast 1,010km/2 expanse of dense savannah and mopane woodlands with the kwando river as its western border.

 4.  the 320km/2 mamili national park is the largest wetland area with conservation status in namibia.

 5.  the khaudum game reserve protect the northern kalahari sandveld biome.

 6.  the mangetti game reserve in the kavango region is managed as a game-breeding area.

 7.  the etosha national park, at 22,270km/2, is one of the largest game reserves in africa.

 8.  the skeleton coast park covers an area of 16,400km/2.

 9.  the cape cross seal reserve, approximately 130km north of swakopmund, was proclaimed to protect up to 23 colonies of cape fur seals.

10.  the national west coast recreation area, a 200km stretch of coastline between the swakop and ugab rivers, is renowned for its outstanding angling potential.

11.  rising some 200m above a surrounding sea of bush and savannah, the 405km/2 waterberg plateau park is home to some 25 game and 200 bird species.

12.  the namib naukluft park is a vast wilderness of 50,000km/2.

13. the focal point of the 23,000 hectare naute recreation resort is namibia's 3rd largest dam.