Category: Namibia

Namibia holds the highest density of greater kudu in Africa, and the country is also the only place in the species' range where kudu suffer recurring rabies epidemics. The first outbreak killed an estimated 50,000 animals, around a fifth of…

A first Namibian trip should cover four places in ten days, not seven places in ten days. The commonest planning error here is treating a map as a schedule. Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Etosha and Damaraland form the standard circuit, and the…

A 7-day Namibia itinerary is the shortest trip that can take in the desert, the coast and Etosha, covering roughly 1,900 kilometres from Windhoek. It is workable but driving heavy, with four transfer days out of seven. Travellers who would…

Namibia holds three of Africa's four hyena species, including the rarest of them. The brown hyena, known locally as the strandwolf, numbers perhaps 800 to 1,200 here, with around half living along the Namib coast where they feed almost entirely…

Duwisib Castle is a pseudo-medieval stone fortress standing alone in the semi-desert southwest of Maltahöhe, built by a German officer for his American wife and abandoned within six years when he was killed at the Somme. It has 22 rooms…

Henties Bay exists because of fishing, a town of holiday houses and caravan pitches on the Skeleton Coast road north of Swakopmund, filling with anglers over the December holidays and quiet the rest of the year. It is the base…

Namibia's leopard population was estimated at around 11,700 animals in the most recent national census, and the core of it lives on freehold farmland and communal conservancies rather than inside national parks. Leopard densities are higher outside protected areas here,…

The green season is Namibia's contrarian window, running roughly November to April with heat, storm cloud, dispersed wildlife, the best birding of the year and rates that fall considerably. Photographers gain skies the dry season cannot produce. Wildlife watchers lose…

Namibia holds around 24,000 African elephants and the population has grown at roughly 5 percent a year for three decades, which runs directly counter to the continental trend. The great majority live in the northeast rather than in Etosha or…

Two people can travel Namibia properly on 200 to 300 US dollars a day between them, covering vehicle, fuel, campsites, park fees and food. The country rewards budget travel more than most African destinations because the best experiences are position…