Lovely Namibia

Namibia means "a spot of nice arid plains" and lives as much as this name. The northern parts of the nation are grass covered savannah, however the lasting impression is one in every of unrelenting harshness and lack of water.

This is without doubt one of the most sparsely populated lands on earth. San hunters, Khoikhoi and European renegades fleeing justice in the Cape had been among the pioneers of the area. Restless and wild, they had been free from any government control until 1884 when the country was brought beneath the management of the German Empire. Second only in dimension to the Grand Canyon of the USA, the Fish River Canyon is 161 km long, 27 km wide and as much as 549 meters deep.

The jagged ravine cuts deep into the arid land. Daytime temperatures reach 48ºC and seldom drop beneath 35ºC, however nights can be very cold. The canyon is the scene of one in every of Africa's most interesting mountaineering trails. As you descend into the depths of the canyon at its northern end, civilization is left far behind, and for the following four or five days you possibly can expertise one of many last tracts of true wilderness on the African continent.

Sossusvlei is certainly one of Namibia's most spectacular natural wonders. It lies about four hundred km northwest of the canyon within the heart of the Namib desert. It was opened to the general public solely in 1977 and is a superb favourite of photographers and nature lovers. The large red dunes, up to 300 metres high are the biggest in the world and are an unforgettable sight at dawn or in the late afternoon sun.

The greatest expertise of all however, is to see the pan stuffed with water. That is one thing that seldom occurs and photographers from throughout Southern Africa will drop all the things and head for Sossusvlei for a as soon as hunting in Namibia a lifetime picture on those rare occasions.

Though the Skeleton Coast will be stated to encompass the entire shoreline of Namibia, the Skeleton Coast Nationwide Park is bounded by the Kunene River in the north and the Ugab River within the south.

The early Portuguese explorers called it "the coast of hell" but it grew to become known as the Skeleton Coast largely because of the dismal destiny awaiting shipwreck survivors through the centuries.
The Kunene River forms Namibia's northern border with Angola and is Namibia's largest river.

In ancient occasions the Kunene emptied its contents into the Etosha Pan, much like the present day Okavango in Botswana. In former years massive numbers of elephant, rhino, impala and hippo may very well be found here, at the moment they've largely been hunted out, however Willem van der Riet, the first individual to navigate the river in a canoe, reported that the Kunene crocodiles had been the largest and most fearsome that he had ever seen.