Places of interest of Namibia

Caprivi, or Caprivi Strip, a narrow strip of land in north-eastern Namibia. It stretches for around 450 km fr om Rundu to Botswana and Zambia and is bordered by the Kwando, Okavango, Chobe and Zambezi rivers.

Caprivi was named after German Chancellor (1890–1894) Leo von Caprivi, who negotiated the acquisition of the land in an 1890 exchange with England. Von Caprivi arranged for Caprivi to be annexed to German South-West Africa in order to give Germany access to the Zambezi River and a route to east coast of Africa, wh ere the second German colony in Africa - Tanganyika was situated. Caprivi is rich in wildlife and has mineral resources. Of particular interest to the government of Namibia is that it gives access to the Zambezi River and thereby a potential trading route to Africa's East Coast. Within Namibia the Caprivi Strip provides significant habitat for the critically endangered Wild African Dog, Lycaon pictus. It is a corridor for African elephant moving from Botswana and Namibia into Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

National parks

National parks located in the Caprivi Strip are Bwabwata National Park, Mudumu National Park and Nkasa Lupala National Park. Local communities have organised themselves into communal area conservancies and community forests and work with the Namibian Government to jointly manage natural resources through several programs set up between the Namibian Government and various donors.

The name Kalahari is derived from the Tswana word Kgala, meaning "the great thirst", or Kgalagadi (also name of district in Botswana), meaning "a waterless place".

Kalahari Desert has vast areas covered by red sand without any permanent surface water. Drainage is by dry valleys, seasonally inundated pans, and the large salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in wildlife. Ancient dry riverbeds, "omuramba" traverse the central northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season.

The Kalahari Desert (in Afrikaans Kalahari-woestyn) is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in southern Africa extending 900,000 square kilometres (350,000 sq mi), covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. A semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains, the Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert, such as the Namib Desert to the west.

There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperatures are very high. The driest areas usually receive 110–200 millimetres (4.3–7.9 in) of rain per year, and the wettest just a little over 500 millimetres (20 in). The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi) extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Namib desert is one of the oldest deserts in the world that gives name to Namibia. The name is of Nama origin and means "vast enless space". Namib Desert stretches from South Africa to Angola along Atlantic coast of Namibia for around 2000 km and only about 100 km inland.

Sossusvlei (sometimes written Sossus Vlei) is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. The name "Sossusvlei" is often used in an extended meaning to refer to the surrounding area (including other neighbouring vleis such as Dead Vlei and other high dunes), which is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia.

The name "Sossusvlei" is of mixed origin, and roughly means "dead end marsh". Vlei is the Afrikaans word for "marsh", while "sossus" is nama for "no return" or "dead end". Sossusvlei owes this name to the fact that it is an endorheic drainage basin (i.e., a drainage basin without outflows) for the ephemeral Tsauchab River.

The Waterberg Plateau Park is located 280 km north of Windhoek. The mountain owes its name to the springs surfacing on its lower slopes, and the lush vegetation that grows here contrasts sharply with the thorn savannah of the surrounding plains.

The plateau itself is one of the most interesting geological sites in the country. Some features such as dinosaur tracks and petrified dunes make it almost a must stop for travellers on the way further north to Etosha Park. One of the reasons for establishing the park was to protect and resettling endangered species (black and white rhinoceros, buffalo, roan and sable antelopes). It is also not unusual to encounter leopards, rock dassie, klipspringer, tsessebe, wild dog, lesser bush babies and cheetahs. The only Cape vulture colony in Namibia lives in the Karakuwisa mountain on the western edge of the Waterberg Plateau.

The plateau rises more than 200 metres above the surrounding plains with a width of between 8 and 16 kilometres and a length of about 49 kilometres from south-west to north-east. The average altitude of the plateau is between 1650 and 1700 meters above sea level.

The area is also rich in a plant life. The total of approximately five hundred plants have been recorded in and around the park.

The geology of the plateau is as interesting as history of the area. The eroded sedimentary rock which forms it was deposited during Karoo Age about 220 to 180 million years ago.

A Rhenish mission station was established at the Waterberg in 1873, than later destroyed during Nama/Herero wars and rebuilt again in 1891. During 1904 in time of Herero Uprising the battle between Hereros and German Colonial forces took place at the Waterberg. As a reminder of this event a graveyard can be seen in the vicinity of the camp.

The rest camp offers comfortable accommodation in family nad bush chalets. There is a petrol station and a shop at the camp as well as a restaurant in old police station building. Camping sites are also available.

The eastern Namibia is mostly cattle farming area and Gobabis, the capital of Omaheke Region.

Gobabis is a town in eastern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Omaheke Region, and the district capital of the Gobabis electoral constituency. Gobabis is situated 200 km (120 mi) down the B6 motorway from Windhoek to Botswana. The town is 110 km (68 mi) from the Buitepos border post with Botswana, and serves as an important link to South Africa on the tarred Trans-Kalahari Highway. Gobabis is in the heart of the cattle farming area. In fact Gobabis is so proud of its cattle farming that a statue of a large Brahman bull with the inscription "Cattle Country" greets visitors to the town. Gobabis borders the Kalahari Desert, and is traditionally in the land of the Herero people.

Khomas Hochland is a part of interior plateau of central Namibia. It elevated from 1700 m to 2000 m above sea level. From Windhoek several routes lead to the Namib Desert: Spreetshoogte, Remhoogte and Gamsberg passes. At least five hours must be set aside for travelling any of these routes to reach Sesriem. Attractions include Daan Viljoen Park, Von Bach Resort, Herero chiefs graves in small town of Okahandja (and its annual Herero festival), Gross Barmen Resort, historial towns - Omaruru and Karibib. Erongo Mountains, that gave name to Erongo Region, boasts famous Spitzkoppe Mountain.