Exploring Namibia

Namibia amazes its visitors with the Namib Desert lying along the Atlantic Ocean coast. The country is located in southwest Africa and is home to diverse wildlife, including a large cheetah population.

The capital of Namibia Windhoek sits in the country’s central highlands.

Christuskirche is the city’s most recognized landmark. It is a German Lutheran church sitting on a traffic island. The building was constructed from local sandstone in 1907 and was designed by architect Gottlieb Redecker. It is a mix of neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau styles. The altarpiece, the Resurrection of Lazarus, is a copy of the renowned artwork by Rubens.

Daan Viljoen Game Park is a lovely wildlife park in the Khomas Hochland about 18 km from Windhoek. You’ll find plenty of wildlife in the desert hills like gemsboks, kudus, mountain zebras, springboks, hartebeests, warthogs, and elands. It is also the place for bird lovers with more than 200 species among them green-backed heron and pin-tailed whydah. The hills are covered with open thorn-scrub vegetation and three walking tracks. There is a luxury lodge as well.

Zoo Park is a leafy park that once served as a public zoo until 1962. Today people enjoy having picnics and enjoying the shade. Five thousand years ago this park was the site of a Stone Age elephant hunt. This prehistoric event is honored by a prominent elephant column, designed by Namibian sculptor Dorthe Berner.

The Trans-Namib Transport Museum is located in Windhoek’s lovely old Cape Dutch-style train station which was built by the Germans in 1912. Across the driveway from the entrance visitors can see the German steam locomotive, Poor Old Joe. It was shipped to Swakopmund in 1899 and reassembled for the treacherous journey across the desert to Windhoek. The transport museum is located on the second floor offering the history of Namibian transport, focusing on rail transport.

The Independence Memorial Museum opened in 2014 and is dedicated to the country’s anti-colonial and independence struggle. On the first floor are displays that tell the story of Namibia’s colonial rule. The second floor is devoted to the resistance movement and the top floor is dominated by the road to Independence. The glass elevator on the outside of the building offers great views of the city. Outside is a statue of founding president Sam Nujoma.

Heinitzburg Castle is one of three castles in Windhoek, dating from 1914. Today it is home to a hotel and a fine restaurant.

Nearby are the two other castles, Schwerinsburg and Sanderburg.

Tintenpalast is the former administrative headquarters of German South West Africa and today is the Namibian Parliament Building. The name of the building means “Ink Palace”.

The surrounding gardens were laid out in the 1930s and include an olive grove and a bowling green. In the front is Namibia’s first post-independence monument, a bronze-cast statue of the Herero chief Hosea Kutako.

Gathemann’s Complex is a complex of three colonial-era buildings designed by the famous architect Willi Sander. The building furthest to the south was built in 1902 as the Kronprinz Hotel. The building later joined Gathemann House which is now a gourmet restaurant. The most notable of the three is the Erkrath Building, built in 1910 as a private home and business.

Traveling in Namibia

Etosha National Park has many rare animals and became a game reserve in 1907. There are dry and cracked salt pans and a labyrinth of valleys in the Leopard Hills. You can see African bush elephants, plains zebras, springboks, and the uber-rare black rhino.

Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan that is surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Some of the dunes here are the highest in the world. The colossal mound of Dune 7 rises over 350 meters above sea level. Visitors prefer taking 4 x 4 tours. There are sightings of antelope, oryx, springbok, and ostrich.

The carved lands of Kaokoland are bisected by winding riverways through rock-ribbed mountains. Visitors are fascinated by the smiling Himba folk who make a living from the wilderness as nomads. It is home to the mountain elephant.

At Swakopmund, a beachside resort on the Atlantic coast visitors can see and feel the German influence. There are the lovely white sands of Swakopmund Beach and you can enjoy yourself at the beer halls and pubs. Take a walk along the lovely promenade. Craft markets sell German trinkets.

You’ll find endless stretches of sand dunes and amazing Atlantic waves at Skeleton Coast Park. It is at the spot where arid deserts meet the ocean and is famed as one of the most dangerous sections of shoreline in the world. You can see rusting carcasses of old tankers and skiffs, fishing boats, and convoy ships. There are wandering elephants and hyenas.

Twyfelfontein is an amazing spot in the dusty Kunene Region in the heart of northern Namibia. It is home to Africa’s most prolific displays of ancient rock art. It was named a UNESCO site in 2007. There are soaring table mountains and rolling savannah plains. Here you can see some of the most unusual petroglyphs.

Kolmanskop is a mystical and haunting place. A ghost town that was abandoned in the middle of the 20th century. All of the homes and municipal buildings have crumbled. At one time it was a rich town famed for its diamond boom. Hundreds of tourists visit it every year to see an abandoned way of life.

Penguin Island in Walvis Bay has tiny islets poking out of the Atlantic not far from the coast. This is home to the Jackass Penguin. There are breathtaking headlands and cliffs.

The Fish River Canyon weaves between the great mountains of southern Africa. You can see red-hued rocks rising about the valley, pits of deep sand, and colossal boulders. There are the rugged ranges known as the Three Sisters. There is a hiking path running the length of this amazing place.