Okonjima - from the Herero word meaning place of the baboons, lies nestled in the unspoilt beauty of the Omboroko Mountains, part of the well-known Waterberg Plateau, halfway between Windhoek and Etosha. Okonjima offers a variety of different accommodation facilities and is also home to the AfriCat Foundation, a non-profit organisation committed to the long-term conservation of Namibia’s large carnivores and other endangered species.
Onkoshi Camp is on the rim of the Etosha Pan on a secluded peninsula. Onkoshi is a low impact, environmentally friendly establishment. Since the lodge offers only 15 units with 30 beds, it guarantees a genuinely personal and exclusive experience. Significantly, the location is entirely out of view of current tourist routes and all other developments in the area.
Namutoni is a restcamp on the edge of Etosha pan in the Oshikoto Region in northern Namibia. It is one of the entrance gates to Etosha National Park. The most prominent structure at Namutoni is Fort Namutoni, built in 1896.
Halali is the most central camp on the east side of Etosha Park located strategically halfway between Okaukuejo Resort and Namutoni restcamp (approximately 70km either way). Although it is the smallest of these three camps Halali still has a lot to offer.
Okaukuejo is the administrative center for the Etosha National Park in Namibia. The rest camp was formerly a military outpost founded in 1901. Okaukuejo is home to one of the most popular waterholes in the Etosha National Park. It is instrumental in the dry seasons when the animals have no natural water elsewhere in the region. A highlight is observing the endangered black rhino who gather after dark.
The Etosha pan ("Land of Dry Water") is a large endorheic salt pan, forming part of the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin in the north of Namibia. It is a hollow in the ground in which water may collect or in which a deposit of salt remains after water has evaporated. At 130 km's long and up to 50km's wide in places, it is comfortably the largest salt pan in Africa and is the park's most distinctive and dramatic feature, visible even from space. The large mammals in Etosha National Park include lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, giraffe, wildebeest, cheetah, hyena, mountain and plains zebra, springbok, kudu, gemsbok and eland. Among the smaller species you will find jackal, bat-eared fox, warthog, honey badger and ground squirrel. Olifantsrus is Etosha’s newest camp and the first accommodation option in the park to offer a camping only experience, allowing you to feel that little bit closer to the incredible African bush all around you. Situated in the wilder, more remote and previously less-utilised western section of the park, Olifantsrus is approximately 60kms from Galton Gate, 130kms from Okaukuejo and 50kms from Dolomite Camp. Rare and shy species such as black rhino and black-faced impala are well-established in this quieter part of the park.
The Himba are a semi-nomadic tribe whose existence centres on herding and breeding sheep, cattle and goats. The women are known for covering their bodies with otjize, a mixture of butter fat and ochre which gives their skin and plaited hair a reddish tinge. Traditionally both men and women go topless and wear skirts or loincloths made of animal skins.
The border river between Namibia and Angola, the Kunene, plummets down a 40 metre deep gorge at the Epupa Falls close to the nearby village of Epupa. In the Herero language Epupa means “falling water”. Raw Africa at its best. My favourite place in Namibia. One of the highlights of Kaokoland in the far northern reaches of Namibia, Epupa is a magical belt of makalani palm forest on the perennial Kunene River.
The so-called Organ Pipes are situated near the small inselberg of Burnt Mountain, west of the town of Khorixas in Namibia. They are a rock formation that comprises a group of columnar basalts which resemble organ pipes. The Organ Pipes were formed about 150 million years ago as the result of the intrusion of liquid lava into a slate rock formation, which was exposed over time by erosion. Palmwag is the perfect place for contemplating all these extremely diverse desert landscapes where the last black rhinos and the desert elephants live.
Big Daddy is the tallest dune in the Sossusvlei area. This magnificent dune is situated between Sossusvlei and Deadvlei and at 325 meters it dwarfs the other dunes. Should you want the ultimate bragging rights, take a lot of water and trek to the top of Big Daddy and then run down the steep dune onto Deadvlei. Dune 7 is the highest dune in Namibia. The dune has been measured at over 1,256 feet and is named Dune 7 because it is the seventh dune one encounters after crossing the river Tsauchab. The Spitzkoppe is a group of bald granite peaks or inselbergs located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert of Namibia. The granite is more than 120 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1,728 metres above sea level. The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains.
