Namibia: An Epic and Unforgettable Adventure

This is a guest post by my long-time friend, Ruth Thompson. Ruth and I met many years ago when Ruth did her LLM at Dalhousie Law School in Halifax. Ruth has had a long and distinguished career as a law professor and Director of the Program of Legal Studies for Native People at the University of Saskatchewan.

Ruth travels the world, searching for exotic destinations that are off the beaten track.

I am very happy that Ruth and I have kept in touch over the years. Ruth is a loyal boomervoice follower.

Please give a big shout-out to Ruth for sharing her epic and unforgettable adventure in Namibia.

If you have a travel adventure to share, from your neighbourhood or the world, let me know and we can put it together on boomervoice. And now, over to Ruth:

Off the Beaten Track, but not: Namibia

Ruth Thompson

When I booked a trip to Namibia I didn’t know exactly what to expect, other than some fantastic landscapes. I knew a bit about the country – where to find it on the map, its difficult history under German and then South African rule, and its reputation for amazing landscapes. I found that most of the people I talked to knew even less. (“Is that up north?” was the most surprising reaction to my travel plans.) Namibia is north-west of South Africa, south of Angola and west of Botswana. Before its independence in 1990 it was known as South West Africa, which gives an idea of its location, hugging the Atlantic coast.

Getting there is half the fun — if you like long flights

I couldn’t find anything direct from Canada to South Africa, and certainly not to Namibia, so my time in the air each way was 24 hours. However, even the flight there gave me beautiful views.

Namibia is paradise

The whole country is desert or semi-arid, which might sound a bit dull, but it provides both drama and variety. I’m a desert fan, always happy in the presence of stark rocks, sand dunes and desert vegetation. I’m fascinated by harsh desert environments, and desert inhabitants – plants, animals and people – who work extra hard just to stay alive. So Namibia was a paradise for me.

The Namib Desert is the oldest desert in the world, and has the highest sand dunes

I joked that the Namib Desert is so old the rocks are wrinkled

Dune 45 is a star dune in the Namib Desert

Namib-Naukluft National Park is the prime place so see the famous dunes in Namibia.

People are not allowed to climb every dune in Namib-Naukluft National Park because of the damage it causes, so they flock to Dune 45 where climbing is permitted.

Namibia is a photographer’s dream

I had marked 150 favourite phone photos when I gave up trying to distinguish which photos were more interesting, or beautiful, or exotic.

What a tree!

Sunrise near Namib-Naukluft National Park

I would have sworn this was fog at sunrise near Namib-Naukluft National Park. It was a cool morning so fog made sense to me, but of course it’s dust. Just as pretty as fog.

See Four of “The Big Five” in Namibia

When I announced that I was going to Namibia, a friend asked if I’d see animals. I honestly had no idea, because I was in it for the landscapes, but a little research told me that, yes, there would be animals. They were a bonus for me, but for many they are the prime reason to visit.

Although you can’t see all of the “The Big Five” (lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and Cape buffalo) in Namibia because Cape Buffalo don’t live there – you can see the other four. I saw “only” lion, elephant, and rhino. (Here is where the phone photos are clearly inferior to what I could have captured with a functioning digital camera!)

https://cheetah.org/about/what-we-do/conservation/

These are livestock guarding dogs

Anatolian sheep dogs are raised at the Cheetah Centre to be given to farmers to protect their flocks from predators. Apparently, cheetahs are unfairly blamed for livestock deaths and are therefore killed by farmers. Having the flocks protected by these dogs saves cheetah lives as well as the sheep and goats. No playing with the puppies however – they need to bond with the flock, not with people, so handling is minimal.

A warthog is one “The Ugly Five”

The “Big 5” are such a big deal that other lists to tick off have been created. I managed to see two of the “Little 5” (an elephant shrew and leopard tortoise) and at least 1 of the ugly 5: warthog — which would be pretty hard not to see since they are everywhere. There are even warthog highway signs (as you might see a deer or moose sign in Canada) and they are very frequently seen in ditches along the highway.

Twyfelfontein is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of ancient rock engravings

The Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes UNESCO World Heritage Site provides access to hundreds of well-preserved ancient rock engravings which are at least 2000 years old.

Twyfelfontein is situated in a dramatic red rock valley that has been a gathering place for millennia

Mopane worms are on the menu for our farewell dinner

We went to the market to see traditional foods being sold, and walked around the neighbourhoods with a constant commentary about their history and daily life there.

The Herero traditionally make a living tending livestock

We stopped at a daycare where a woman who was home for a break from university introduced us to Herero culture.

We visited a community centre where we had a lesson in click language

Our meal included of some of the foods we saw in the market, most notably mopane worms (which I think are actually caterpillars). Although we had fish, chicken, and salad, along with our spinach paste, beans, flat bread and rice, I think that the township residents stick mainly to the latter dishes for their daily fare. The mopane worms are fried. They are chewy, and not too flavourful, but not offensive. I was very happy to have an opportunity to try them. (We were told we “had to” try them or we’d walk back to the hotel, but I would have anyway!) I was too busy enjoying the meal to take any photos.

Our township tour was topped off by entertainment from a group of township singers. The group of about eight young men performed a cappella versions of their own original songs, traditional songs, and a tribute to Ladysmith Black Mambazo whose style they emulate. Excellent singers! I was so caught up in the performance I forgot to take a photo!

On the first leg of my flight home, leaving Windhoek, I was seated with a young Namibian who was on his way to an international conference. I think I scored some points in our conversation when I was able to honestly say that I’d tried mopane worms! And he was even more impressed to find that I’d eaten them at his friend’s restaurant! (Like Saskatchewan, despite its size, Namibia seems to be one big small town!)

When you stick to the standard tourist places you feel you are not contributing much to the local economy, other than the wages of the hotel staff, which I suspect are not very high. It’s pretty clear that the hotels are not owned by local Namibians. The tour that I took did make a point of supporting some local businesses – such as coffee shops, restaurants, the township tour, and guided desert walks. All of them were highlights for me.

Namibia: the expected and the unexpected

Namibia is amazing and beautiful, full of both expected and unexpected landscapes and wildlife. Here are photos of the desert I expected: a lone tree; a social weaver’s nest in a tree; a termite mound.

That lone tree in the desert

The social weaver’s nest

The termite mound

Sunset over the pier on the Atlantic Ocean

Namibia’s difficult – but not in the ways that you might think. Happily, the water in most places is safe to drink, for example. The mineral content is different, so bottled water is still recommended, but you can definitely brush your teeth with the tap water without getting sick. (I’ve been so sick – twice — in other countries because, in the doziness of an early morning departure, I brushed my teeth with tap water. I can’t tell you how happy I was with Namibia’s water quality!)

Other than public transportation, the infrastructure for tourism is excellent. All the major tourism sites have accommodation that ranges from camping, to decent hotels, to fabulous desert lodges.

It’s not an easy trip in other ways. The country’s bigger than France (over 825,000 square km) and there’s something to see everywhere, so there’s a lot of distance to cover.

I’m usually an independent traveller, but for this trip I decided to book a small group tour which was a great choice. I spent 10 days with a group of 12 travellers in the care of a guide and a driver. The 14 of us were from 7 different countries. Together we covered well over 2000 km of Namibia’s roads and hit many of Namibia’s highlights. That meant some days with a lot of time on the bus, but the tour had built in interesting stops along the way to break up the day.

I’d definitely recommend a trip to Namibia for its great landscapes, wildlife, and some history you might not know. It takes some effort but is well worth it.

Thank you, Ruth, for sharing your epic and unforgettable adventure off the beaten track in Namibia

Please share Ruth’s story with friends and family who may dream of an exotic vacation destination in Namibia