Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Wildlife Watching
Botswana is one of Africa's great safari destinations. There are more elephants here than
in any other country on the planet. But whether it's elephants, lions, leopards, hyenas, rhi-
nos, buffaloes, antelopes or myriad other species, the numbers and variety in Botswana
will quickly overwhelm your digital camera. In Namibia the series of waterholes around
Etosha Pan attract astounding numbers of animals especially in the dry season, making
wildlife watching as simple as parking your car, putting your feet up and letting the anim-
als come to you. And if that's not up-close-and-personal enough, what about the chance to
track highly endangered black rhinos...on foot?
Landscape
The landscapes of Namibia and Botswana will sometimes leave you wondering if you
have arrived on another planet. That mighty gash hacked out of the earth's surface at Fish
River Canyon is one of the great natural sights on the continent. Lonely desert roads ex-
pose you to a wilderness that will clear your mind and work its way into your soul. Hu-
mongous slabs of flat-topped granite rise out of mists of windblown sand and swirling
dust - the effect is ethereal with the granite appearing to float above the ground. As the
road snakes into the distant horizon you may just feel as though you are driving through a
coffee-table book of landscapes.
Ancient Culture
The ancestors of the San, an ancient people who have direct links back to the Stone Age,
left behind extraordinary records in the form of rock paintings dotted throughout the re-
gion. The Tsodilo Hills, Botswana's only Unesco World Heritage Site, showcase the
pictorial record of this prehistoric culture, as do extensive galleries of rock art in Namibia.
Also, in Namibia, opportunities to interact with local cultures in the north include meeting
the Himba of the Kaokoveld (a Herero subgroup that were a part of the early Bantu migra-
tions). Here the women are famous for smearing themselves with a fragrant mixture of
ochre, butter and bush herbs, which dyes their skin a burnt-orange hue.
Adventure Activities
Namibia is Southern Africa's headquarters for adrenaline-pumping fun. Fling yourself out
of a plane and float back to earth, hurl yourself down a sand dune, surf the breakers on the
Atlantic coast or head off into a desert sunset atop a camel. There are many ways to en-
