At a scar of an airstrip in the Namib desert, our pilot
landed his four-man Cessna and then proceeded to kill time before
turnaround by encouraging a couple of armoured ground crickets
– glossy-backed beasts the size of small mice – into
battle.
Local guides often kill time by seeing who can spit oryx
droppings the furthest, while tourists pass the day catching flies
as jaw-dropping scenery catches them unawares for the umpteenth
time that day.
Everything in Namibia is big. Its blue skies and endless desert
plains are home to large locusts, huge birds’ nests, massive
sand dunes and enormous sunsets. We landed just as the setting sun
was casting an apricot glow across the surrounding desert
tableau.
While game is certainly on the menu here in more ways than one
–it is not the main draw in Namibia. Its forté is large
areas of scenic beauty – sometimes the vista is so empty and
flat that when it joins the horizon you really can imagine falling
over what appears to be “the edge”. As Bales Worldwide marketing
manager Raymond Howe put it: “You can’t fail to take a good
photograph.”
From desert to mountain and wild coast to green plain,
Namibia’s superlative landscape lures anoraks by the
truckload. Star-gazers, twitchers, botanists and amateur and
professional photographers on photo safaris – pockets bulging
with lenses and film – have long enjoyed its wild, expansive
beauty.
In fact, if there were an “ometer” to measure how large, empty
and isolated a country can be, Namibia would be up with the best. A
population of 1.8 million rattles around in a country three times
the size of the UK, the capital Windhoek is little more than a
large town, and mobile phone signals are more elusive than people.
On an average day, most tourists will encounter more wild oryx and
roaming kudu than fellow humans. Namibia is escapism with a capital
E.
Travelling to far-flung locales is part of the fun here, and our
chartered four-seater Cessna had brought us an hour from Windhoek
to the edge of the NamibRand Nature Reserve. For those on fly-in
safaris, this is the jump-off point for Namibia’s graceful,
curving dunes at Sossusvlei, 50 miles south. Dune 7, at 1,000ft, is
said to be the highest in the world – and is infinitely
photogenic.
Also in the area is Wolvedans, an upmarket desert wilderness
lodge and dune camp situated quite literally in the middle of
nowhere. The well-appointed tents and chalets offer some of the
most expansive views money can buy. When not relaxing at base, most
visitors head out into the reserve with a Land Rover and guide. And
they won’t see another soul. Instead, on a good day,
they’ll see herds of kudu and the graceful desert oryx with
its trademark horns – both may appear later on your dinner
plate – ostrich, birds, zebra and giraffe and all manner of
beetles, including the hardy and wingless tok-tokkie which, like
many of the indigenous creatures, has adapted to Namibia’s harsh
desert conditions. We were lucky enough to see all of these, plus a
bonus sighting of two almost comical ostrich, with seven waddling
chicks in tow. We lunched at the so-called hard rock café in a
natural cave and finished with a sundowner at a magnificent spot in
the brick-red dunes.
In the evenings, guests gather round a campfire for drinks
before embarking on a gourmet four-course dinner. A typical menu
might consist of mango soup served with poppadoms, mushroom
ravioli, oryx fillet served with polenta, and pecan mousse to
finish.
Wolvedans typifies the type of holiday experience visitors will
find in Namibia. A high standard of accommodation and food, peace
and quiet on tap and a back-to-nature holiday experience where
every morning begins with a view – and possibly the snuffling
of a family of warthogs, as mine did at Gocheganas. One of the
country’s newest resorts, Gocheganas’ 16 thatched
cottages overlooking a 6,000-hectare nature reserve. During one
game drive I ticked off 10 ostrich, blue and black wildebeest,
steenbok, springbok, giraffe, mountain zebra, mongoose, eland,
oryx, kudu, klipspringers, waterbuck and warthogs.
Given Namibia’s obvious attractions, it was only a matter
of time before UK tourists – particularly Africa hands
yearning for pastures new – woke up to what Namibia has to
offer. Numbers are small compared with those flocking to east and
South Africa, but the UK is a key visitor market after Germany.
Sunvil managing director Chris McIntyre said: “Namibia is very up
and coming and we’ve seen steady growth since we started
featuring it 12 years ago.”
A long-awaited direct flight from the UK, now mooted to launch
next year, could be crucial in leveraging more UK visitors. Air
Namibia currently offers four flights a week to Windhoek via
Frankfurt. “A direct flight would help immensely,” said McIntyre,
“especially at the mid to lower end of the market where it could
knock a fair amount off Jo’burg routing.”
Many visitors arrive via Johannesburg and a number of operators
feature Namibia as a twin-centre with Cape Town and
Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
Louise Stanion, Africa product manager for Cox and Kings, said a
direct flight would benefit clients at the top end of the market.
“For 2005 we have introduced Air Namibia flights to save connection
time. We also have a new Namibia Great Safari tour. Its uses
private internal flights and is a very good option for those
clients prepared to pay.”
