People who visit Namibia will be treated with gorgeous landscapes and fun adventures, which involve the extant animal rhinoceros and other wildlife—wildlife is abundant in this African country. It has a land area of 825,615 square kilometers (204 million acres) and a population of over 2.6 million people.
The country is named after the Namib Desert, which is the oldest desert in the world. It is said to be over 55 million years old. It is also a vast desert stretching over 2,000 kilometers. Incidentally, Namib also means “vast place” in the Nama language, one of over 30 languages spoken in this country. English, though, is the officially recognized language, although, Oshiwambo is the most popular language in the country.
Namibia has among the best protected natural resources in the world as it mandates conservation in its constitution. A provision of the Namibian Constitution states: “The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting international policies aimed at maintenance of ecosystems, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity of Namibia.”
Tourists, then, should expect only the best and most naturally maintained national parks. Here are 10 of the national parks in Namibia:
1. Bhabwata National Park
Located in northeastern Namibia, this park is an important migration route for African elephants that travel from Botswana to Angola. Other game animals follow this route. Unlike most national parks around the world, Namibians are living in the park—around 5,500 of them. These residents help the national government with the management of the park.
The park was officially established in 2007 but parts of it were already smaller protected areas. Park of the park used to be the Caprivi Nature Park established in 1963. Another part used to be the Mahango Game Reserve established in 1989.
The elephants are regularly moving among the countries of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia. But other animals that tourists may find in the park are the following: Cape buffaloes, common reedbucks, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, sable and roan antelopes, red lechwe, sitatungas, tsessebe, wildebeests, and zebras. Among the predators in the park are cheetahs, leopards, lions, and spotted hyenas.
The park is also home to the Mahango Area and Kavango River, which are Important Bird Areas for hosting many globally threatened species of birds. These areas are great for birding. Among the species, tourists will see here are African pygmy-goose, African skimmer, Allen’s gallinule, black-faced babbler, black-winged pratincole, coppery-tailed coucal, Dickinson’s kestrel, Rufous-bellied heron, slaty egrets, wattled crane, white-backed night heron, warbler, wood owl, and woodpecker, among many others.
There are different types of vegetation in the park from a savannah biome to woodlands, forested valley, and floodplains. Among the trees that tourists will typically see in the park are the African teak, camelthorn tree, false mopane, jackalberry, manketti, makalani palm, wild seringa, and Zambezi teak.
2. Dorob National Park
This park is located in Erongo and was declared a park in 2010 to protect the coast. The centerpiece of the park is the Walvis Bay—the park was almost named the Walvis Bay National Park. The Walvis Bay Lagoon is an important habitat for birds, which is why it was included in the Ramsar Site. Around 1.6 million birds flock to the area, particularly in the coastal part.
This park is an important part of the Namib Skeleton Coast. Its waters are great for windsurfing and kayaking. Dolphins are popular in the marine part of the park. The sandy part is also great for quad biking. Many also skydive in this park.
The park was a filming location for the 2012 film “Mad Max: Fury Road.” According to reports, that caused significant damage to the park. The park is also open to various other activities like sports and other recreational activities. But to mitigate damage, authorities have passed several regulations to ensure that natural resources will be protected.
3. Etosha National Park
This area was declared as a game reserve in 1907 because of the abundance of wildlife. It was eventually elevated as a national park in 1967. Located in the Kunene Region, the park is named after the Etosha pan that is found in the park. The salt pan covers close to a quarter of the entire park.
The Etosha pan is the centerpiece of the park, despite not many happening things in the dry basin. There is no vegetation, and no animals roam this part of the park. However, a few months a year, the basin fills up with water and attracts migratory flamingos and pelicans.
During the late 19th century, the population of large mammals like elephants, lions, and rhinoceroses was decreasing. The establishment of this park helped these species recover their population. Buffalos and wild dogs never recovered though, and are no longer found in the park. Aside from the protected game animals, tourists will also find the following in the park: aardwolves, Angolan giraffes, bat-eared foxes, black-backed jackals, black-footed cats, brown and spotted hyenas, Cape foxes, caracals, cheetahs, leopards, servals, Southern African wildcat, and wildebeests, among many others.
Another attraction in the park is the dolomite hills, interestingly called the Ondundozonananandana. The name is not interesting because it is long and hard to pronounce for foreigners, it is interesting because it means “a place where the boy went to herd cattle and never returned.” There is nothing magical about the hills, though, except that many predators live there like leopards. Part of the hills is also populated with mountain zebra.
4. Khaudum National Park
This is one of the least visited parks in Namibia because of its remote location in the Kalahari Desert, but this park is definitely worth the trouble. There are three dry rivers in the park: Cwiba, Khaudum, and Nhoma. These are important ecological natural resources because they serve as basins during the rainy season.
The most popular animal residents of the park are the predators: lions and hyenas. But generally, because the park is generally undisturbed, it has thriving wildlife. It is also an ideal birding area because as much as 320 species of birds have been documented in the park, including 50 species of birds of prey. At any given time, around 500 African bush elephants can be seen in the park. Other animals include Angolan giraffes, antelopes, Cape wild dogs, cheetahs, jackals, and leopards.
In terms of vegetation, the park is characterized by dry acacia forest and generally dry forest, with trees that grow as high as 10 meters.
5. Mangetti National Park
Originally a game reserve for breeding endangered and rare animals, this park is located in the eastern Kalahari woodlands. In 2008, the area was elevated into a national park in a bid to increase tourism in the area. For now, this park is still largely unexplored but it has the potential to become a central tourism attraction.
As an African park, Magnetti’s main attractions are of course the wildlife. Among the most common animal residents in the park are the African wild cats, African wild dogs, antelopes, Bateleur and tawny eagles, blue wildebeests, caracals, duikers, hyenas, kudus, lapped-face vultures, Meyer’s parrots, oryx, steenbok and striped kingfisher.
6. Namib-Naukluft National Park
This is the largest game park in Africa and the fourth-largest in the world. It traverses through the Namib Desert as well as the Naukluft mountain range. One of the most famous attractions of the park is the salt and clay pan, known as the Sossusvlei. It looks gorgeous with its sandy orange ground surrounded by high red dunes. The bright colors of the dunes are caused by aging—when the iron in the sand is oxidized.
The dunes in the park are also the highest in the world with an elevation of around 300 meters. The coastal area is surrounded by mudflats, lagoons, and wetlands that attract thousands of birds. The park may be hyper-arid but there is still a smattering of animals found in the park-like geckos, gemsboks, hyenas, jackals, and snakes. There are also unique insects that could be found lurking in the park.
7. Nkasa Rupara National Park
The park lies in the center of the islands of Nkasa and Rupara. This is Namibia’s largest protected wetland, which means thousands of aquatic birds surely await visitors in the park. There have been 450 species of birds documented in the park. Among the birds found in the park are the black-cheeked lovebird, Dickinson’s kestrel, Pel’s fishing owl, rosy-throated longclaw, Stanley’s bustards, yellow-billed oxpecker, and wattled crane, among many others.
Aside from the birds, among the most popular animals in the park are the hippopotamuses and crocodiles. There are around a thousand of them in aquatic areas. There are also several antelope species in the park, including some of the rare ones: orbis, pukus, red lechwe, reedbucks, and sitatungas. Other animal residents in the park are the baboons, Cape wild dogs, elephants, impala, leopards, lions, Namibian cheetahs, spotted hyenas, and warthogs.
The park also has the largest buffalo concentration in all of Namibia. Buffalo may not be such a rare animal in the general global concept, but it is quite uncommon in this part of the world.
8. Skeleton Coast National Park
This provides a very unique attraction among all parks in the world. It is unique because the shores in this park have shipwrecked. Most shipwrecks are underwater and ensconced in a marine park, but the Skeleton Coast has them around the vast shores. The park has been referred to as the world’s largest ship cemetery.
The park got its name from the number of whales that have been stranded in the arid shores of the park and lost their lives. They leave behind large skeletons, which can be seen dotting the park’s massive shore. The same happened to ships—they also got stranded in the park because of the hostile waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The sailors who survived the hostile waters could not survive the harsh conditions of the land.
This park is hard to visit so it is largely unexplored. There are two sections of the park, the northern and southern sections. The latter can be navigated by four-wheelers, but the northern part is only for a fly-in safari. Despite the contentious park conditions, wild animals still abound, but they are mostly those that have adapted to the desert conditions: brown hyenas, desert lions, elephants, giraffes, jackals, kudus, oryx, rhinos, and zebras.
9. Sperrgebiet National Park
The Sperrgebiet is a diamond mining area in southwestern Namibia. It is a large area, taking up three percent of the country’s total land area. Diamond mining happens in just five percent of the Sperrgebiet, but the entire area used to be managed by international diamond company De Beers Group. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the Namibian Government purchased a 50% stake of the park and eventually, forming a partnership with De Beers.
The area was eventually established as a national park in 2004. However, the majority of the area is not yet open to the public. De Beers intends to eventually hand over management of the park until a management plan has been completed.
There is an advantage to the park not being opened to the public in decades. Natural resources in the park were able to progress naturally. The natural progression was so significant the park now forms part of the Succulent Karoo biome. There are so many succulent species in the park, some of which are unique. Aside from thriving succulent population, tourists can also see the massive 55-meter Bogenfels rock arch in the park and a ghost town is Elizabeth Bay.
10. Waterberg Plateau Park
It got its name from the table mountain that rises from the plateau called the Waterberg. The landform is believed to have been formed some 850 million years ago. There are dinosaur tracks believed to have been left behind around 200 million years ago. Waterberg was first declared a national monument in 1956, designated as a national park in 1972.
The park is significant in revitalizing the animal population, particularly the rare species. The plateau is largely inaccessible so authorities placed some rare animals in the park to protect them from poachers. Among the most successful project was the reintroduction of the black rhinoceros, in 1989. Currently, black rhinoceros is considered a vulnerable species. Other animals in the park are antelopes, buffaloes, cheetahs, and leopards.