Namibia neighbours South Africa and is a very popular tourist destinations, especially for South Africans. It also shares borders with Zimbabwe, Botswana, Angola and Zambia. The country was governed by Germany and South Africa up until 1990 when a democratically elected government took over, and Namibia achieved independence. Although Namibia does make money from other industries such as mining, fishing and agriculture, the fastest growing industry is tourism.
Being in Africa, means that the weather is typically quite hot, with summer days often getting up to 35C and winter days not often going below 23C.
Some of the top things to do in Namibia include visiting the Skeleton Coast. This is a beautiful stretch of coastline, with many shipwrecks and great fishing to be had. The Damaraland features some of the most rugged and least explored parts of Namibia, and has simply spectacular scenery. In Damaraland some amazing sites include Rock Finger, the Petrified Forest and bushman rock engravings. Fish River Canyon is another highlight, being 161km long, 27km wide and 550m deep.
The capital of Namibia is Windhoek, which is based roughly in the centre of the country. Although cities can be boring if one is looking for wildlife, it is worth a visit, if just to see the old German buildings and monuments. Speaking of which, to get a real feel of the ‘old world’, take a trip to Swakopmund, which is at the coast and still has many coffee shops selling traditional German pastries.
Flights to Namibia from South Africa are frequent and relatively affordable. The main airlines servicing the route include air Namibia, SAA, and British Airways. Most flights will fly into Windhoek.