Namibia is a country that gets its visitors reaching for their superlatives. For South Africans it has always been a frontier country: someplace we know but don’t understand.
The Namibia Tourism Board says more and more of us are getting better acquainted with Namibia, along with the German, Italian and Japanese tourists who come back again and again.
A group of us were treated to a week-long tour of the central and northern areas of Namibia, experiencing a range of accommodation from top-drawer lodges to chalets that make a lesser dent on the wallet.
Should you ever meet an unhappy tourist in Namibia, blame the marketers, says Donna Hannsen of Okonjima.
Namibia is a unique corner of Africa with its desert fauna and flora the obvious attractions. It has more wildlife running on private land — and, to the chagrin of motorists, public roads — than behind the fences of the national parks. However, anyone hoping for the big five experience of the Lowveld will be disappointed.
This somewhat glib sales pitch is easier swallowed coming from a woman who looks like she might have spent more time on the catwalk than the feline enclosure at the AfriCat Foundation.
Hannsen is one of a group of sib- lings who took over their father’s cattle ranch in the Omboroko mountains on the Waterberg Plateau and turned it into a shelter for leopards, cheetah, lion, caracal and other wild cats. Playing doctor, nurse and landlord to wounded, habituated and captured cats costs the foundation big bucks.
Namibia is home to a quarter of Africa’s cheetahs and 90% of these live on farmland rather than in national parks. So there is no shortage of cats brought in by farmers who have been conditioned to trap rather than shoot this threat to their livestock.
The AfriCat establishment, sited near Otijiwarongo, about halfway between Windhoek and Etosha, also runs an education programme hosting large groups of schoolchildren from around the country and teaching the importance of cohabiting with the big cats.
The tourism element was introduced to pay the bills and has attained such success it could easily be a self-sustaining project.
The bush lodge at Okonjima — meaning “place of the baboons” in Herero — has the most elegantly imaginative bush accommodation I have encountered. A large thatch rondavel is divided into bedroom, lounge and bathroom/dressing room.
What makes it so special is the removable canvas wall that extends more than 40% of the building’s circumference giving a spectacular panoramic view of the bush to the occupant from the comfort of a king-size bed, lounger or sofa.
The drives in Namibia are long but as comfortable as anywhere else in the world. The roads are unusually wide. This was explained to me on my first visit 30 years ago as a military feature — giving military vehicles an unimpeded long view to obviate the danger of ambushes. This time round our guide explained it as a safety factor to allow drivers plenty of time to avoid kudu.
Etosha Aoba is near the park’s northernmost Numatoni Gate. It is not as close to the entrance to Etosha as those establishments that capture the increasing number of foreign tourists who demand more luxury than the Namibia public parks system is able to provide. Nevertheless, the size of the property allows game drives right up to the fence of Etosha, with parts of the pan stretching on to the property.
The owner, George Zimmerman, has leased off the improvements to a group of entrepreneurs who look after the tourists. When the fancy takes him, Zimmerman dons the khakis and becomes a ranger for the game drives — rather like a newspaper proprietor who becomes a reporter and lets someone else handle the drag of running the publication.
A delightful character, with a humour drier than the dusty roads he traverses, Zimmerman doffs his battered cap to every animal after he has shown it to his guests.
He is an expert on the termites whose 2m mounds abound despite the aardvark. Etosha is a game reserve designed for sitting around in. Because it is arid most of the year you go to a waterhole and wait for the animals to come to you.
The accommodation in the park is perfect with Okaukuejo probably the best. However, it is well worth dispensing with the luxuries to have a night at the floodlit waterhole.
To the south of Etosha — close enough to reach within an hour in an open vehicle — lies Namibia’s first five-star game lodge.
Since no such official appellation exists, the claim made by Epacha Game Lodge and Spa is backed by none other than the country’s Prime Minister Theo Ben Gurirab.
Epacha is the realisation of a critically ill young man’s dream. Paul van de Vijver made good on his promise to acquire a lodge in Africa when his 18-year-old son survived a fight with cancer.
Van de Vijver sold his fashion business and took his maiden trip to Southern Africa, visiting 35 of the top lodges before deciding to buy into Namibia.
Each of the 18 spacious chalets is individually designed by Van de Vijver and furnished with antiques bought on a spree in South Africa.
Clearly no expense has been spared in building this imposing and luxurious rival to the finest lodges in the subcontinent.
The tented camp was a personal favourite for its spectacular views from the dry, stone terraces and turrets and for its own spa facilities.
On a tight schedule, we were unable to enjoy all the facilities offered by Epacha — although even a week there would not have sufficed for that.
En route to the world-famous rock painting and engravings at Twyfelfontein, we stopped at the petrified forest — the domain of Damara guides, who are doing an increasingly good job of showing tourists their difficult part of the country including some fine welwitschia, one of the oldest plants known to man.
Twyfelfontein Lodge itself blends into the huge boulders with a natural entrance giving the impression of emerging to civilisation after a long and hot walk through a canyon.
The Erono Wilderness Lodge nearby is the realisation dream of a Benoni idealist — no, not Charlize Theron.
Mike Warren has put down roots at this gathering place of desert elephant and black rhino in a valley among massive sandstone hills. He has developed a relaxed facility that offers hiking, climbing, game drives and lounging at a pool hewn out of the rock.
In Windhoek, two hours away, we stayed at the castle-like Hotel Heinitzburg, which has that blend of Bavaria and bush that makes Namibia so special.
The capital has a number of big luxurious hotels but, rather like Pretoria, it is the smaller establishments like this that have the real style and class.
The views from the terrace, particularly the sunsets, are unforgettable.
Happily — for both us and the thirsty Namibians — a shower drove us indoors where we dined in the cavernous wine cellar.
Afrikaans seems to be the lingua franca of the city — more acceptable now that it is no longer the tongue of the occupier — that has not lost its distinctly German flavour.
On a Saturday morning the main drag, renamed Independence Avenue, reflects the bustle of a thriving city without losing its relaxed atmosphere.
For history buffs there is enough to hold one for several days.
There has not been much new building since independence 14 years ago, but the apartheid ons is hier om to bly (we are here to stay) edifices have been admirably adapted to the new country. The South African embassy dominates the diplomatic quarter, not surprisingly since it was formerly a hotel.
We could have done without Joe’s Beerhouse, billed as the best pub in Africa. Sure the beer is cold and copious — but where is it not in Namibia.
The supposedly charming clutter of the place gives it a junkyard feel. Signs everywhere warn patrons not to take pictures without the owner’s permission. Average pub fare in an untidy pub. I just didn’t get it.
Jean-Jacques Cornish was hosted by the Namibia Tourism Board and flown courtesy of Air Namibia. For more information, visit www.namibiantourism.com.na