Insight Guides Namibia

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight
• Print ISBN: 9781780052946
• eBook ISBN: 9781780058436
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

Insight Guide Namibia is a comprehensive full-colour guide to the culture, history and people of this stunning country. Be inspired by our Best of Namibia section highlighting unmissable sights and experiences and lavish Photo Features on topics such as gemstones, unusual birds and dunescapes. Our unrivalled coverage of history, landscape and culture provides an essential introduction to Namibia's rich heritage and contemporary life, to complement the in-depth coverage of the arts, activities and modern culture. A detailed Places section, with stunning travel photography and full-colour maps, shows you where to go and what to do, from national parks teeming with wildlife, desolate coastal plains, colonial towns lost in time, prehistoric rock art to searing landscapes of baking-hot sand dunes - making sure you don't miss anything. A comprehensive Travel Tips section gives you all the travel advice you need to plan your trip, with our selective, independent reviews to guide you to the most authentic hotels and restaurants.

Accommodation

Price Categories

Based on B&B rate for twin double room.

$$$$ = above US$180 (N$2,000)

$$$ = US$130–180 (N$1,400–2,000)

$$ = US$75–140 (N$800–1,400)

$ = under US$75 (N$800)

Where to Stay

Visitors to Namibia are increasingly well catered for when it comes to accommodation. Indeed, there is no better indicator of how greatly the country’s tourist industry has expanded since independence than the immense increase in the number, variety and overall quality of lodgings. There are smart business-style hotels in the cities and swish yet organic bush lodges in the game reserves, down-to-earth small-town guesthouses and rural guest farms, and even well-equipped state-run campsites and self-catering resorts in the national parks. Standards are generally high, and rates are very reasonable by international standards, this despite a significant post-independence swing away from the budget-oriented South African self-drive market to a truly cosmopolitan clientele.

It is advisable to book hotel and lodge accommodation in advance, ideally through a reputable tour operator, particularly if you are travelling during the peak international tourist season, which runs from July to February but experiences something of a lull in October and November. If you prefer a more spontaneous approach, you’re unlikely to ever experience a problem finding a room in Windhoek, and should also be able to improvise in larger towns, especially out of season, but do bear in mind that the distances between rural lodges are often daunting – you wouldn’t want to pitch up in the Sesriem-Sossusvlei region, for instance, and end up having to drive from door-to-door looking for a vacant room, so do at least make a phone booking a day or two ahead.

For campsites and self-catering accommodation, advance reservations are essential during Namibian and South African summer holidays (early December to mid-January), and on most weekends and public holidays, especially around Easter. At other times of year, campsites and self-catering resorts are seldom fully booked. During the peak summer season, accommodation is restricted to three nights at each of the camps in the Etosha National Park and to 10 nights at each of the following rest camps: Ai-Ais, Gross Barmen and Daan Viljoen. Visitors should note that no refund will be made if a reservation is cancelled or altered less than 10 days prior to the first date indicated on the reservation advice.

Note that all accommodation and campsites in the national parks and other state-owned reserves and resorts (several of which are listed in the pages that follow) are managed by Namibia Wildlife Resorts. The main booking office in Windhoek can be contacted during the opening hours of 8am–5pm Mon–Fri (tel: [phone]; email: [email protected]) or you can book online at www.nwr.com.na. There are also branches in Swakopmund (tel: [phone]; email: [email protected]) and in Cape Town, South Africa (tel: [phone]; email: [email protected]).

For travellers who want a true taste of the Namibian rural way of life, the Namibian Community Tourism Enterprises (formerly Namibian Community Based Tourism Association) is a non-profit organisation, founded in 1995, to manage a selection of community-run tourism projects and campsites supporting the development of rural communities. It includes 34 sites in all, several with basic accommodation as well camping sites. Some of the more interestingly located of these sites include Aba Huab at Twyfelfontien, Brandberg White Lady Lodge & Camp, Kanamub Mountain Camp, Spitzkoppe Camp, Van Zyl’s Pass Campsite, Bruckaros Campsite, Hippo Pool Campsite at the Ruacana Falls, Kunene Village Campsite and Ngoabaca Campsite near Popa Falls. All these community camps and campsites are bookable online through the Spitzkoppe Reservations and Info Centre (tel: [phone]; www.spitzkoppereservations.com).

Windhoek and Environs

City Centre

The accommodation listed below all lies within the city centre or easy walking distance of it.

Chameleon Backpackers Lodge

5-7 Voigt St North

Tel: [phone]

www.chameleonbackpackers.com

This perennially popular budget lodge has a friendly vibe, the choice of private rooms, camping or dorms, good facilities including a swimming pool, pool table, satellite TV and internet, and the attached tour operator sets up budget safaris all around the country. $

Hotel Heinitzburg

22 Heinitzburg Street

Tel: [phone]

www.heinitzburg.com

Part of the prestigious Relais and Châteaux Group, thi...

Table of contents

• How To Use This E-Book
• Namibia’s Top 10 Attractions
• Editor’s Choice
• Introduction: United Colours
• The People
• Decisive Dates
• Beginnings
• Early Explorers
• Enter the Germans
• The Path to Independence
• The Modern Republic
• The Economic Balancing Act
• Insight: Gemstones
• Food and Drink
• Religious Beliefs
• The Arts
• The Architectural Heritage
• Active Pursuits
• On Safari
• The Predators
• Grazers and Browsers
• Namibia’s Birds
• Amphibians and Reptiles
• Plant Life
• Introduction: Places
• Windhoek
• Central Namibia
• Northern Namibia
• Etosha National Park
• Insight: Namibia’s Charismatic Birds
• The Caprivi
• Northwest Namibia
• The Skeleton Coast
• Insight: The Living Dunes of the Namib Desert
• Swakopmund and Walvis Bay
• Namib-Naukluft National Park
• Southern Namibia
• Transport
• Accommodation
• Eating Out
• Activities
• A-Z: A Handy Summary of Practical Information
• Further Reading