Cultural Tour of Namibia

I was lucky to be invited on a cultural tour of Namibia, to visit the San, Ovambo, Himba and The Damara people – the latter being one of the oldest cultural groups in Namibia. We also had a short visit to Etosha National Park. Many people still live in the round wooden huts with straw roofs and wear traditional dress, the Himba in particular have avoided western clothing and choose to mix with modern Namibians in their traditional clothing. The people are all very friendly and interesting to listen to, they live by the same traditions as their parents and grandparents and the family unit is very important. To get a real feel of the local life stay in Namibian owned accommodation, some of these are of excellent standard, with clean modern facilities and lovely food. The San and Ovambo people in the North were in particular very friendly.

There are some pretty local restaurants, even in isolated areas. Food and drink are both very reasonable, cheaper in the small local restaurants than larger hotels. We visited a Shabeen which is a local pub (really just a shed) and sat with the locals (some speak English, in particular the children).

There are smaller airports to save on the long road journeys, but I found the road journeys interesting with the different scenery, the villages enclosed in the wooden fencing, beautiful coloured birds, ostriches, water hogs, and kudu. The roads further away from Windhoek or larger towns become gravel and then in the villages, a mix of sand and gravel. Driving is good but can be slow. The main roads are sign posted, but once in the villages a sat nav is needed – a good reason to have a guide. On a personal note if I had driven I would not have stopped to talk to a group of Himba people sitting by their wooden huts, or watch the Ovambo people fishing, or meet the school children who sung to us. Our guide spoke all the dialects which meant we could ask questions and spend time watching them making baskets, grinding the wheat and talk about their lives.

Some suggestions:

- Spend time in Etosha National Park, I would recommend two or three nights minimum - Visit Oshigambo – Ongula Village Homestead, which is Namibian owned. It is small with just four homesteads, away from the main tourist areas. Spend a couple of nights relaxing and visiting the local villages. - Opuwo Country Lodge, a large hotel okay for a night en route, is in a good area for walking. - Vingerklip Lodge has stunning scenery and, again, is a good overnight stop en route to Swakopund - Scopine and Walvis Bay are nice for a few days on the coast to see the wildlife and maybe go canoeing - Sossusvlei is a lovely place to visit to see the sand dunes

My tips and advice:

- Parts of Namibia are amongst the driest places on earth so there are hot days and, dependent on where you are, the evenings can be quite cool, particularly in the North. A warm jumper is good for the evenings. - The best time of year there is winter (our summer). There is little or no rain in the winter; it is a dry heat so excellent for touring and there is no humidity. - Definitely have a guide, preferably one that lives in Namibia. - Do not take gifts – If you want to give a gift buy salt, sugar, wheat, pulses and soap (there is a special soap they can wash themselves, hair and clothes in). You can do this at the many local cheap supermarkets. - For souvenirs try and buy direct from the local people in the villages. - I would suggest spending two or three weeks touring with either a private guide or on a group tour. - It is quite dusty so light clothes are good. It gets hot during the day so knee length or below the knee shorts are good with sturdy walking shoes. Take a jumper for the evenings. The hotels are generally smart casual in the evenings. - Take plenty of tissues and lip salve due to the dry heat!

Thank you for reading my journal I hope you have found it useful