Happy New Year Everyone
The holiday season provides us with an opportunity to rest, reflect, and spend quality time with loved ones. I traveled to Namibia, my place of birth and upbringing, for Christmas and New Year. This holiday was particularly special as I returned with my husband and daughter. Namibia possesses abundant natural resources, with its primary export commodities including raw copper, cut diamonds, gemstones, granite, lead products, marble, uranium, and zinc (www.namibiahc.org.uk). The Land of the Brave offers several noteworthy places to visit, and in this post, I will share a few recommendations.
Swakopmund
It is an exquisite coastal town adorned with sandy beaches along the Atlantic Ocean, and it is also in proximity to areas that offer adventurous tours featuring activities such as quad-biking, camel riding, sandboarding, and skydiving. During Christmas and New Year’s Eve, families come together, setting up music and enjoying a beachside barbecue,(known as braai) grilling mouth-watering, delicious meat.
Langstrand also known as Longbeach
It is situated between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, offering a clean, tranquil, and serene residential environment with expansive holiday homes suitable for large families. Our time there was delightful, spent taking walks, observing dolphins play in the distance, and, of course, witnessing the spectacular sunset at the beach.
Walvisbay
It serves as the primary port town in Namibia, complemented by the presence of Walvis Bay International Airport, although the main international airport in Namibia is Hosea Kutako International Airport. According to Walvis Bay Salt Holdings (WBSH), they are the leading producers of solar sea salt in sub-Saharan Africa, processing 93 million cubic meters of saltwater annually to yield over 900,000 tons of high-quality salt, referred to as white gold (www.unitrans.africa). This positions Namibia as one of the largest exporters of salt in Africa, with Western European and North American countries benefiting significantly from these substantial production levels.
Walvis Bay is also a habitat for various vibrant and colourful birds, particularly the strikingly long-legged Flamingos, hashtag teamlonglegs. Personally, I affectionately consider them my tribe due to their long necks and legs, which bear a resemblance to mine. Interestingly, my childhood nickname was Flamingo, and though I used to be upset when kids called me that, I now embrace my 6ft height.
Omaheke region
Located in the eastern part of Namibia, this region is inhabited by the Ovaherero and San People tribes. This region is abundantly scattered with a variety of cattle’s, goats, and sheep’s, as the Herero tribes predominantly engage in farming. Notably, “the livestock population of Namibia is about 2.5 million cattle, 2.4 million sheep, and 1.8 million goats, with approximately 80% of Namibia’s beef and mutton exported to South Africa and the European Union” (www.namibiahc.org.uk). Moreover, the landscape is lush with nutritious grasslands for the herds to graze, and the sturdy trees yield high-quality hardwood used for fireplaces.
