About this ebook
Namibia’s immense emptiness offers majestic sand dunes along the Skeleton Coast, seemingly endless gravel plains, vast tracts of farmland and rugged mountains hiding galleries of ancient San rock art. Throw in exhilarating wildlife encounters and the unexpected beauty of the rivers that define the country’s northern and southern boundaries, and it’s easy to see why Namibia attracts lovers of the great outdoors. Moreover, the country is extraordinarily diverse in human terms. Alongside the increasingly cosmopolitan feel of its capital, Windhoek, and the coastal town of Swakopmund, Namibia is home to many different cultures, among them the Himba in the Kunene region, and the San on the fringes of the Kalahari.
Written by expert author and long-standing Africa tour specialist Chris McIntyre, and updated by two outdoor-adventure experts from South Africa, this new edition incorporates all key recent changes to this comparatively inexpensive safari destination. It provides unrivalled coverage of places to stay and eat, from small, personal guesthouses to classy hotels and upmarket game lodges, and detailed information for self-drivers (including personally researched and checked GPS coordinates) as well as for fly-in and guided safaris. Indeed, getting around Namibia is part of its appeal: the well-maintained road network, punctuated by independent lodges, makes light of long distances.
Helping you to discover Namibia in detail, 13 chapters offer a regional breakdown, from Windhoek to the Southern Kalahari, Namib Desert, Swakopmund, Skeleton Coast, the world-renowned wildlife-watching destination of Etosha National Park, and the Kavango and Zambezi regions in the extreme northeast, including excursions into neighbouring Botswana. There’s also in-depth coverage of wildlife and where to see it, including a full-colour field guide encompassing mammals, reptiles and amphibians, marine life and birds. In sum, Bradt’s Namibia guidebook remains the essential travel companion for this thrilling country.
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About the author
Chris McIntyre (expertafrica.com) went to Africa in 1987, after reading Physics at Queen’s College, Oxford. He taught with VSO in Zimbabwe for almost three years and travelled extensively, before writing his first guidebook (Bradt’s guide to Namibia and Botswana) in 1990. He has since written all Bradt’s guides to Namibia and Botswana – and co-authors (with his wife, Susie) Bradt’s guides to Zanzibar and Zambia, and (with Philip Briggs) Bradt’s guides to Tanzania. Alongside keeping these guidebooks up to date, Chris is managing director of Expert Africa. This specialist tour operator organises high-quality trips for individual travellers throughout Africa, including safaris and the Wild about Africa trip programme, which is led by top professional guides. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, McIntyre now lives in Surrey with his wife Susie and two children.
Liz Bazin (eden.co.za) is a seasoned world traveller. Hailing from the UK, she spent much of her twenties backpacking around southeast Asia while working in Japan’s financial industry. In more recent years, she has settled near the southern tip of Africa after falling in love with the continent following a year-long, 12-country, circular, self-drive road trip from South Africa as far north as Uganda, during which she lived in a roof-top tent. Her passion for Africa’s fauna and flora has encouraged her to become involved in the South African tourism industry and to complete a Master’s degree in Conservation Ecology and Biodiversity, and motivated her to co-update Bradt’s Zimbabwe and Namibia guidebooks. Among other activities, she enjoys running and birdwatching, sometimes at the same time.
Chris Leggatt (eden.co.za) has led a life of adventure. After completing his schooling in Cape Town, he spent a year travelling through Europe and working on a charter yacht in the Caribbean. In 1991, after returning to his home country of South Africa, he became a guide in the river-rafting industry, working on various major rivers in southern Africa, including the Orange and the Kunene. Since the late 1990s, he has lived in Wilderness, South Africa, running Eden Adventures, which specialises in canoeing, abseiling and kloofing (canyoning) tours. His thirst for adventure, and keen interest in photography, have taken him to many varied and interesting locations including idyllic islands in the Maldives, mountains of Nepal and, more recently, the slot canyons of Utah. As a travel writer, he has co-updated Bradt’s Zimbabwe and Namibia guidebooks and contributed to The Rough Guide to the Game Parks of South Africa.
