Namibia - A Bountiful Harvest Awaits the Adventure Traveler

by: Andrew Muigai

PART I

Namibia is a largely arid country of stark rough-hewn beauty. The most vivid images are those of a haunting technicolor landscape of swirling orange dunes, shimmering mirages and treacherous dust devils. The apparent desolation is deceptive and plant and animal life and even man has adapted to this environment. The country is designed almost specially with the active and adventure seeker in mind. Timeless deserts, thorn bush savanna, desolate wind ravaged coastlines, majestic canyons, and sun-baked saltpans are the bounty that awaits the traveler.

Namibia's top draw is the Etosha National Park, rated as one of Africa's finest game sanctuaries. The birding experience in the country is truly superior. The range of activities you can indulge in the unsurpassable physical environment is truly impressive. Ballooning over the desert, skydiving over land and sea, paragliding, whitewater rafting and sand skiing along coastal dunes are good activities for starters. More fun games to pick from include abseiling - that most spectacular of rock sports, coastal and fresh water angling, desert camel riding, scuba diving, 4x4 desert runs, hiking and mountaineering.

Namibia has four distinct geographical regions. In the north is Etosha Pan, a great area for wildlife and heart of Etosha National Park. The slender Caprivi Strip is nested between Zambia and Botswana and is a wet area of woodland blessed with a few rivers. Along the coast is the Namib Desert, which at the age of 80 million years old, is said to be the world's oldest desert. At the coast, the icy cold Atlantic meets the blazing African desert, resulting in dense fogs. The well-watered central plateau runs north to south, and carries rugged mountains, magnificent canyons, rocky outcrops and expansive plains.

Namibia, one and half times the size of France, is very sparsely inhabited and carries only 1.8 million souls. The people are as unique as the land they live on. The most intriguing are the San, otherwise known as Bushmen. These most hardy of people have a highly advanced knowledge of their environment. It is a marvelous thing how well they are adapted to their difficult habitat. Just pause and think that these are the only people in the world who live with no permanent access to water. In the Kalahari Desert, one of their domiciles, surface water is not to be found. Tubers, melons, and other water bearing plants as well as underground sip wells supply their water requirements.

In Namibia today, Bushmen number about 50,000. Historians estimate that they have lived, mostly as hunters and gatherers, for at least 25,000 years in these parts of the world. Bushmen speak in a peculiar click language and are very gifted in the arts of storytelling, mimicry, and dance. Namibia's other people, who are indigenous to the continent, are mostly of Bantu origin. They are thought to have arrived from western Africa from about 2,400 years ago. The African groups include the Owambo, Kavango, Caprivians, Herero, Himba, Damara, Nama and Tswana.

The Africans aside, other groups comprise about 15% of the population and have played an important role in the emergence of the modern nation. White Namibians amount to about 120,00 and are mainly of German and Afrikaner heritage. Germans arrived in significant numbers after 1884 when Bismarck declared the country a German Protectorate. Afrikaners, white farmers of Dutch origin, moved north from their Cape settlements, especially after the Dutch Cape Colony was ceded to the British in 1806. This strongly independent people, whose ancestors had lived in the Cape from 1652 resented British control.

Two other distinct groups complete the spectrum of Namibia's people - Basters and Coloureds. Coloured in Namibia and southern Africa refers to people of mixed racial heritage, black- white for example. They have a separate identity and culture. This makes sense considering that Namibia was run by South Africa after the First World War. Even in pre-Apartheid South Africa, racial classification was a fine art. The Afrikaans-speaking Basters, descended from Hottentot women and Dutch settlers of the Cape. Alienated from both white and black communities, they trekked northwards, finally founding their own town Rehoboth, in 1871. Baster is actually derived from "bastard", but it is not derogatory, and the Basters are indeed proud of it.

Namibia's barren and unwelcoming coastlines served as a natural deterrent to the ambitions of European explorers. That was until 1884 when the German merchant Adolf Luderitz established a permanent settlement between the Namib Desert and the Atlantic seaboard that afterwards took his name. Bismarck subsequently declared the territory covered by Namibia a German colony and named it Südwestafrika or South West Africa. As German settlers moved into the interior, conflict was inevitable with the inheritors of the land.

The German occupation was a particularly unhappy experience for the Herero. The Herero resented the German's harsh and racist rule and the effect of the encroachment on their lands on their livelihood and way of life. On the first day of the year 1904, the Herero led by Chief Samuel Maharero, rose suddenly and unexpectedly in arms against their colonial overlords. The Nama joined the insurrection and the authorities did not regain control even after six months of trying. Over 100 German settlers and soldiers died in the uprising. Historians now consider events that followed to constitute the first genocide of the twentieth century.

Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha was furnished with a contingent of 14,000 soldiers and tasked to put down the rebellion. The governor general of the territory was then Rudolph Goering -the father of Herman Goering, Hitler's right hand man. Lothar von Trotha was a generation ahead of his time and his kind of thinking was to become government policy under the Third Reich. He argued that the Herero must be destroyed as a people and he did not wince at the murder of women or children. At the end of it all, 100,000 Nama and Herero were killed. The survivors were herded in concentration camps where unspeakable things happened. The Herero fared very badly and 80% of her people perished. The population of the Nama diminished by 35-50%.

To be continued in PART II of this posting.

About The Author

Andrew Muigai is editor of AfricaPoint Insider online newsletter. It is part of Africapoint.com - the Africa travel website that has helped thousands of travelers discover Africa. You can view more info on Namibia Safaris at the website. http://www.africapoint.com/tours1/namibia.htm.

The Red Sea in Egypt for Scuba Diving

by: Clint Leung

For many Europeans, traveling to the Red Sea for scuba diving is like many North Americans going to the Caribbean. For a scuba diver based in North America or anywhere else outside of Europe or Africa, a journey to the Red Sea is considered one of the more exotic scuba diving trips. Like other overseas travel, getting to the final destination is the hardest thing. The Red Sea can be dived from ports in both Egypt and Israel but most international scuba divers do so from the Egyptian side. There are two major scuba diving areas in Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada. Sharm El Sheikh at the northern part of the Red Sea is the more established center having been a popular vacation resort area as both Egyptians and Europeans have been vacationing here for many years. The local scuba dive industry grew along with the overall steady growth of classy resorts, shops and other tourist services in Sharm El Sheikh. Hurghada, once just a sleepy fishing village along the west side of the Red Sea, is starting to grow as scuba divers discover this alternative to Sharm El Sheikh.

More than likely, travelers going to either Sharm El Sheikh or Hurghada will have to fly to Cairo before connecting with Egypt Air or taking a bus to their final destination. Many scuba divers turn their Red Sea diving trip into a major extended holiday in order to both dive and see the many wonderful ancient Egyptian sites such as the pyramids. There are many things to see and do in Egypt in addition to the ancient ruins including museums, markets and Nile river cruises. So it is highly recommended to do some research and plan accordingly for any trip to Egypt as one would not want to run into the situation where not enough time was allocated to see everything one wants to see there in addition to scuba diving.

Many of the scuba operators in Sharm El Sheikh are affiliated or close by to a hotel resort. Most of the dive shops are actually owned and staffed by Europeans working in Egypt. This is similar to the situation in the Caribbean where many of the scuba operators there are American owned. The Red Sea has a higher salt content than Caribbean waters so it is recommended to add 4 to 5 more pounds to the amount of weight divers usually use. Like most European diving, the scuba community here in Egypt uses the metric system so weights will be in kilos while air pressure will be in bars. Most dive computers should be able to display both metric and imperial systems.

Many scuba operators in Sharm El Sheikh use a very interesting system for scuba tanks. Rather than using their own tanks, their dive boats go to a common central barge anchored in the harbor. This is where all the scuba tanks are supplied from and the dive boats collect the number of tanks they need for day’s dive trips. At the end of the trips, used tanks are dropped off at the same barge before heading back to port.

The majority of the dives in the Red Sea are semi drift dives where the dive boats drop off divers at the dive sites and then pick them up afterwards. One very different aspect of the Red Sea compared to other dive destinations in the world is that the coral reefs here can extend up to very shallow depths. As a result, the standard safety stops at 15 feet are done drifting among many of these sloping reefs along with the accompanying marine life. Therefore, these are some of the most scenic safety stops scuba divers will ever do. This is certainly different from the usual bland safety stop in the Caribbean. One thing to note is that the maximum allowable depth for recreational scuba divers in Egypt is 30 meters which is about 90 feet.

As expected, the marine life in the Red Sea is spectacular. There are many species of fish, crustaceans and marine plant life here that are not found in the Caribbean. In fact, many of them are indigenous to the Red Sea only. While lionfish can be extremely rare sightings elsewhere, they are quite abundant in the Red Sea which is a real treat for scuba divers. It is also not unusual to jump in the water to be among a large school of tuna or other fish. Many night divers will see coral reefs here to be more spectacular than in the Caribbean.

For many scuba divers, the Red Sea is one of those ‘must dive at least once in a lifetime’ destinations. It is a very unique place to dive especially with the desert background visible from the dive boats. The excellent diving with the many awesome sights of Egypt make the Red Sea a dream dive trip for any scuba diver.

About The Author Clint Leung is a NAUI certified Master and Rescue Scuba Diver. He is also owner of Free Spirit Activewear (www.FreeSpiritActivewear.com) , an online retailer/designer specializing in premium quality scuba diving activewear. Free Spirit Activewear has numerous information resource articles on scuba diving as well as free eCards.

The Smarter Way To Experience The Great Pyramids

by: Jacob Fiennes

From their construction throughout the centuries the Pyramids of Giza have represented mystery, wonder and awe to all. They are perhaps the only great architecture of the ancients to have survived more or less completely intact.

The oldest pyramid at Giza is the Great Pyramid of Cheops, also known as Khufu, and is the largest known pyramid in existence. It was built around 2500 BC of over two million limestone blocks, each almost three tons in weight. An astonishing achievement and is believed to be the work of around twenty thousand slave workers.

Nearby are the smaller pyramids belonging to Cheops’s son and grandson as well as the Great Sphinx, known as Abu ‘l-Hol, a half-lion, half-man figure of majestic proportions.

Each evening at dusk an enormous sound and light show is played out and, despite its rather tacky touristy nature, is a real fast-track introduction to Egyptian history. Scout through the many persistent camel drivers around the site for a decent tour of the pyramids on humpback, with the best time of day being at daybreak or sundown as these times are quieter and offer the most breathtaking atmosphere to view the pyramids in.

As perhaps the best possible example of real estate location the forty acre Mena House offers rolling views of lush parkland and beautiful gardens right on the Saharan doorstep with the pyramids as a backdrop. Before 1870 the Mena House was King Khedive Ismail’s official hunting lodge, yet today it offers serene escape from the heady tourist areas that surround the Pyramids. Featuring an eighteen hole golf course, a gorgeous swimming pool set right in the lush gardens, and a certain aire of colonial grandeur felt perhaps most on the breakfast terrace, which Evelyn Waugh described best as being “like having the Prince of Wales at the next table”. To enjoy the Mena best choose a room in the old yet beautifully restored suites for a grand view of the Pyramids.

About The Author Jacob Fiennes is an enthusiastic traveller and photographer with a passion for discovery. He is a founder and regular contributor to the hugely popular worldwide hotel reservations site http://www.travelbx.com/. Visit the site for your next hotel room reservation, flight ticket, tailored holiday package and much more. http://www.travelbx.com.

Costal Kenya : Gedi Ruins

by: Yvonne Oerlemans

When travelling through Kenya, you can’t ignore the marvellous national parks and game reserves, inhabited by countless fascinating animals. The mosaic of wildlife inside Kenya’s borders is what makes this country a famous tourist destination. However, Kenya has another, equally enchanting side: the coast. Donned with paradise-like beaches, it’s a wonderful leisurely end to an active holiday. But if you look just a little bit beyond the beach, you will find a rich coastal culture that goes back a thousand years.

After enjoying a Safari in interior Kenya, the coastal town of Mombasa is a wonderful place to exhale with a cocktail in hand. But Mombasa also has a rich history where centuries of trade and all kinds of cultural influences have shaped the Swahili culture, including the national language of Kenya, appropriately called Swahili. The language reflects Kenya’s colourful history; it incorporates words from Arabic, Portuguese and even German origin. Swahili is now spoken all over East Africa, and even as far as the Congo.

A walk through Mombasa Old Town reveals the heart of the Swahili culture. The narrow streets can hardly accommodate cars, but all the more people and donkeys. The high houses provide shade from the scorching Mombasa sun; the heavy wooden doors are beautifully carved and inscribed with Arabic text from the Koran; Islam is the dominant religion alongside the Kenyan coast. On the veranda’s, old men in traditional Muslim attire chat the day away sharing a pot of spicy coffee.

At the edge of Old Town, facing Mombasa bay, stands Fort Jesus; built by the Portuguese who conquered the city in the 16th Century. They held on to the fort until the British colonialists turned it into a prison. The fort is open for viewing; inside is a museum narrating the history of the fort and its occupants. The canons used to keep attackers at bay still proudly stand facing the sea.

Travelling alongside the Kenyan coast, there are countless other reminders of the cultures that once ruled the entire coastline. A must-see is the ruins of Gedi, an Arab-African settlement built in the 14th Century. There are many such ruins on the North coast of Kenya, all the way into modern day Somalia, but Gedi is one of the very few that have been maintained as a public historical site open for viewing.

The town has fascinated archaeologists since its discovery. Gedi seemed to have been a wealthy, thriving town, given the precious artefacts that were dug up including Ming China porcelain and countless other objects indicating Gedi’s wealth. However, there is no official historical record of Gedi, which makes the place all the more intriguing.

The name Gedi is a Galla word meaning "precious". The Galla were a nomadic people from Somalia, who conquered all settlements on the Northern Kenyan coast in the 17th century and who baptised Gedi and ruled it until the late 19th century. They then lost their position of power to the Arabs, who reoccupied their original territories.

The historic site is on the Mombasa-Malindi road, sixty-five miles from Mombasa and ten miles from Malindi. Gedi is a fascinating place to visit, more so because the ruins are up to today shrouded in mystery; the actual reasons for its foundation, as well as its destruction, are not known. Surrounded by modern-day villages built of wood, mud and stone with all the hustle and bustle of the local inhabitants, Gedi is an oasis of peace; overgrown with all kinds of trees, plants and flowers. There are friendly and well-informed local guides available at a small fee, but the map of Gedi is self-explanatory, and you can easily discover the city by yourself.

The ruins are clearly indicated, identified by their architectural style, such as the mosques, or the artefacts that were found in or near the structures; names like ‘The house of the Iron Lamp’, ‘The house of the Ivory Box’, ‘The house of the Scissors’, ‘The house of the Venetian Bead’ fuel the imagination. In the silence that now enfolds the once thriving town, you can hear the echoes of the voices of centuries ago. While walking through the ruins, it takes only a little imagination to see the veiled women walking through the streets, hear the children play at the water well and sit with the Sultan while he receives trade delegations. In the museum built adjacent to the ruins, the found artefacts are exhibited alongside an overview of coastal Swahili culture.

The structures at Gedi include 8 mosques, more than a dozen houses, a palace and an Amfi-theatre-cum-law-court. Gedi was surrounded by a wall, and it seems like the city was deserted, then later reoccupied, because there is a second wall built at a later date that encircles a smaller part of the town. This wall incorporated some of the walls of existing houses. The artefacts that were found in the ruins, such as Chinese porcelain and Venetian glass, indicate that Gedi was a wealthy city that traded with Portugal, Italy, China, India and the Arab world; which makes its absence in official historic records all the more intriguing.

There are several theories to the downfall of Gedi. Some say the river changed its course, so the water wells dried up, forcing the inhabitants to move. Others theorize that the Portuguese brought the deadly Black Plague, with no known cure, wiping out the population. A dispute or invasion that caused the inhabitants to fled or evacuate is another theory. But whatever it may be that caused Gedi to fall, its ruins are strong reminders of how powerful it once was, and how it influenced a culture that exists to this day.

For more information on Gedi Ruins, call the museum in Watamu on telephone number 042-32065 or call the National Museums of Kenya headquarters in Nairobi: 020-374213 or go to their website: www.museums.or.ke. Entrance fee for tourists is 200 Kenya Shillings; Under 16’s pay only 100 Shillings. For locals and residents the price varies from 20 to 60 Shillings.

About The Author

Yvonne Oerlemans is the Owner of CoverConceptsMedia Ltd. and a Director at www.AfricanVoyages.com Ltd she can be reached at articles@africanvoyages.com.

Travel To Uganda - A Kingdom Of Birds

by: Kisibo Jackie

Uganda is an equatorial country with an amazing diversity of Habitats. Truly a Kingdom of Birds, Uganda hosts over 1000 bird species, both Albertine Rift endemics as well as rarities with half of the species known on the African continent, and over 10% of those on record throughout the entire world. For a birding safari, Uganda is a perfect destination.

The country located in the Albertine region also lies on the Northern shores of Lake Victoria-the source of the White Nile, and the country is extremely fertile with parks, wildlife, lakes and rivers, Mountain ranges, parks and a cool attractive countryside.

Uganda enjoys a tropical climate with rainy seasons stretching from April-May and October-November, which is a favorable condition for bird existence since birds breed during the wet season. The wide variety of birds is found in both urban and rural areas of Uganda and the most popular birds are the Shoebill, Rwenzori Turaco, Red-fronted Antpecker, Green-breasted pitta, Black bee-eater, Purvell’s illadopsis, Karamoja Apalis, Nahans Francolin, African Green Broadbill and the Brown-chested plover. City and suburb species mainly include the African Hobby, the Bat Hawk, cooper sunbirds, white faced scops owl, freckled Nightjar and so many more species.

Other bird species include the orange weaver, Verreaux’s Eagle owls, pied kingfishers, Grey headed gull, black headed herons, Yellow bill Duck, swamp flycatcher, Vieillot’s black weavers, Hamerkop, Great blue Turaco and the Ross’s Turaco woodland kingfisher. Broad-billed roller, splendid starling, African fish eagle, Hadada ibis, shikra, Angola swallow, Grey-capped warbler, long crested eagle, palmnut and hooded vultures, Grey kestrel and so many more unmentioned species.

Uganda’s equatorial location, Transitional to the East African savannah and the western rainforests is combined with the altitude and great variety of terrain types provide an overwhelming array of opportunities for keen birders, making it Africa’s most complete bird watching destination.

The top birding spots in Uganda include: Bwindi impenetrable forest for Albertine rift endemics like the black bee-eater and African Green Broadbill, Murchison falls National Park for savannah specialists like the Shoebill, Abyssinian ground hornbill, and Red throated bee-eater, Kibale forest for the green breasted pitta, great blue Turaco. Queen Elizabeth National Park habits about 600 species like the African Mourning Dove, Temminck’s Courser. Mabamba Swamp for the Shoebill stork, Budongo forest for the white crested Turaco, shinning Blue Kingfisher, and Semliki National Park for white crested sunbird species. Rwenzori Mountains with various bird species, Lake Mburo for papyrus Gonelek and Bigodi wetland sanctuary for the Black billed Turaco, white spotted crake and many more colorful bird species.

A variety of unique habitats and lots of superb Birds make a visit to Uganda a must for every birder. This birding hotspot boosts of a bird list of over 1000 bird species, with some being EastAfrica’s rarest and most sought after birds, and the spectacular globally threatened species. Uganda harbours the greatest variety and concentration of Birds, Primates like chimpanzees and wildlife, lakes and rivers, snow-covered Mountain ranges, parks and landscape. A good infrastructure and a variety of interesting activities like Gorilla tracking, sport fishing and white water rafting make Uganda a worthwhile destination and enhance the birding experience.

For specifics contact Africa travel Emporium OR Uganda Safari Guide and Directory, - Birding Safaris to Uganda http://www.aboutuganda.com/birding.html

For a complete directory of free travel information on Uganda, and Hotels, campsites, Kampala Hotels in Uganda http://www.hotelsinuganda.com/kampala.html

Africa Hotels, Kenya , Tanzania & Rwanda http://www.hotel-nights.com

About The Author

Jackie Kisibo is a freelance author in Africa. Her articles can be found on http://www.hotelsinuganda.com/kampala.html and http://www.aboutuganda.com/operators.html.