Trip reports

Namibia - a Land of Contrasts

Tuesday, 7 October 2008

Keith Offord came to tell us about what to many would appear to be an obscure part of Africa. After a necessary brief discussion of its recent history Keith put together an interesting talk on this huge and under-populated country (about 5 people per square mile). Namibia seems to have the only national constitution that specifically protects the environment, and we were given a good picture of just how wild and natural the country is.

From a base near Windhoek on the Central Plateau Keith set out to explore the three other major habitats - deserts, the escarpment and the bushveld. It was in the wetter bushveld that we saw the largest concentrations of wildlife as birds and animals seasonally moved into such places as the Etosha Pan.

Namibia boasts no less than eight national parks and eco-tourism is of major importance, especially to the large subsistence economy. Let us hope that it has a prosperous future.