Tag Archives: Namibia

Namibia opens arms to tourists

Namibia has further eased restrictions for international tourists to try to prevent the complete collapse of a sector severely damaged by the coronavirus pandemic after the country closed its borders in March, following the pandemic announcement of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The Tourism Ministry said on September 8 that that foriegn tourists could go to their pre-booked destinations and take part in activities for up to five days, after which they will be tested for the virus.

If they stay at their pre-booked destination for less than five days they can proceed to another destination without a test.

According to the rules introduced in July, tourists had to quarantine at their first destination for seven days, which resulted in a large number of cancellations, detrimental for the hotel owners.

The tourism sector in Namibia has not seen any new bookings since the beginning of the month, leading to 115.7 million Namibian dollars ($6.85 million) in cancellations, the ministry estimates.

“This has necessitated a rethink in our approach. The tourism sector is highly competitive and Namibia is competing to attract tourists with countries from all over the world,” Tourism Minister Pohamba Shifeta said.

Namibia hippo flock dying trapped in mud

Dozens of hippopotamuses are stuck in mud in a shrinking pool in a game reserve in Namibia, and are at high risk of dying of dehydratation and hunger, the Daily News online publication reported on September 5. The animals should stay in water or mud to protect themselves form sun and heat only daytime, but they need to swim in water during reproduction and childbirth, and they have to they emerge at dusk to graze on grasses. The flock stuck in the mud has no more water to drink and is not able to get out for graizng neither.

The pool, in the Wuparo Conservancy about 900 km northeast of the capital Windhoek, was dependent on flows from a nearby river but a prolonged drought has dried up the source, the newspaper said, quoting the manager of the nearby Livingstone wildlife camp.

Several hippopotamuses have been stuck for months in the pool. More than 40 are believed to be there now, the manager said.

Hippopotamuses, or commonly named hippos, are large, mostly herbivorous, semi-aquatic mammals native to sub-Saharan Africa. Nowadays hippo is the third-largest type of land mammal that inhabits rivers and lakes.

However these impressive animals, which are now only found in Africa and Asia, once upon a time roamed also in Europe.

The scientists discovered their remains in Greece in Pinios river valley, attributing to the Upper Pleistocene era, which began 180,000 years ago and includes a vast swath of human history, ending just 10,000 years ago, when humans had begun to form settlements.

Namibia: no alcohol consumption in bars

Subsequenly he imposed limits on public gatherings, deacreasing to 100 from 250 amid surging cases, the President announced.

People will also not be allowed to consume alcohol at bars and taverns. They will only be permitted to drink beverges at home.

Geingob relaxed rules for international tourists, who will no longer be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival but will be required to present a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test conducted 72 hours before arrival.

They will, however, be required to remain at their initial destination in the country for seven days. A test will be conducted during this period and tourists can proceed with their holiday if the result is negative.

In a televised speech on Friday July 31, Geingob said there is also a decision to suspend schools from August 4 for 28 days came after considering the risks associated with the spread of the virus.

The measures also affect early childhood development, pre-primary, primary and the first two grades of high school, while Namibian schools will be suspended for the second time in four months next week.


#TBT: Namib Desert oldest on Earth

#TBT The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over part of the Namib Desert in western Namibia. At 55 million years old, Namib is considered the oldest desert on Earth.

In this image, captured on 27 October 2019, a large portion of the Namib-Naukluft National Park is visible. The park covers an area of almost 50 000 sq km and encompasses part of the Namib Desert and the Naukluft Mountains to the east. Straight, white lines visible in the right of the image are roads that connect the Namib-Naukluft National Park with other parts of Namibia.

The park’s main attraction is Sossusvlei – a large salt and clay pan visible in the centre of the image. The bright white floors of the pan contrasts with the rust-red dunes that surround it.

Sossusvlei acts as an endorheic basin for the Tsauchab River – an ephemeral river flowing from the east. Owing to the dry conditions in the Namib Desert, the river rarely flows this far and the pan usually remains dry most years. In the past, water from the Tsauchab has reached the Atlantic coast a further 60 km away.

The dunes in this area are some of the highest in the world. The tallest, nicknamed ‘big daddy,’ stands at around 325 m. The dunes facing the river valley are called star dunes and are formed from winds blowing in multiple directions, creating long ‘arms’ that point into the valley from both sides.

These dunes contrast with the saffron-coloured dunes visible in the Namib Sand Sea, just south of Soussusvlei. The sand sea consists of two dune seas, one on top of another. The foundation of the ancient sand sea has existed for at least 21 million years, while the younger sand on top has existed for around 5 million years. The dunes here are formed by the transportation of materials from thousands of kilometres away, carried by river, ocean current and wind.

The Namib Sand Sea is the only coastal desert in the world to contain large dune fields influenced by fog – the primary source of water for the Namib Sand Sea. Haze is visible in the bottom left of the image, the last leftovers of fog coming from the Atlantic Ocean.

Copernicus Sentinel-2 is a two-satellite mission to supply the coverage and data delivery needed for Europe’s Copernicus programme.

Namibia in search of Human-Wildlife Conflict resolution

Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Namibia has revised the national policy on Human Wildlife Conflict in efforts to prevent incidents that have escalated over the years.

Cases of human wildlife conflict in the country become more frequent over the years with communities and farmers expressing concern regarding the issue, said the Environment Ministry spokesperson, Romeo Muyunda.

“In this regard, we have revised the 2009 Human Wildlife Conflict policy to look at new strategies to better address the situation,” Muyunda  added.

Human wildlife conflict is any event in which animals injure, destroy or damage human life or property and are killed, injured, captured or otherwise harmed as a result both humans and animals suffer from the interaction with each other.

Muyunda informed that the policy which deals with human deaths, injuries, livestock losses and crop damages by wildlife will be officially launched next week by the Environment Minister, Pohamba Shifeta.

Meanwhile last year the Ministry launched the North-West Human Lion Conflict Management Plan with specific strategies to manage lion incidents with humans, while farmets routinly indudlge in retaliatory killings and poisoning of losing their habitat big cats.

Gradually Namibia became notorious for  lion’s killings, increasingly attracting attention of researchers raising their concerns about the brutality of extermination of country’s lions population.