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Namibia> Places to visit in Namibia |
| Although Namibia is more famous for being the home of the Namib Desert it must be remembered that much of eastern and southern Namibia is covered by the Kalahari Desert. The Kalahari is not a true desert as it receives too much rain, it is actually a fossil desert. So do not expect to find the tall sand dunes associated with Sossusvlei, the landscape is more one of golden grass and small red dunes. |
The Kalahari Desert - or Kgalagadi, as it is known in Botswana - covers the western part of Namibia, a large part of Botswana, and north-western South Africa north of the Orange River. Although it is called a ‘desert’ some areas annual rainfall can be as high as 250 mm, which accounts for the luxuriant grass cover during good years.
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Due to variability in rainfall and generally arid conditions, the Kalahari is sparsely populated. In Namibia and South Africa, there are large ranches, which can be from 20 000 to 40 000 hectares in size. These raise mostly sheep and ostriches. In Botswana, although there are some private ranches, the land is mainly used on a communal basis, with the inhabitants raising goats and cattle. The best known of the Kalahari’s inhabitants are the so-called Bushmen, numbering only a few thousand and squeezed into inhospitable pieces of land where they are often exploited as cheap farm labour, if you are wanting to visit Botswana you may want to consider looking at car hire in Botswana
They are the remnants of Southern Africa’s original inhabitants who occupied the whole sub-continent long before black and white settlers invaded their territories and forced them to the margins. As proof of the fact that they occupied extensive territory, there are the superb ‘Bushman’ rock paintings that are found in great numbers in caves and rock shelters all over southern Africa. In Namibia excellent examples of Bushman rock art can be found in the Damaraland region.
Although there is no national park in the areas of Namibia covered by the Kalahari there are several lodges and guest farms which allow visitors to explore this desert area.