• Home
• Destinations
  Africa & Indian Ocean
  Madagascar
  Seychelles
  Tanzania
  Rwanda
  South Africa
  Namibia
  Central America
  Costa Rica
  Belize
  Panama
  South America
  Brazil
  Ecuador Galapagos
  Peru
  Venezuela
  Guyana
  India Subcontinent
  India
  Sri Lanka
  South East Asia
  Papua New Guinea
  Borneo
• Tailor-Made Tours
• Group Tours
• Wildlife Cruises
• Why Choose Us
  Ten Good Reasons
  Preservation Through Visitation
  Our Conservation Affiliations
• Testimonials
  Madagascar
  Seychelles
  Tanzania
  Rwanda
  Costa Rica
  Belize
  Panama
  Brazil
  Ecuador Galapagos
  Peru
  Venezuela
  Guyana
  India
  Sri Lanka
  Papua New Guinea
  Borneo
• Information
  Useful Information
  Insurance
  Airlines
  ATOL
• About Us
• Contact Us
• News
  New Developments
  Wildlife News
  In The Press
  Your News
  Newsletter
• Booking
  Making a Booking
  Terms & Conditions
• Order A Brochure
• Links
  Conservation Overseas
  UK Based Conservation
  Travel Health
  Travel Equipment
  Wildlife Photography
  Embassies & Tourist Info
  Other Travel Companies
  Useful Information
• Scuba Diving

Family Wildlife Adventures Website

Namibia ~ North East

Including the area around Grootfontein and Tsumkwe in the Northern Kalahari or ‘Bushmanland’ which offers some of the most natural and sensitively arranged opportunities to spend time with San (Bushman) communities; and the Caprivi Strip – the pan handle of Namibia, jutting out to the east.

BUSHMANLAND

Although not the most spectacular region with typically flat, dusty landscapes of fossilised Kalahari dunes, Bushmanland (now known as Otjozondjupa) is an important agricultural area and home to San (Bushmen) communities.

It is possible to visit San communities from a base just north of Grootfontein, from Grashoek or further to the east at the exceptional !Nhoma Camp near Tsumkwe (the latter being favoured but remote).

!Nhoma Camp and the nearby //Nhoq'ma village adjoin the Nyae Nyae and N≠a Jaqna Conservancies which were established to allow the Ju/’hoani (San/Bushmen group) to live in their traditional manner. Arno Oosthuysen has worked with this community since the early 1990s and, together with his wife Estelle, has managed to develop a sensitive and insightful way for visitors to interact with the community which benefits all. This is as authentic as it gets, where visitors learn the skills of men and women which include survival skills such as water collection, hunting, making fire, medicine and interpretation of the bush, general village chores as well as more leisurly aspects of village life which are important to the community such as games, music and merry-making! It is also fascinating to listen to (and perhaps attempt to learn) their ‘click language’.

The San/Bushmen are thought to be the original inhabitants of Namibia and one of 14 extant populations from which all modern humans evolved. Traditionally hunter-gathers, they were persecuted and displaced from their ancestral land by more aggressive tribes from Africa and abroad.

Hoba Meteorite

The Earth’s largest known meteorite and most massive naturally-occurring piece of iron on the planet at 66 tonnes, the Hoba Meteorite, fell close to the present town of Grootfontein less than 80,000 years ago and can be seen where it lays on Hoba West Farm.

Rundu

A pleasant little town in the far north of Namibia, overlooking the Kavango River floodplain, normally a stopover point on the way to/from the Caprivi.

Kaudom Game Park (National Park)

A remote and inaccessible reserve in the northern Kalahari, requiring a 4x4 vehicle to tackle its notorious sandy tracks. The landscape is the classic Kalahari vegetated dunes, with springs providing life-sustaining water for the flora and flora. Wildlife in this unspoilt wilderness is skittish as the animals are unused to vehicles, but best seen in the drier months of June-October, including over 500 elephants, lion, leopard, spotted hyena, side striped and black-backed jackal, giraffe, and many game species. African wild dog is elusive but present, and around 320 species of bird have been recorded in the summer months (November-March), including Bradfield’s hornbills, coppery-tailed and Sengal coucal, sharp-tailed starlings and rufous-bellied tits and over 50 raptors.

CAPRIVI STRIP

A very odd feature to the outline of Namibia, the 450km Caprivi Strip ‘pan handle’ was added during the colonial era when Germany wanted access to a trade route along the Zambezi River to the Indian Ocean. The Caprivi was originally part of the British Protectorate of Bechunaland (Botswana) and was traded to the Germans by Queen Victoria in exchange for Zanzibar! It now serves as a transport artery between Namibia and the surrounding countries of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

The higher rainfall in this region together with the permanent Zambezi, Kwando, Chobe and Linyanti Rivers which flow through the Caprivi provides a dramatic contrast to the landscapes of the rest of Namibia, with lush vegetation and wetland animals such as hippo and crocodile.

Normally thought of as a more affordable alternative to the safari on offer in nearby Botswana’s Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park (which we can include in itineraries), the Caprivi offers prolific birding (over 430 species in Namibia’s summer months) and rewarding river-based wildlife viewing. The Caprivi is the best place in Namibia to find African wild dog and other contrasting species to the rest of Namibia such as buffalo, reedbuck, puku, sitatunga, red lechwe, tsessebe, sable and waterbuck.

Protected areas in the Caprivi include Mahango National Park, Bwabwata National Park (formerly Caprivi Game Park), Mudumu National Park and Mamili National Park.

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by five countries to form the Kavango Zambezi (KaZa) Transfrontier Conservation Area which promises to incorporate 278,132 km2 of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe to help re-establish wildlife migration routes.  It will be the world's largest conservation area, including 36 currently protected areas including the reserves in the Caprivi Strip.

Mahango National Park (now part of Bwabwata National Park)

Undeveloped and wild, the 25,400 hectare Mahango National Park is an area encompassing verdant riverine vegetation along the Okavango River, dry woodland, and baobabs, with exceptional birding in the summer months (November-March). Animal viewing is best in the drier winter months (June-October) when animals emerge from the dense vegetation and congregate at water sources.  The park is located 12km from Popa Falls, a set of pretty rapids set in lovely scenery, where there is also simple accommodation which can be used as a base from which to visit Mahango National Park.

Bwabwata National Park (formerly Caprivi Game Park)

Formerly the Caprivi Game Park, the 570,000 hectare Bwabwata National Park is home to both wildlife and people, with the aim to support both in a sustainable manner. Local Caprivians have been employed in various aspects of conservation and ecotourism and the park provides sanctuary to a wide variety of free-roaming wildlife. The Bwabwata National Park extends from the Kavango River in the west to the Kwando River in the east. Birders will particularly enjoy the west of the park, whereas a key viewing area for animals such as elephant, hippo, buffalo, lion and leopard as well as general game is the ‘Horse Shoe’ to the east of the park – an oxbow lake which attacts many species to drink.

Mdumu National Park

Designated in 1990, Mudumu National Park is comprised of beautiful and varied habitats including marshland, savanna, mopane and teak woodlands with the Kwando River to the west. The typical wetland wildlife such as hippo, crocodile, buffalo, sitatunga, red lechwe can be found along with spotted-necked otters, elephants, roan antelope, zebra, kudu, impala etc. Birds are abundant, with summer migrants including southern carmine bee-eater, copper sunbird, broad-tailed paradise whydah and pennant-winged nightjar. Residents include slaty egret, swamp boubou, brown firefinch and coppery-tailed coucal.

Mamili National Park

Seldom visited, Mamili National Park protects the Linyati swamplands with its reeds, lakes and islands. Visiting this park is quite a mission with a 4x4, strong sense of adventure and survival skills a requisite! Wildlife includes large herds of elephant and buffalo, together with huge crocodiles, lion, leopard, hyena and game such as red lechwe, reedbuck, sitatunga and impala. Par for the course with this region, birding is excellent, including species such as rosy-throated longclaw, Meves’s glossy starling, greater swamp warbler – with no other visitors to scare them off!