Who hasn’t heard about the mysterious Skeleton Coast from movies and books? Yes, yes, it is located in Namibia and is perhaps the most popular attraction in the country. According to ancient legends, numerous chests of gold and diamonds are buried under the colored sands of the Skeleton Coast, in search of which dozens of ships crashed here. Surrounded by multiple canyons, painted in all sorts of colors due to the abundance of volcanic rocks, the remains of ancient sailboats look especially impressive. While visiting the Skeleton Coast, do not miss the opportunity to see the legendary desert elephants, as well as dwarf trees with a trunk thickness of 150 centimeters and a height of only 20-30 centimeters. “The land created by God in anger” is how the locals call the Skeleton Coast. The Namib Desert is another no less interesting place in Namibia. It is one of the oldest on Earth, according to some estimates, the age of the desert is from 60 to 80 million years. Namib impresses not only with the variety of landscapes from moving dunes and dry rivers to steep canyons, but also with the richness of flora and fauna. Numerous elephants, lions, giraffes and rhinos live here, as well as the rarest plant, the symbol of the country – the desert rose, some of which are over 2000 years old! In the middle of the desert is the world’s largest national park Namib-Naukluft, other attractions are the Naukluft Mountains, Sesrif Canyon, the Welwitschia Plains, and Sandwich Harbor Lagoon, called a bird’s paradise. You can fully feel the explosive mixture of German and African culture in the capital, the city of Winduh, which is inevitably visited by any foreigner who comes to Namibia. The African flavor is combined here with the austere Alte Feste fort, the National Museum and other reminders that in the old days Namibia was a German colony. The second largest, but not for its impressive beauty, is the Etosha National Park. This is both a spectacularly bleak and fantastical place, comprising a lifeless expanse of salt lake, white clay deposits, sands and thickets of bizarre moringa trees growing uproots. From time to time, the silent silence of the park is broken by colorful herds of animals that miraculously survive in these unfriendly and completely unearthly conditions. Etosha National Park has the largest diversity of fauna in Namibia, with 114 mammal species, 340 bird species and 110 reptile species. If you are lucky, you will be able to meet here the rarest animals on the planet: black rhinos or black-faced impala antelopes. The Waterberg Plateau is another place in Namibia that should not be overlooked. Since 1972, here, on a plateau remote from civilization, rare species of animals have been collected to grow and increase their population away from predators. The Vterberg Plateau, over 200 km in area and over 850 million years old, now hosts the largest number of rare animals in all of Africa.
National cuisine of Namibia
According to extrareference.com, special attention in the cuisine of Namibia is given to meat, most often antelope, ostrich, crocodile and zebra are cooked here, which are also familiar to the locals, as pork and beef are to us. In poor areas of the country, eggs of all kinds of birds and even insects can often be found on the table. Most of all dishes in Namibia are fried, ignoring stews or boiled dishes. Among local residents and foreign tourists, local beer is famous, which is prepared in the breweries of the capital, the city of Winduh. Especially popular are beers such as Windhoek Lager, Das (Pilsner), Tafel Lager, as well as Windhoek Export, Windhoek Special and Windhoek Light. Most restaurants in major cities in Namibia offer a choice of both local African and European cuisine. The country also has many specialized restaurants of various cuisines of the world, including Indian, Arabic and many others. Namibia has strict anti-alcohol laws, with rare exceptions, alcohol is sold only in specialized stores until 17:00 on weekdays and until 13:00 on Saturday. Sunday in Namibia is sobriety day, and the sale of alcohol is completely prohibited.
Transport
There are no direct flights to Namibia from Russia; it is possible to get here only by a flight with a transfer. For example, you can fly via Frankfurt with Lufthansa or via South Africa, such flights are operated by Emirates, British Airways, Qatar Airways. Intercity communication in Namibia is represented by railways and buses, which connect all the main settlements of the country. A popular tourist transport and entertainment at the same time is the tourist Express of the Desert (“The Desert Express”), which runs between Swakopmund and Windhoek and makes several stops along the way so that foreign guests can admire the sights and take memorable photos. The local air carrier is Air Namibia, however, there are only two airports in the country, both of them are located in the capital, city of Winduh. The main Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport and a separate airport for local airlines Windhoek Eros Airport. The main public transport in Namibia are taxis, the prices for trips are not high, but they are quite common. Occasionally, city buses can be seen on the streets, which run on only a small number of routes.
