The Concise, Unbiased, Expert Guide to Namibia
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Fair Trade Safaris
Saurabh Khetrapal
About Saurabh Khetrapal
After spending his formative years in East Africa (Tanzania and Kenya), Saurabh moved to the United States in 1990. During the intervening years, Saurabh has become a highly successful serial entrepreneur who has founded three organizations and is an angel investor in Silicon Valley, CA, and Austin, TX, as well as a prolific philanthropist and traveler across his home continent.
From a very young age, Saurabh has been passionate about projects that help those in need. In high school, he went on weekly visits to orphanages in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) and was a frequent volunteer at nearby leprosy villages where he helped in the construction of hospitals and clinics. As an adult, Saurabh (alongside his family) has lent his support to the South African Baphumelele Educare Centre and Children’s Home for children abandoned/orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Saurabh and his family are also currently assisting community-based organizations in townships and slums across East Africa and Southern Africa. Their financial contributions and mentorship assist local leaders and residents in their aspirations to develop and advance development projects within their communities.
A self-professed wildlife junkie and addict of the African bush, Saurabh Khetrapal has been on numerous safaris across all the major wildlife parks and reserves in Africa since the age of 8. He is deeply passionate about his homeland and its peoples.
Founded in 2019 by siblings Ayaan Khetrapal and Zoya Khetrapal - who were 8 years old and 6 years old at the time - Wildlife Superheroes is a global nonprofit organization that mobilizes our next generation - kids between the ages of 0 and 18 years old - to make a tangible, meaningful, and lasting impact on our most valuable shared asset: Mother Earth and all her beings. Our credo is guided by the age-old principle that Wildlife Superheroes is Of the Kids, By the Kids, and For the Kids.
Empowering Future Generations
Wildlife
Measurable Impact Through Sustainable Tourism Fair Trade Safaris
Fair Trade Safaris is is a luxury travel company with a keen focus on providing guests with extraordinary experiences at remarkably affordable prices – breathtaking wildlife safaris, stunning beach vacations, exhilarating mountain climbing expeditions, sublime culinary experiences, and relaxing retreats. Founder Saurabh Khetrapal – who is originally from East Africa (Tanzania & Kenya) – is a philanthropist at his core. His passion for Africa, conservation, and culture motivated him to create the only luxury travel company that donates 100% of its profits to a variety of fully vetted wildlife conservations, community development, and social impact projects.
It is no secret that the wildlife in Africa is under tremendous pressure; many species are alarmingly at the brink of extinction. So, Fair Trade Safaris collaborates with several conservation / anti-poaching organizations including WildAid, Global Wildlife Conservation, PAMS Foundation, KopeLion, and other similar groups in order to combat wildlife poaching and trafficking and to promote conservation and protection efforts.
Namibia
The world’s second most sparsely populated country, Namibia is renowned for its wide-open desert landscapes, which include curvaceous apricot sand dunes, starkly imposing mountains, and a compellingly inhospitable Atlantic coastline. Although Namibia is not primarily about wildlife, it boasts one truly exceptional safari destination in the form of Etosha, and is also home to a fascinating array of unique desert-adapted creatures. The country is particularly suited to independent-minded self-drivers, as well as to repeat Africa visitors looking for something other than a conventional beach-andbush vacation.
At A Glance/Highlights
▶ The scenic centerpiece of Africa’s largest national park, Sossusvlei is a magnificent clay pan hemmed in by the world’s tallest dune field. Even more photogenic, with its skeleton forest of long-dead camelthorns, is nearby Doodvlei.
▶ One of Africa’s truly great self-drive safari destinations, the 8,600-square-mile Etosha National Park is home to more than 100 mammal species, including lion, leopard, elephant, black rhino, giraffe, zebra, blue wildebeest and the very rare black-faced impala.
▶ An unexpected urban gem, the port of Swakopmund is notable for its Bavarian architecture and as a base for a wide range of adventure activities as well as day excursions to the 200,000-strong seal colony at Cape Cross.
▶ The remote northwest of Namibia offers a wealth of opportunities for adventurous travel. Highlights include the well-preserved 5,000-year-old rock art at Twyfelfontein, the desert-adapted elephants and rhinos of Damaraland, and the traditionalist Himba pastoralists that live alongside the Kunene River.
Practical Stuff
Visas and paperwork
US passport-holders who visit Namibia for tourism for up to 90 days can obtain a visa free-of-charge upon arrival at Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport or any overland border.
Getting there
Several European, Middle Eastern and African carriers operate flights between the USA and Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH). It is also possible to fly into South Africa’s OR Tambo International airport (JNB), the busiest flight hub anywhere in southern Africa. Plenty of flights connect OR Tambo to Windhoek, and those who intend to explore southern Namibia could think about driving there in a rental vehicle.
When to visit Namibia can be visited at any time of year. In terms of temperature and rainfall, the best time to visit is the southern hemisphere winter, which runs from May to September. But the summer months of November to March have their advantages, not least that the country’s main attractions tend to be significantly less busy.
Health and safety Namibia is a safe and healthy destination. Malaria is entirely absent south of Windhoek, and by comparison to most parts of tropical Africa, the risk of catching this disease is relatively low in the north, especially during the dry winter months. Crime is a potential issue in Windhoek, where you should avoid walking around after dark, but otherwise not something you need to worry about greatly.
Damaraland
Thinly-populated and starkly beautiful, Damaraland is a region of mountainous badlands renowned for its profusion of immaculately-preserved rock paintings and engravings, some of which date back 5,000+ years, as well as for hosting southern Africa’s only desert-adapted rhinos and elephants.
At A Glance/Highlights
▶ One of the most rewarding and varied prehistoric art sites in Africa, Twyfelfontein is adorned with more than 2,000 ancient rock engravings and paintings depicting animals and human-like figures known as therianthropes. It was inscribed as Namibia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.
▶ The ‘White Lady of the Brandberg’ is a 16-inch-tall humanoid rock painting whose pale pigmentation led apartheid theorists to cite it as evidence that Damaraland was once ruled by a powerful queen of European descent. In reality, the white figure depicts a male hunter or shaman.
▶ Wildlife is thinly distributed due to the inhospitable climate, but it does include dry-country ungulates such as Hartmann’s mountain zebra, oryx and springbok, along with the celebrated desert-adapted black rhino and elephant.
▶ Interesting geological phenomena near Khorixas include a 250-millionyear-old petrified forest and 115ft-tall limestone monolith known aptly as Vingerklip (Finger Rock).
▶ Charter flights connect the capital Windhoek to most upmarket lodges. Damaraland is a popular self-drive destination thanks to a network of well-maintained surfaced and unsurfaced roads.
▶ Damaraland is a year-round destination but it is most comfortable in the cooler months of April to October, which is also when wildlife is most conspicuous.
Wildlife
Uncommon: Hartmann’s mountain zebra, greater kudu, oryx, springbok.
Rare: Elephant, black rhino.
Birds: Although the species tally is relatively low, Damaraland supports a variety of raptors and dry-country specials including near-endemics such as Monteiro’s hornbill, Rüppell’s parrot, bare-cheeked babbler, Carp’s tit, Herero chat, rock runner and white-tailed shrike.
Top tips
The only realistic way to see desert-adapted black rhino and elephant is to stay at one of the remote community-owned concessions they inhabit. These concessions operate much like private reserves, with small exclusive lodges offering fully-catered packages inclusive of guided game walks and drives.
Etosha National Park
Namibia’s premier safari destination, Etosha National Park extends across 8,600 square miles of arid savanna centered on a parched saline depression called Etosha Pan. Well suited to self-drive safaris, this is the best place in Namibia to see the likes of lion, elephant and black rhino, along with a diversity of ungulates, small carnivores and birds.
At A Glance/Highlights
▶ Of the Big Five, lion, elephant and black rhino are likely to be seen over the course of a few days in Etosha, but you’d have to be very fortunate to glimpse a leopard. Buffaloes - along with hippos and crocodiles - are absent from this part of Namibia due to the lack of non-artificial perennial water sources.
▶ A good network of all-weather roads and six affordable, well-equipped rest camps (all but two of which have campsites) makes Etosha one of the best destinations in Africa for a budget-friendly self-drive safari.
▶ Half the global population of 1,000 black-faced impala, a distinctive subspecies confined to northern Namibia and southern Angola, is resident within Etosha.
▶ A nighttime vigil at the floodlit waterhole below Okaukuejo Rest Camp frequently results in sightings of black rhinos and nocturnal carnivores.
▶ Wildlife viewing is best from June to October, but the park can be visited in other months, and you should still see plenty of game.
▶ Most visitors fly into Windhoek and then join a guided tour or self-drive the 270mile surfaced road to the park.
▶ A minimum stay of three nights is recommended, but it’s worth staying longer if you can afford the time.
Wildlife
Common: Elephant, black-backed jackal, giraffe, zebra, eland, oryx, greater kudu, red hartebeest, springbok, blue wildebeest, ground squirrel.
Uncommon: Lion, black rhino, spotted hyena, brown hyena, roan antelope.
Rare: Leopard, cheetah, brown hyena, black-faced impala.
Birds: Almost 350 species have been recorded. Raptors are well represented, and large flocks of flamingoes and other water-associated birds congregate the pan after rain. Etosha is a good place to look for near-endemics such as bare-cheeked babbler, Monteiro’s hornbill and white-tailed shrike.
Top Tips
Particularly during the dry months of May to November, wildlife tends to concentrate on the string of 50 artificial waterholes that line the southern rim of the Etosha pan. The most productive approach to game drives at this time of year is generally not to cover huge distances, but to sit quietly at a few waterholes and see what comes to drink.
For a more exclusive variation on the Etosha experience, the private Ongava Game Reserve shares an open border with the national park but offers all-inclusive guided safaris based out of a luxury lodge that enjoys sole traversing rights to 125 square miles of excellent wildlife-viewing territory.
Did You Know?
The centerpiece of the national park, Etosha Pan is the largest geographic feature of its type in Africa. The 1,900-square-mile pan comprises an extinct lake that dried up around 15,000 years ago, following a change in the course of the Kunene River, to leave behind a parched flat mineral-rich expense that still occasionally fills with a few inches of water after the rains. A local Ovambo name, Etosha means ‘Great White Place’; one legend has it that this shimmering expanse of salt was created by the tears of a distraught local woman after she learned her entire family had been slaughtered.
Kaokoland and the Himba
Running north from Damaraland to the Kunene River as it courses west along the Angola border towards the Atlantic, Kaokoland is a remote and inhospitable region renowned both for its haunting desert scenery and as the home of the staunchly traditionalist and highly photogenic Himba people.
At A Glance/Highlights
▶ A visit to a minimalist Himba encampment is a cultural highlight of Namibia. These semi-nomadic cattle-herders migrated south from Angola about 300 years ago, and they still lead a lifestyle largely untouched by western influences. Himba women, in particular, are notable for their striking appearance: ochre-tinged hair and skin, cattle-skin attire, and ample copper jewelry.
▶ The perennial Kunene River and associated ribbon of greenery form an almost surreal apparition in this otherwise austere landscape of dunes and desert plains. The dramatic Epupa Falls, set on a wide island-studded stretch of river that plunges 115ft over a rocky escarpment, kick up an impressive spray, and make a good base for canoeing and birding.
▶ The poor roads and widely scattered accommodation mean that Kaokoland is unsuited to all but the most adventurous and self-sufficient of self-drivers. More normal to take a charter flight from Windhoek or elsewhere in Namibia.
▶ Kaokoland is a year-round destination, but it is most climatically comfortable over the dry winter months of April to October. Very occasional heavy rainfall between December and March can disrupt tourist activities.
Wildlife:
Uncommon: Hartmann’s mountain zebra, oryx, springbok.
Rare: brown hyena.
Birds: Birdlife is prolific along the Kunene River and includes several near-endemics and other species with a limited distribution in southern Africa. Specials include augur buzzard, grey kestrel, Rüppell’s parrot, rosy-faced lovebird, rufous-tailed palm-thrush and Cinderella waxbill.
Top Tips
A visit to a Himba encampment should be undertaken in a spirit of cultural sensitivity, ideally accompanied by a guide who speaks the local language. It is important to seek permission before you enter an encampment, and to ask before taking photographs, a privilege for which you will be expected to pay.
Sossusvlei
One of Namibia’s most photogenic scenic set pieces, Sossusvlei – which translates, moreor-less, as Marsh of No Return - is a magnificent pan of cracked white clay encircled by tall apricot-hued sand dunes. Sossusvlei is the focal point of Africa’s largest national park, Namib-Naukluft, which protects a 19,500-square-mile strip of desert plains, dune fields and craggy mountains running inland from the coast south of Swakopmund.
At A Glance/Highlights
▶ Even more photogenic than Sossusvlei, nearby Doodvlei (Dead Marsh) is named for the centuries-old forest of skeletal camelthorn trees that rises from its cracked clay surface.
▶ Standing up to 1,000ft tall, the rippled red dunes around Sossusvlei are the world’s highest. The steep sandy slog to the crest of Dune 45 rewards those who make it with great views over the surrounding dune field.
▶ The road to Sossusvlei offers access to Sesriem Canyon, a spectacular 120ft-deep river gorge carved into well-defined sedimentary layers of schist and gravel.
▶ By no means a conventional safari destination, Namib-Naukluft protects a wealth of desert-adapted wildlife. These range from oryx antelope and ostrich, both of which are frequently seen at Sossusvlei, to the endemic dune lark and nocturnally vociferous barking gecko.
▶ Lodges in the vicinity of Sossusvlei can arrange charter flights from the capital Windhoek. For self-drivers, Sossusvlei is 220 miles from Windhoek on a well-surfaced road.
▶ Sossusvlei can be visited any time of year. Temperatures are most comfortable over the winter months of April to October, but there are fewer tourists around in summer.
Common: Oryx, meerkat.
Uncommon: Hartmann’s mountain zebra, springbok.
Rare: brown hyena, leopard.
Birds: Namib-Naukluft’s checklist of 350 species includes a large number of localized dry-country specials, notably the endemic dune lark and near-endemic Monteiro’s hornbill, Rüppell’s bustard, Herero chat, Gray’s lark and rock runner.
Top tips
For hikers, an excellent add-on to Sossusvlei is the Naukluft Mountains, which rise to 6,430 ft on the eastern edge of the national park and form an important refuge for the endemic Hartmann’s mountain zebra. Two circular day hikes run through the mountains.
Swakopmund and the Skeleton Coast
The most resort-like settlement on Namibia’s 1,000-mile coastline, Swakopmund is a charming small port renowned for its characterful Bavarian-style architecture. A popular center for adventure tourism, Swakopmund is also the gateway to the spectacular Cape Cross seal colony and the exhilarating remote Skeleton Coast National Park, which protects a narrow 6,400-square-mile tract of coastline between the Kunene and Ugab Rivers.
At A Glance/Highlights
▶ Urban highlights include the Swakopmund Museum, which focuses on local history, the Kristall Galerie’s dazzling collection of semi-precious stones (among them a 500-million-year-old quartzite crystal that stands twice as tall as a person) and the menagerie of sea creatures housed in the National Marine Aquarium
▶ Adrenaline junkies are in for a treat, with skydiving, quad-biking, sandboarding, dolphin cruises, sea kayak excursions and nature drives into the Namib Desert all featuring on Swakopmund’s varied menu of outdoor activities.
▶ Hugging the coast to the south of Swakopmund, Walvis Bay Lagoon and Sandwich Harbor are Ramsar wetlands renowned for their rich marine birdlife.
▶ About 70 miles north of Swakopmund, outside the entrance to Skeleton Coast National Park, the world’s largest Cape fur seal colony - a seething mass of up to 200,000 adults and pups - can be observed from a viewing platform at Cape cross.
▶ The spectacularly remote Skeleton Coast National Park protects an inhospitable landscape of rocky plains, tall dunes and bizarre rock formations hemmed in by a treacherous coastline that runs all the way north to the border with Angola.
▶ Terrestrial wildlife is thin on the ground, but dry-country antelope include springbok and oryx, while black-backed jackal and brown hyena often scavenge on dead seals and fish.
▶ Swakopmund and the Skeleton Coast can be visited throughout the year, but the warmer summer months of November to March offer the most pleasant and least foggy conditions.
▶ Most visitors fly into the capital Windhoek and then self-drive the 200-miles surfaced road running west of Swakopmund.
▶ A minimum stay of three nights is recommended for Swakopmund. Allow a full day for the excursion north to Cape Cross or south to Walvis Bay.
Wildlife:
Common: Cape fur seal.
Uncommon: Hartmann’s mountain zebra, oryx, springbok, brown hyena, black-backed jackal.
Rare: Lion, leopard, elephant, black rhino.
Birds: Walvis Bay Lagoon supports large numbers of flamingo, pelican, terns and waders. Sandwich Harbor, 25 miles south of Walvis Bay, attracts up to 50,000 Palaearctic migrants during the northern hemisphere winter. Terrestrial habitats are good for dry-country birds including the near-endemic Gray’s lark and Rüppell’s bustard.
Top Tips
Although Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Cape Cross can be visited in any serviceable car, more northerly parts of the Skeleton Coast are accessible only in a sturdy 4x4 (ideally with a back-up vehicle, as the roads here are pretty lonely) or on an organized tour with a specialist operator.
Did you know?
Cape Cross is named for the stone cross erected there in 1486 by the Portuguese navigator Diego Cão, the first European to set foot on the coast of Namibia. The original cross was relocated to Germany in the late 19th century, but two replicas now stand in its place.
The Skeleton Coast is notorious for its treacherous combination of cross currents, sea fogs, heavy swells, shallow reefs and rocky outcrops. Over the centuries, it has claimed dozens of Portuguese, Dutch, English and other ships, leaving any survivors stranded on one of the most inhospitable coastlines imaginable. Several well-preserved shipwrecks can be seen along the coast today.