[Elephant at Etosha National Park. Photo by Joachim Huber.]

People, landscape, history, wildlife and safaris – this exotic Southern African country ticks so many boxes for intrepid travellers. Here are five compelling reasons to check out a holiday there.

1. Enigmatic people

Namibia might be one of the world’s least densely populated nations (there is thought to be only just over two million people living there) but it does boast a rich mix of different ethnic groups. This makes a visit to the country a fascinating cultural experience.

The Herero arrived in Namibia in the mid-16^th century; originally settling in Kaokoland – some of the country’s 100,000 Herero population still live in the region. Herero women’s dress takes the form of an enormous crinoline worn over a series of petticoats topped off with a horn-shaped hat or headdress – a style which was popularised by Victorian-era German missionaries.

The Himba are descended from the Herero but have never taken to wearing western-style clothes. Instead, the lady Herero folk retain their multi-layered goat-skin skirts, wear shell jewellery and favour smearing their skin with a mixture of butter, ash and ochre to keep it smooth. Their rejection of western ways can be explained by the fact they live in Kaokoveld – Namibia’s wildest territory.

2. Areas which are just desert

Damaraland, in the north-west of Namibia, is renowned for its desert rhino and desert elephant. Journey to the Brandberg ‘massif’ and you can climb the 2573-metre-high Konigstein, Namibia’s highest peak, and get a great view of the desert wilderness where only the hardiest people and animals can survive. The scenery and wildlife have certainly informed the prehistoric rock engravings of Twyfelfontain and many other areas in the region. Damaraland’s Petrified Forest also provides a record of the landscape of the planet millions of years ago – the 50 ‘petrified’ tree trunks there are thought to be about 260 million years old. Perfectly-reserved, it is thought that the tree trunks were carried to their present location in a flood.

3. Skeletons, ship wrecks and ghost towns

In the north-west of Namibia there is the Skeleton Coast – a stretch of coast shrouded in fog where many a ship has run aground. These mysterious shipwrecks remain inaccessible to tourists – if they were in easy reach of the shore their crews might just have been rescued. However, the cape fur seals in the region are easier to spot; particularly the colony at Cape Cross Seal Reserve. There is definitely a ‘haunted’ theme to Namibia’s coastline – far to the south of the shipwrecks and Skeleton Coast, near the town of Luderitz, is the ghost town of Kolmanskop. This eerie place once had a casino, skittle alley and a popular theatre. Today, you can tour the ghostly deserted buildings which have yet to be swallowed up by the dunes and sands of time.

4. Cheetah

As Namibia has such diverse wildlife it is perhaps unfair to single out one animal as a symbol of the country’s appeal to safari holiday fans. However, if you had to, you would probably single out cheetah – the writers of the BBC’s Big Cat Cheetah Diary book call Namibia “the cheetah capital of the world”. It is a well-deserved title as the country is thought to be home to a quarter of the world’s cheetahs.

It’s amazing to think that a nation which can be home to penguins and fur seals can also be home to cheetah; a fact which emphasises the wonderful diversity of wildlife and landscapes to be found in Namibia.

5. Etosha National Park

With an area of more than 20,000 square kilometres, Etosha National Park is easily big enough to be home to hundreds of species of animals; including lion, elephant, rhino and a glorious selection of birdlife. And it’s always got room for wildlife-loving tourists. These tourists can view wildlife clustering around the water holes in the dry winter season or find animals sheltering in the bush during warm and wet summers. Night drives in Namibia also offers visitors a unique chance to see some of the country’s unusual nocturnal wildlife.

Author: James Christie writes for Safari Consultants, providers of Namibia, South Africa and Botswana safaris.