Ondangwa
The second-largest Owambo town is known as a minor transport hub, with combis fanning out from here to other cities and towns in the north.
The country’s most densely populated region, and undeniably its cultural heartland, northern Namibia is a place for some serious African adventure. It is where endless skies meet distant horizons in an expanse that will make you truly wonder if this may be your greatest road trip of all time. There is space out here to think, and you may just find yourself belting down a dirt road hunched over the steering wheel, pondering in detail whatever’s on your mind…for many hours. Northern Namibia is the place for serious problem solving, all induced by that unforgettable landscape.
Northern Namibia takes form and identity from the Caprivi Strip, where, alongside traditional villages, a collection of national parks are being repopulated with wildlife after many decades of war and conflict. At the time of independence, these parks had been virtually depleted by poachers, though years of progressive wildlife management have firmly placed the region back on the safari circuit.
The second-largest Owambo town is known as a minor transport hub, with combis fanning out from here to other cities and towns in the north.
In years of good rains, this wild and seldom-visited national park becomes Namibia’s equivalent of Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
Out on a limb at the eastern end of the Caprivi Strip lies remote Katima Mulilo, which is as far from Windhoek (1200km) as you can get in Namibia.
Rundu, a sultry tropical outpost on the bluffs above the Okavango River, is a major centre of activity for Namibia’s growing Angolan community.
Only recently recognised as a national park, Bwabwata was established to rehabilitate local wildlife populations.
Subscribe now and receive a 20% discount on your next guidebook purchase
© 2013 Lonely Planet. All rights reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced without our written permission.