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Fish River Canyon:
Only the Grand Canyon is larger. Fish River Canyon extends for 100 miles (160km) north to south along the Orange River in southern Namibia. It reaches widths of 17 miles (27km) and depths of 1800 feet (550 metres). The vistas offered from various points along the rim are, as one might expect, simply incredible. However, for those who are sufficiently interested, and sufficiently fit, there is a terrific 4-5 day, 53 mile (86km) trek along the canyon floor. The Coast and the Namib:
The Namib Desert stretches for 8 hundred miles (1300km) along the African coastline and is undoubtedly one of the world's most spectacularly barren and mysterious environments. In Namibia, 2 large parks encompass much of the Namib: Skeleton Coast Park, in the north, and Namib-Naukluft National Park, in the south.
Skeleton Coast Park:
The name is no mere metaphor. This coast is a graveyard for ill-fated seafarers and inattentive Whales, and the dense fogs that frequently arise here shroud shipwrecks and bones as well as the surreal dunes of the Namib. The primary wildlife attraction of the Skeleton Coast is Cape Frio, which harbours a seal colony numbering in the tens of thousands. However, the wildlife here pales in comparison to the land itself, and the most popular adventure travel activity here is trekking along the coast. Namib-Naukluft National Park:
Namibia's southern coastal park is enormous, measuring almost 20 000 square miles (50 000 square km.) and encompassing a wide variety of different desert environments. The most dramatically beautiful of these is the Sossusvlei region, where one encounters massive, apricot-orange sand dunes that are higher than any in the world. Other areas of Namib-Naukluft worth mentioning are the starkly beautiful Naukluft Mountains, a favored trekking destination, and the intimate Sesriem Canyon. Geography and ClimateNamibia comprises four major geographic regions:
Etosha Pan, in the north. An enormous alluvial plain which no longer contains the lake that it once held. Water supplies are now limited to the perimeter of the pan for most of the year, yet the area remains sufficiently fertile to support great herds of antelope species such as Springbok, Gemsbok and Impala. Zebra, abound and, inevitably the Elephants that make the Pan famous. Etosha Pan is now the center of one of the finest game parks on the African continent, with many other species of wildlife in abundance. |