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This being Namibia, there are private reserves (Okonjima and Erindi premier among them) as well as game farms that serve as havens for rescued wildlife.
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Over in the Caprivi Strip, the wildlife is returning, with Bwabwata and Nkasa Rupara becoming wonderfully rich parks to explore. Damaraland is a wonderful place to see desert-adapted elephants and lions, and also happens to host Africa's largest population of free-ranging rhinos – rhino tracking is a real highlight here.
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Two other areas are emerging as complements to Etosha. Etosha National Park belongs in the elite wildlife-watching destinations – big cats, elephants, black rhinos and plains game in abundance. Make no mistake: Namibia is one of Southern Africa's best places to watch wildlife, at least in the country's north. With rivers and wetlands in the Caprivi Strip and the endless gold-grass plains of the Kalahari, it's difficult to think of an iconic African landscape that Namibia doesn't possess. Inland, running through the heart of the country, a spine of mountains creates glorious scenery – the Naukluft Mountains, the Brandberg, Spitzkoppe, Damaraland and the jaw-dropping Fish River Canyon. The country's name derives from its (and the world's) oldest desert, the Namib, and there are few more stirring desert realms on the planet – from the stunning sand sea and perfect dead-tree valleys at Sossusvlei to the otherworldliness of sand dunes plunging down to the ocean at Sandwich Harbour and the Skeleton Coast.
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Natural Beautyįew countries in Africa can match Namibia's sheer natural beauty. If Namibia is 'Africa for beginners', as is often said, what a wonderful place to start.
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