The scenery is dramatic, there are small pockets of desert-adapted game, and it is home to the Himba people.

Kaokoland, in the far north of Namibia is strictly for the more adventurous. The scenery is dramatic, there are small pockets of desert-adapted game, and it is home to the Himba people. It is a fragile environment where visitors must travel with local guides who know and are committed to the area. A high degree of cultural sensitivity is essential.

Although it is harsh and offers little respite at midday, the rugged landscape is especially attractive during the early morning and late afternoon when it is transformed into softly glowing pastel shades.
The permanent waters of the Kunene River, which also forms Namibia’s border with Angola, provide a beautiful oasis and adventure activities. Mountain ranges near the Kunene River are rugged and impressive with the highest point being 2039m. The Epupa Falls & the Ruacana falls are both on the Kunene River.

Kaokoland Safari Namibia
The name Epupa is a Herero word for the spray created by falling water. Epupa is formed by a series of cascades that drop a total of 60m over a distance of about 1.5km and at one point reach a width of 500m. The area surrounding Epupa Falls has richly coloured rock walls and some beautiful trees including wild fig, baobabs and palms. There is the option to white water raft or canoe the Kunene River.

With 16,000 or so inhabitants, 5,000 of them Himba, Kaokoland has a population density of only one person to every two square kilometers which is about a quarter of the national average.

The Himba people are descendants of the earliest Herero people who arrived in this area in the 16th century. Two hundred years later the pressure of too many people and cattle in this dry environment led the Herero to migrate south to richer pasturelands. The Himba remained and today live a semi nomadic lifestyle based on ancient traditions.

The Himba are a statuesque people, noted for their unusual sculptural beauty, intricate hairstyles, and traditional adornments and for the red ochre & fat treatment that protects their skin. Himba homes are simple cone shaped structures of saplings bound together with palm leaves and plastered with mud and dung. A family may move from one home to another several times a year to seek grazing for their goats and cattle.

In terms of wildlife Kaokoland is most famous for its desert elephant. Although not a separate sub species these elephants have adapted to their extremely harsh environment and the only other place you may find elephants living in such dry conditions is in Mali on the edge of the Sahara Desert. The secret of their survival in the arid wastelands is an intimate knowledge of their limited food and water resources. As with the elephants the black rhino of Kaokoland were badly poached for many years and while a few individuals survive in the extreme western they are a rare sight. Fortunately there are several organizations doing their best to ensure the continuing existence of these rare and unique animals.

Bird watching is most rewarding around the permanent waters of the Kunene River and even amateur twitchers will enjoy the rare Rufoustailed palm thrush, as well as bee-eaters, the African fish eagle and Kingfishers ranging from giant to the tiny Malachite Kingfisher.