OMARURU – From the Damara Living Museum to the Palmwag tourism concession area and Brandberg mountain and the gigantic Omaruru River, Namibia’s Damaraland remains one of Africa’s last renowned wildernesses.
Not to forget the historic 19th century Franke Tower in Omaruru, which is another marvel.
As mandated, the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB) recently launched its 2024 promotional tour with media practitioners and local influencers to help amplify this year’s initiative of exploring the country’s unexplored beauty.
For this year, the NTB chose to explore and promote the revered Damaraland area in the north-west of the country, where countless centuries-old historical sites are found.
Some of those iconic sites remain truly untouched and scenic. The group was fortunate to be taken on an eight-day tour of Damaraland to sightsee and create awareness around the many picturesque sites of this
great mountainous and rock-strewn area.
One of the standout sites in Damaraland is the Brandberg, Namibia’s highest mountain and home to the famous “White Lady” rock paintings. Damaraland is also home to the ancient San rock art at Twyfelfontein, and various eccentric rock formations in the Palmwag area. The Brandberg is one of the higheste mountain ranges, rising up to 2 500 metrs towards the west and is a popular tourist attraction. It covers up the area of 760 km² with some amazing rock paintings dating back 4000 years.
Hidden treasure
Next is the the famous Numas Ravine. It can possibly be described as the hidden treasure of Damaraland as ancient paintings at the ravine exhibit the wild carved on rocks, with paintings of giraffes, snakes and some antique antelopes.
The NTB tour also made various stopovers as sites such as the Erongo Mountain Winery situated along the Omaruru river and surrounded by beautiful, rugged mountains, as well as at the town’s iconic Captain Viktor Franke Tower.
The tower was built around 1908, immediately after the Ovaherero-German colonial war. Franke commanded the German Schutztruppe in the Omaruru area between 1904 to 1908, and the tower was named after him. Not only is Damaraland popular for its outlandish landscape and remoteness, but it is likewise home to thriving populations of rare and endangered wildlife, which includes elephants, black rhinos, the famed desert lions, giraffes, oryx, kudus and springboks.
The dry weather with no or negligible rainfall has forced the animals to survive by following the patterns of nature.
Together with the San communities, the Damara people belong to the oldest nations in Namibia. Their original culture was a mixture of a hunter-gatherer ilk, and herders of cattle, goats and sheep. - ohembapu@nepc.com.na