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Desert Elephants & Himba Culture
Kunene & Damaraland: History & Culture
Kunene takes its name from the river that forms Namibia’s border with Angola, tumbling 37 m over a 1.5 km line of cascades at Epupa Falls. This is Kaokoland, homeland of the semi-nomadic Himba, who number about 35,000 and are known for otjize, a red ochre-and-butterfat paste worn for protection from the desert sun. Kunene holds Etosha National Park’s western half, the rock engravings of Twyfelfontein — Namibia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2007 — and a stretch of the Skeleton Coast. Roads are mostly gravel or sand; self-drive visitors need a 4×4 and should carry extra fuel and water.
Photo: Greg Willis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Twyfelfontein, Etosha National Park (west), Epupa Falls, Skeleton Coast (northern section), Damaraland
Heritage & Landmarks
UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007; more than 5,000 rock engravings up to 6,000 years old
A salt pan visible from space inside a 22,270 km² reserve proclaimed in 1907
The Kunene River drops 37 m across a 1.5 km line of cascades on the Angola border
Semi-nomadic pastoralists known for otjize, a red ochre-and-butterfat body paste; about 35,000 live in Kunene
Explore Kunene & Damaraland
Palm-fringed cascades on the Kunene, deep in Himba country
A salt pan so vast it is visible from space
Shipwrecks, fog and one of the world's loneliest coastlines
Namibia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site
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