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Activities
4x4 Trails
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riding
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zondjupa
... more
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Sustainable Tourism in Namibia is
amongst others about creating business opportunities for those who
previously hardly had any and to equip them with the right kind of
skills and knowledge to succeed.
It often takes more
practical guidance in how to get a new business going than is readily
available, rather then financial support.
This section
is dedicated to established Namibian tourism & tourism-related
businesses, organisations, and individuals, and the Broad-based Black
Empowerment (BBEE) Projects they co-operate with in various, possibly
little structured, yet still meaningful and therefore important ways.
Many do so in a private
capacity, in their spare time, at their own expense, in the absence of
formal agreements between the parties involved, with no shareholding in
the BBEE projects supported, and with no intension of attracting
publicity.
It
is however crucial to the overall success of Sustainable Tourism
activities that experiences are shared, not only amongst those who
received and provided support but also with the Namibian population and
the public at large.
Here are the first profiles of companies and individuals
co-operating on BBEE Projects: |
Namibia-Unlimited.com would like
to invite BBEE project leaders and their project supporters to
present the ways, purposes, and results of their co-operation to our
readership.
Your submissions will be published
free of charge, if provided ready-made in style and amount of text
similar to that of the example further down on this page.
Up to 3 images may be included.
Please send your submission
to:
info@namibia-unlimited.com
with the subject line provided
intact.
Cultural Tourism
today is one of the many economic empowerment opportunities
especially for young African entrepreneurs: |
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TTC, a privately
owned tourism development consultancy based in Windhoek, supports
selected BBEE Projects within the Namibian Tourism Industry, next to
its various day-to-day business activities.
Expertise in tour
operations as well as business management, training and marketing in
this field made it a natural choice to assist two emerging
indigenous enterprises specialising in Cultural Tours. Their
respective owners had earlier received support from other
established organisations regarding e.g. tour guide training but
experienced great difficulties in obtaining practical advice on how
to meet all requirements for arranging and conducting guided tours,
in line with the existing legal framework and tourism industry
standards.
The lack of training material and practical guidelines also in other
areas of a tour operator business and the complexities of the
tourism trade in general make the start-up phase very challenging
for every newcomer.
Thanks to the great
determination of both these young entrepreneurs to succeed and their
willingness to work hard, the initial hurdles were eventually
overcome.
Since then, both companies carried on under their own steam, while
TTC continued acting as mentor and giving practical support on
request only.
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Uakii Wilderness Survival
specialise in
facilitating inter-active cultural and wilderness experiences with Herero,
San, Damara,
and other ethnic communities in Namibia's eastern regions.
Uakii's offices are based at the Tourist Info Centre in Gobabis /
Omaheke Region.
Read more...
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Uakii
Wilderness Survival is
owned and managed by Peter-Hain Uaakisa Kazapua, an active member of the Namibian tourism industry, since
1995.
The company's re-naming in 2007, after three years
into its existence
(formerly Easy Travelling Ways),
went hand-in-hand with the broadening of the range of activities
concerning cultural tourism and a re-location from Windhoek to
Gobabis in Namibia's eastern Omaheke Region, where
Peter-Hain grew up.
Both made it possible
to co-operate more closely with the ethnic communities that feature
in Uakii's excursion, tour, and wilderness training programmes, as they could now be
visited more easily from a base situated nearer
to their rural settlements.
Like all tour operators concentrating on geographical areas that
previously saw very little tourism activities, Uakii initially did
not have access to a wide variety of readily available tourist products and
services but often had to take the lead in developing and refining them.
This process hardly ever ends, as visitor demand for cultural
experiences is still growing in Namibia, and as more rural
communities wish to explore the new employment and income generating
opportunities.
Gobabis is well positioned on the
Trans Kalahari Highway for travellers from/to
Botswana and South Africa, and only about two hours' drive from
Windhoek's Hosea Kutako Intern. Airport. It is an ideal base from
where to explore particularly
interesting yet off-the-beaten-track parts of Namibia.
While some of their cultural
and historical as well as natural attractions can be experienced
during self-drive tours, the true splendour of Omaheke only reveals
itself when travelling in the company of an experienced guide who
knows this remote and sparsely populated region intimately and
speaks most of the prevailing indigenous languages, next to English
and Afrikaans.
Apart from offering a
variety of guided tours and day excursions, Uakii Wilderness
Survival also assist self-driving tourists in making advance
bookings for accommodation and activity services throughout the
Omaheke Region and the remainder of Namibia. Travellers just passing
through Gobabis are most welcome too to visit them at the Gobabis
Tourist Info Centre located in the centre of town, next to the
Municipality building, and to enjoy a cup of coffee while obtaining
travel information and perusing brochures.
Uakii's own product
range includes amongst others:
- Ready-made local sightseeing & day
excursion programmes running from/to Gobabis that cover
sites of historic and cultural interest, various community
development projects, and visiting a Herero village in the communal
farming area of the Kalahari.
-
Transfer services from/to Windhoek, its International
Airport, and Gobabis respectively for guests wishing to spend a few
days at one of the game lodges in the Omaheke Region, some of which
offer activities surrounding the San (Bushman) Culture.
-
Tailor-made guided overland tours ex Gobabis or Windhoek
for a minimum of 2 participants that concentrate on guests' special
interests. These tours are arranged for any duration and budget, and
may include any destination within Namibia. Combining cultural
experiences in the Omaheke Region with those available in the
Tsumkwe area is possible as well, and may include travelling on 4x4
routes through remote parts of the Kalahari.
-
Step-on guide services for individual travellers and tour
groups planning to visit ethnic communities, historic sites, and
development projects in remote locations.
Uakii can also assist tour operators and organisations in making
regional arrangements for special interest groups, e.g. for
visiting cattle breeding farms and other agricultural production
units.
Contact details
and information on Uakii's specialised inter-active wilderness and
cultural experiences as well as the philosophy behind their
activities can be found on the company's own website:
www.uakii.com |
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Ombahe Tours
became a NTB-registered business in 2006, with the explicit
purpose of making the Himba Culture of Kaokoland more accessible to
foreign visitors, while supporting Himba communities and also
creating education and income opportunities for the family of its
owners, John and Gerson Kasaona.
These two brothers were the only members of a
large Himba family thus far who had received formal education,
with John later on becoming the driving force behind his younger
brother's further training as tour guide. He himself kept working as
an employee of a large non-governmental organisation involved in
establishing communal conservancies, until today. John's income also
provided the financial backing for the set up of the Ombahe
business, which Gerson manages on a day-to-day basis, since
resigning from a full-time job with an established tour operator.
Having lived and worked in the vast wilderness
areas of the remote Kunene Region for most of their lives, Gerson
and John know every corner and most of its ethnic communities
intimately - from Khorixas and Twyfelfontein in the south to
the Kunene River on Namibia's northern border with Angola.
They often know in advance
about special traditional festivities, e.g. weddings and funerals,
taking place in the bush villages of the Himba, and will try to
adapt travel itineraries even at short notice to incorporate such
events.
Ombahe's office in Opuwo
serves as the main starting and ending point for
guided day excursions to Himba
settlements located in the greater environment of this economic and
administrative centre of the northern part of the Kunene Region.
Traditional villages regularly visited by other tour operators and
self-driving tourists are usually avoided, as many of those are
unfortunately already losing authenticity. Instead, Ombahe Tours
take their guests to places off the beaten track where communities
agreed to share their every-day routines with a small number of
guests at a time.
Ombahe Tours operate
overland safaris in 4x4 vehicles
throughout the Kaokoveld and Damaraland as well, tailor-made in
duration and programme to meet customers' interests and budgets.
These longer tours include accommodation in lodges and tented camps
throughout the region, and may commence/terminate at any point in
Namibia.
Guests using charter flights
from/to Kaokoland have the option of taking a
one-way tour with Ombahe between
Opuwo and Fort Sesfontein, by prior arrangement.
On request, Gerson is
also available as step-on guide to coach groups and individual
travellers.
3
More information on Kaokoland,
the Himba Culture, tour and excursion offers as well as the company
owners and their contact details are available at:
www.ombahekaokotours.com
(Please note that the web
address has changed in April 2008 - the above is the new one.)
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