Visions of Namibia

I visited Namibia for the first time in November 2013. What I experienced was far beyond my expectations. I found it to be a land of contradictions. It is a place where you can experience daily fog in the desert. Where you may have to wear a coat in the tropics. It has some of …

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Vredefort Dome

Vredefort Dome UNESCO World Heritage Site, South Africa

From the World Heritage inscription: Vredefort Dome, approximately 120 km south-west of Johannesburg, is a representative part of a larger meteorite impact structure (astrobleme). Dating back 2,023 million years, it is the oldest astrobleme found on Earth so far. With a radius of 190 km, it is also the largest and the most deeply eroded. …

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Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls

Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription: The Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls is the world’s greatest sheet of falling water and significant worldwide for its exceptional geological and geomorphological features and active land formation processes with outstanding beauty attributed to the falls i.e. the spray, mist and rainbows. This transboundary property extends over 6860 ha and comprises 3779 ha …

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This Week in Travel – Episode 161

Regular hosts Jen Leo and Chris Christensen are joined by this week’s guest Chris Reynolds from the LA Times. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa

Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription: The undulating landscape containing the fossil hominid sites of South Africa comprises dolomitic limestone ridges with rocky outcrops and valley grasslands, wooded along watercourses and in areas of natural springs. Most sites are in caves or are associated with rocky outcrops or water sources. The serial listing includes the Fossil …

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Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape

Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription: The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape demonstrates the rise and fall of the first indigenous kingdom in Southern Africa between 900 and 1,300 AD. The core area covers nearly 30,000 ha and is supported by a suggested buffer zone of around 100,000 ha. Within the collectively known Zhizo sites are the remains …

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iSimangaliso Wetland Park

iSimangaliso Wetland Park UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription: The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is one of the outstanding natural wetland and coastal sites of Africa. Covering an area of 239,566 ha, it includes a wide range of pristine marine, coastal, wetland, estuarine, and terrestrial environments which are scenically beautiful and basically unmodified by people. These include coral reefs, long …

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This Week in Travel – Episode 160

Regular hosts Jen Leo and Chris Christensen are joined by this week’s guest Sean Keener from BootsNAll and Jennifer Miller from edventureproject.com. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Maloti-Drakensberg Park

Maloti-Drakensberg Park UNESCO World Heritage Site, South Africa

From the World Heritage inscription: The Maloti-Drakensberg Park is a transboundary site composed of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg National Park in South Africa and the Sehlathebe National Park in Lesotho. The site has exceptional natural beauty in its soaring basaltic buttresses, incisive dramatic cutbacks, and golden sandstone ramparts as well as visually spectacular sculptured arches, caves, …

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