Namibia has suddenly gained immense popularity….

Namibia has suddenly gained immense popularity in the United States thanks to the visit by Hollywood golden couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the country's ambassador to the US said Thursday."Since the arrival of Angelina Jolie, her two adopted children and Brad Pitt in Namibia, the Namibian embassy in Washington DC has been inundated with calls from the US media and individuals," Hopelong Ipinge said."(They are) enquiring about our country," Ipinge said in a statement given to the media in Windhoek, the capital some 350km east of where Jolie and Pitt are staying on the desert country's coast.

Jolie, who is eight months pregnant and is expected to give birth in Namibia, arrived with Pitt in the southern African country in early April.Their arrival sparked a media frenzy with both local and foreign journalists and paparazzi baying to get pictures and interview the glamorous couple.Jolie and Pitt have been welcomed by the government, but a Namibian rights group and journalists have accused their bodyguards and police of heavy-handed tactics to keep the press at bay.The Namibian government has vowed to protect Jolie and Pitt's privacy, releasing a statement asking the press to leave them alone during their stay near the west coast town of Swakopmund.

But their stay has done much to promote the arid southwest African country of two million people, famous for its diamond mines and spectacular desert scenery, Ipinge said."Some television stations in the US, including CNN even requested our tourism marketing videos because their American viewers requested to know more about Namibia," Ipinge added.Jolie had three choices of destinations to give birth to her first biological child, the statement of the Namibian ambassador said - France, the United States and Namibia.
"Her choice fell on Namibia because of privacy and that is what we need to secure at all costs," Ipinge added.

Namibia the adventure seeker's paradise

Namibia is a largely arid country of stark rough-hewn beauty. The most vivid images are those of a haunting technicolor landscape of swirling orange dunes, shimmering mirages and treacherous dust devils. The apparent desolation is deceptive and plant and animal life and even man has adapted to this environment. The country is designed almost specially with the active and adventure seeker in mind. Timeless deserts, thorn bush savanna, desolate wind ravaged coastlines, majestic canyons, and sun-baked saltpans are the bounty that awaits the traveller.

Namibia's top draw is the Etosha National Park, rated as one of Africa's finest game sanctuaries. The birding experience in the country is truly superior. The range of activities you can indulge in the unsurpassable physical environment is truly impressive. Ballooning over the desert, skydiving over land and sea, paragliding, white water rafting and sand skiing along coastal dunes are good activities for starters. More fun games to pick from include abseiling - that most spectacular of rock sports, coastal and fresh water angling, desert camel riding, scuba diving, 4x4 desert runs, hiking and mountaineering.

Namibia has four distinct geographical regions. In the north is Etosha Pan, a great area for wildlife and heart of Etosha National Park. The slender Caprivi Strip is nested between Zambia and Botswana and is a wet area of woodland blessed with a few rivers. Along the coast is the Namib Desert, which at the age of 80 million years old, is said to be the world's oldest desert. At the coast, the icy cold Atlantic meets the blazing African desert, resulting in dense fogs. The well-watered central plateau runs north to south, and carries rugged mountains, magnificent canyons, rocky outcrops and expansive plains.

African travel getting cheaper

Thundering herds of wildebeest, prides of lions, great masses of elephants and giraffes, chattering monkeys, and lumbering water buffalo -- all of them viewed from the safety of an open-topped van. That's the portrait of Africa to which most of the travel industry limits itself; the overwhelming majority of Africa tours tend to be wildlife safaris. For viewing an altogether different aspect of that immense continent -- the vitally important cultures, politics, and society of Africa -- the travel programs are few and rarely available for less than $4,000 or $5,000 per person. Until now, that is. Just in the past several years, a handful of dedicated Africa tour operators have begun to offer travel programs to the cities (and therefore the actual life) of Africa, priced as low as $2,500, and occasionally, for a breathtaking $1,700, including round-trip airfare from the United States. Though these expenditures are far above the usual recommended levels of Budget Travel, they are at least explained by the high airfare cost for reaching most African capitals, and they are justified by the importance of the subject matter.