Home to the Herero people, this area offers some excellent game viewing on its savannahs dotted with majestic camel thorn trees. On the Eastern border of Namibia, Omaheke takes its name from the Herero word for Sandveld, and the region is a sparsely populated due to its sandy soil, but there are tribal groups such as the San and Nama, as well as the Herero, who survive by cattle farming.
Gobadis is the main centre, and is linked to Windhoek via a railway and a tarred road, everywhere else within the 80,000 sq. km region is fairly isolated and mostly linked only to Gobadis.
Omaheke borders the Kalihari desert, and was first put on the map by missionaries, who founded a station here in 1856, and after much fighting between the Herero and Nama tribes, the Germans tentatively settled here in the late 19th century. The Herero are a fierce and warlike people who objected to the German occupation of their land, and took on the might of the German empire in 1904, with some success in the early stages. The tribe killed every German man on the settlement, sparing women and children, but were massacred in the backlash, and lost 75% of their people, who were hunted as vermin throughout the area, and forced over the border into the Kalihari.
Modern Herero dress is a lasting reminder of the German influence on the area, with tribesmen traditionally wearing elaborate uniforms for special occasions, reminiscent of the 19th century German military garb. Herero women were influenced by the early missionaries, who disapproved of their scanty leather outfits, and gradually adapted Victorian dress as their traditional tribal attire. Tribeswomen now wear ankle-length dresses, long sleeves, with bodices done up to the neck, as well as a shawl and 8 petticoats- all this despite temperatures upwards of 40 degrees. Their distinctive hats are oddly shaped like horns, and pay homage to their cattle.
This distinctive programme offers the opportunity to help the cheetah by clearing the sickle bush, allowing them to exist and hunt in their natural habitat. You will also track and monitor both cheetahs and leopards as well as enjoy being in close proximity to these incredible creatures.
This conservation project in the Namib desert is about getting out into the field and really making a difference at the forefront of elephant conservation. This is your chance to get involved in vital elephant conservation in Namibia.
Volunteering on this programme gives you an exciting and rare opportunity to work with and care for the animals of Africa on a daily basis. You will look after numerous species, ranging from baboons and meerkats to lions and cheetahs, helping to feed, care and clean them, while also maintaining the centre’s enclosures and grounds.
Set off on the adventure of a lifetime through Africa’s wide and varied landscape! Get up close to big game, take a trip to Kruger National Park and help to preserve the continent’s most iconic wildlife. Zimbabwe - Namibia - South Africa.
This family run farm dedicates its time to establishing the most suitable and secure home possible for neglected or orphaned wild animals in the African Savannah. Volunteers are trained to care for the injured or orphaned animals.
Janet Horsley had an incredible time on her tailor-made gap year, blazing a trail through Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America, read her story here.
Gap Year for Grown Ups have many Career Break Voluntary Projects in Africa for grown up gappers. Because Gap Year for Grown Ups is the leading authority and only specialist source of ideas and options for grown up gap years, it has the widest range of volunteering programmes in Africa. These include animal/wildlife conservation, teaching English in Africa, community volunteering in Africa and Voluntary work with children in Africa.
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