The Namibia Community Based Tourism Assistance Trust (NACOBTA) was initiated in 1995 by various rural communities involved in tourism. NACOBTA is a non-profit membership organization that supports and acts as the voice for communities in their efforts to develop tourism enterprises in Namibia. Through training, business advice, enterprise development, marketing, funding, advocacy, joint venture facilitation and by operating a booking and information office, NACOBTA assists communities to generate income and employment through tourism. It aims to improve living standards amongst the communities of rural Namibia, to ensure that community based tourism enterprises (CBTEs) are viable and to integrate community based tourism into the tourism sector. The Nature Conservation Amendment Act, passed in 1996, has seen the registration of fifty two communal conservancies and it is in these areas that most of the CBTEs have been established.
So it is that N//Goabaca Campsite offers campers and day visitors the perfect location from which to enjoy the Popa Falls, a series of enchanting rapids where the Okavango river cascades downwards on its journey to the Okavango Delta in neighbouring Botswana. This fascinating area of Namibia, encompassing two of the country’s less visited regions, offers the tourist so much. The Kavango and Caprivi regions are here separated by this perennial Okavango river, as it twists lazily through the landscape on its journey south, fed by a catchment area in Angola of nearly 150,000 square kilometres. The Okavango River is known as the Cubango in Angola, whilst its only significant tributary is the Cuito River which joins the Okavango at their confluence between Rundu and Mukwe, a point some 1400 kms distant from its source. The falls create a spellbinding attraction amongst the semi-desert landscapes of Namibia.
You can access the Popa Falls from either bank of the Okavango, but without a doubt the finest Popa views are from the eastern side of the river, and N//Goabaca. Driving on the B8 black top, you simply cross the upgraded bridge that now spans the river, pass through the police checkpoint on the eastern side and enter the Caprivi region, specifically the newly proclaimed Bwabwata National Park. After driving for just a couple of kilometres, turn right at the signs for N//Goabaca Campsite; you’ll follow a long winding track for over 3 km which will lead you to both the charming campsite and to the viewing areas and picnic sites on this eastern bank. The rapids are perhaps without doubt the most impressive from this standpoint. Not far from Popa you may spot crocodile, hippo and definitely a myriad of wonderful birdlife. Do be careful though: do not for any reason enter, or swim in, these waters, for this native wildlife can be extremely dangerous. In the main Park areas (Mahango, Buffalo and Caprivi Game Reserve as were) close to Popa, there are excellent game viewing opportunities too, including the possibility of elephant, buffalo, giraffe, both sable and roan antelope, bushbuck, tsessebe, reedbuck, red lechwe, impala, and zebra.
The N//Goabaca Campsite itself is run by the local San headman and his colleagues in the San community and operates under the stewardship of the Namibia Community Based Tourism Assistance Trust (NACOBTA), the very organisation that originally secured overseas funding to cover set-up costs etc. There are four extremely well maintained and private sites capable of housing up to 3 tents. The ablutions, including hot showers and flush toilets, are spotless, and the setting quite unique. Two sites even have wooden decks overlooking the falls. It’s just N$ 60, 00 per person per night to stay here. There’s a wonderful welcome waiting from these indigenous peoples of the region who perhaps have a harder, more rural existence than many, yet still show such genuine warmth and interest in visitors to the area. Why not then venture forth and discover the
Popa Falls?
By Neil Digby-Clarke
