Discover Oshikango

Oshikango is directly connected to the border area by a border post between Namibia and Angola. At the same time, Oshikango is one of the five townships of the city of Helao Nafidi. This dual perspective makes the place tangible: as a township within a city and as the site of a border post. When choosing a holiday apartment, this raises a practical question: should Oshikango itself be the focus of your trip, or are you more interested in the wider Ohangwena Region? The answer can help you choose where to stay based on the actual focus of your trip.

Landscape of the Ohangwena Region

The Ohangwena Region lies in north-central Namibia on a flat plain at an elevation of around 1,100 metres above sea level. It is also located in the Cuvelai Basin, whose very flat landscape includes sediments of silt, clay and sandstone. The elevation and the flat terrain complement each other: one describes the level above sea, the other the character of the land. This gives you both an elevation reference and an idea of the landscape when placing the region in context.

Landscape features within the Ohangwena Region vary from east to west. In the east, Kalahari woodlands, shrubs and bushy vegetation shape the landscape. In the west, Cuvelai-Oshanas form a drainage network that carries water and sediment deposits from higher-lying areas of Angola. These are two distinct regional points of reference: vegetation in the east and a drainage system in the west. If you include landscape in your travel planning, these differences can help you define your interests more precisely.

History and remembrance in the Ohangwena Region

The history of the Ohangwena Region also leads to specific places and forms of remembrance. In Eenhana, the government had the Eenhana Memorial Shrine built in 2008 to commemorate lives lost in the liberation struggle. The Eenhana Shrine in Ohangwena was designated a Heritage Place by the National Heritage Council of Namibia on 8 August 2011. The town of Eenhana is also home to at least five mass graves of SWAPO resistance fighters from the Namibian War of Independence against South Africa. These details highlight different aspects: a memorial site, its designation as a Heritage Place, and graves dating from the War of Independence.

Further regional connections can be found in Omhedi, Ohangwena. According to the Omhedi Eco Cultural Lodge, the royal residence of Queen Martha Mwandinomho yaKristian Nelumbu, who holds the title Ohamba of Oukwanyama, is located there. The lodge also describes Omhedi as the sacred place where King Mandume yaNdemufayo, Namibia’s national hero, made his last stand in 1917. The regional accounts thus bring together a named royal residence and a specific historical event; both add to the picture of the cultural history of the Ohangwena Region.

Choose accommodation to suit your travel interests

When looking for a holiday apartment, it is worth considering your choice of location alongside your travel interests. If Oshikango itself is your destination, you can search specifically for a holiday apartment in Oshikango. If, instead, your main interests are the landscape of the Ohangwena Region or the memorial sites in Eenhana and Omhedi, choose where to stay according to those interests. This is a useful distinction between choosing a specific location and planning for a wider region: Oshikango is described by its place within Helao Nafidi and its border post; the landscape and historical topics mentioned are regional points of reference.

For the wider travel overview: Ohangwena Region.