The Hardap Recreation Resort (also known as ''Hardap Nature Reserve'') is a National Park located in southern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It was proclaimed in 1968 and measures . Hardap is situated in Hardap Region, about south of

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

and about west of Mariental. It surrounds the

Hardap Dam Hardap Dam is a dam close to Mariental in the Hardap Region of central Namibia. Created in 1963 while Namibia was under South African occupation, Hardap Dam is the largest dam in the country. The reservoir dams the Fish River and is home to num ...

, Namibia's largest dam, which lies on the Fish River. There is a game park on the southern side of the dam.

History

The name Hardap is derived from the Nama word meaning 'nipple' or 'wart', in reference to the surrounding landscape of low conical shaped hills. Although first investigations to build a dam at Hardap were carried as early as 1897, construction started in 1960 and the dam was completed in 1963. It has a capacity of 320 million m³ and a surface area of 25 km².

Geography and Access

The Resort is dominated by the Hardap Dam, the Fish and Groot Komatsas rivers. There are open savannah plains and mountainous areas include the Gemsbok Plateau.

Biology and ecology

Flora

Hardap is in the Nama Karoo Biome and is characterised by Dwarf Shrubland. Common trees include the Shepherd's tree ('' Boscia albitrunca''), camel thorn (''

Vachellia erioloba ''Vachellia erioloba'', the camel thorn, giraffe thorn, or Kameeldoring in Afrikaans, still more commonly known as ''Acacia erioloba'', is a tree of southern Africa in the family Fabaceae. Its preferred habitat is the deep dry sandy soils in par ...

'', formerly ''Acacia erioloba'') green-hair thorn (''Parkinsonia africana'') Karee or willow rhus ('' Searsia lancea'') and buffalo thorn ('' Ziziphus mucronata'').

Fauna

Common mammals are kudu, oryx, springbok, steenbok, Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, red hartebeest and ostrich. There is also a small population of black rhino. Nearly 300 bird species are found here, including

Yellow-billed stork The yellow-billed stork (''Mycteria ibis''), sometimes also called the wood stork or wood ibis, is a large African wading stork species in the family Ciconiidae. It is widespread in regions south of the Sahara and also occurs in Madagascar. Taxo ...

Osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

, African fish eagle,

Goliath heron The Goliath heron (''Ardea goliath''), also known as the giant heron, is a very large wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa, with smaller, declining numbers in Southwest and South Asia. Description This i ...

Bradfield's swift Bradfield's swift (''Apus bradfieldi'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southern ...

and

Stark's lark Stark's lark (''Spizocorys starki'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Its natural habitats are dry savannah and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. Captain George Shelley ...

. The dam has one of the three largest

Great white pelican The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes. ...

breeding colonies in Namibia.

Recreation

Hardap is a popular angling area. Annual angling competitions are held. Permits are required and are obtained from the Hardap Regional Council office. Water sports such as canoeing and boating are permitted. There are two hiking trails in the park for day hikers. Game drives are permitted in the game park surrounding Hardap Dam, within the Resort area. Namibia Wildlife Resorts manages accommodation in the Park. Accommodation was upgraded during a four-year, N$40 million renovation period, and the resort reopened on 1 December 2015. Hardap has a restaurant, conference facilities, a swimming pool, 5 VIP Bungalows, 15 self-catering Family Chalets, 30 Bush Chalets, a dormitory and campsites.New Era Newspaper
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Park Management

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism is responsible for park management. Invasive plants such as ''Datura inoxa'', ''Nicotiana glauca'' and ''Prosopis glandulosa'' are a key environmental issue. Incidents of subsistence poaching, involving traps and snares for small antelope are recorded.

References

External links

Namibia Wildlife Resorts

Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism
{{authority control National parks of Namibia 1968 establishments in South Africa Protected areas established in 1968 Hardap Region