Authorities in Namibia have condemned three tourists who posed naked in one of the country’s top attractions, the Big Daddy dune in the Namibian desert. During a safari, the foreign tourists stripped naked on the Big Daddy dune and took photos, which were later shared on social networks. The images quickly went viral and provoked strong reactions. Many Namibians described the act as “disrespectful of local culture and traditions”.
In the aftermath, the Namibian authorities reacted to the tourists’ behavior and announced their intention to take legal action against them. The suspects have not been publicly identified and were believed to have left the country before local authorities could take any action, as reported by UK news outlet The Independent.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Tourism told local media that the tourists risked being banned from entering the country’s national parks.
According to local media, the vice-chairperson of the Federation of Namibian Tourism Association, Kenneth Nependa, labelled the incident “disgusting” adding that tourists think “they can do whatever they want” in Namibia.
“We have tourists writing graffiti on the Bushman rock art in Spitzkoppe,” said Nependa to The Independent. “Tourists hanging on the trees in Deadvlei, and now naked tourists climbing Big Daddy, which is a very famous dune for families and other tourists and locals. The ministry should really speak up and warn tourists that if this were to happen, the law will take its course.”
“It is a punishable act, according to the country’s laws. When this had been brought to our attention, we were shocked at the extent to which people could go,” Romeo Muyunda, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism told local news outlet The Nambian. “We condemn this type of action as it does not only go against our morals but also violates the country’s laws.” The unnamed foreigners might be blacklisted from entering any of Namibia’s parks, Muyunda added.
Big Daddy is a dune of more than 320 meters of height. Located in the Sossusvlei area, it takes two hours to reach the top on foot. Sossusvlei is a dry lake on the central coast of Namibia, on the African continent. It is surrounded by gigantic dunes of intense reddish color that can reach more than 300 meters high. It is part of Namib-Naukluft, the fourth largest national park in the world.
From Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, the drive to Sossusvlei is five hours by road. The term “Sossusvlei” means “dead-end swamp”; it comes from the Nama and Afrikaans languages. It is so called because the sand mountains represent a natural barrier to the flow of the Tsauchab River, leaving the area completely dry. On rare occasions, when a branch of the river reaches the grounds of Sossusvlei, a small lake of turquoise color is formed.
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