Place to Visit: Hardap Recreation Resort, Game Park and Dam

Southern Namibia, Namibia

Hardap Recreation Resort is divided by the dam into a northern and southern section, with the largest concentration of game found in the southern part.

Background

Since 1963 the Fish River has been dammed up near Mariental to form Namibia’s largest artificial lake. Hardap Dam is the largest in Namibia with a capacity to hold 323million m3 and with a surface area of 25km, it supplies Mariental with water and is also used for irrigating cultivated land below the dam’s wall. In 1964 an area of 250 km² next to the lake was proclaimed a nature conservation area.