Plane spotting in Africa (Namibia)

Hi,

I'm going to Namibia this year and was wondering if spotting is accepted there? I think civil planes isn't a real problem but how about Grootfontein air base? Can you just take pictures? Or is it better to ask first at the gate?

If you've experiences in neighbor countries please share those too!

Thanks in advance!

Bradley

Hi Bradley

You may want to ask at the gate first. Some years ago in Gaberone, Botswana there was almost an incident when I wanted to take pictures at their dual purpose airport. When I then asked permission it was refused. This guy had his AK47 all over my face - joy o joy!

Grootfontein is a large sprawling air base built by the South Africans in the 1970's and 80's and was the prime SA Air Force base for staging operations against the Cuban and Angolan forces during the Angolan War of the same period.

Do give it a go by asking, you never know your luck! Not sure what state the Namibian military planes are in ....

Enjoy the trip and please report back upon your return.

Veilige reis!

Marius

Hi,

I've been before in Namibia and Botswana and I had the feeling that everything in Namibia was more relaxed!

I think the right thing to do is indeed just try or ask it.

Thanks for your reply!

And off course I'll will show some photo's if I've some ;P

What I've found about the NamAf is that they use "Chinese/Russian" stuff and some allouettes, I also tried to contact the air force itself but the e-mail address wasn't in use anymore :(

Cheers!

Bradley

This post has been edited by Bradley Malais on 17th April 2012 - 15:18

The social interaction and the' sense of enjoyment' you feel as a visitor can be very rewarding, as you will have experienced.

However, when it comes to us Europeans and our cameras and plane spotting, you need to be careful in Africa. They do not readily understand nor appreciate this photo taking habit of ours when it involves military equipment. The freedom we have here, in Europe, to show our pictures taken in all sorts of wonderful locations is in many ways quite unique.