Come to the land of the best surroundings of the ideal adventure regions in this part of Africa. The Parque Nacional do Iona or the Iona national Park, is a verdant stretch of ideal travel pleasures to all who visit this part of the world. Ensconced in the best ambience of the Namibe province this is one region in Angola that would enchant the tourist to the maximum.
Around 200 km from the Namibe city, Iona national Park is a lovely expanse of around 5850 square miles and is in fact the largest national park in the country. When Angola was not independent and fought the Angolan civil War, then Iona was a paradise for animals and was a game destination. But illegal poaching and lot of nefarious activities have damaged the beauty of the park. This park has a unique plethora of flora and fauna and also is famous for its rock formations. Iona is today Angola’s largest and oldest wildlife zone and has been proclaimed as a reserve in the year 1937. In the year 1964 it was upgraded to a national park. The Portuguese Angola authorities have recognized it thus ever since.
Situated in the south western part of the province of Namibe, this is surrounded naturally by the Atlantic Ocean in the western side, the Cuenne in the south, the Curoca River in the north and the est. Iona national park forms a total blocked vegetative area along with Namibia’s Skeleton Coast and the Namib Naukluft National park and has many sand dunes and also has a beautiful coastline.
The altitude here, alters from base sea level to around 800 m above at the Posto do Iona. The height is even greater in the Tchamalinde Mountains. There is a slope here, and the rainfall thus has a gradient and it ranges from100 mm to around 300 mm. The sand spit, the Baia dos tigres and the Cunene River cover the protected area and there is around 200 km of the coastline of the Atlantic. Many small semi desert ecosystems form the natural landscape of the Iona national Park and it is a lovely sight to see the calcrete plains, the open woodland, the desert grasslands and the beautiful regions of arid shrub land and the lovely savannah which dominate the entire area.
After the poaching and other activities were curbed, the Big Five of Iona national park include the Springbok or Gazelle, the Ostrich, the Kudu, the Oryx and the cheetah, the mountain zebra, the klipspringer, the impala, and the quelengue. Though there is an empty landscape, yet the park has some animals found the favourite sight here being the Springbok.
With an intriguing collection of flora, the fascinating Welwitschia Mirabilis which is one of the oldest living plants in the world, this is also a lovely hub of rock formations. The park is very well known for its avifauna and has the best sights of great sand dunes which lie near the coast. The birds are normally sighted near the river basins and the coastal regions.
The Mucubal and the himba are the main tribes living here in the park. The Kimbundu groups are also a group to reckon with here. With the farmers and herders who live here in this secluded region, the area is supposed to be the most culturally intact in the African region.
With beautiful sights and the loveliest travel delights, the Iona national park comes across as a great destination for all those who come to this part of the world. Visit the Iona national park and enjoy the sights of the wildlife and flora here.
