The Waterberg Plateau towers 400 metres above the surrounding plains, and 1878 metres above sea level, dominating the landscape for miles around. The plateau itself is 48 km at its longest point, and 16 km at its widest.
The history is rich. The oldest rock stratum is 850 million years old and dinosaurs left their tracks here 200 million years ago. The first human inhabitants were San people, who left rock engravings believed to be several thousand years old, and a small band of San were still living their traditional lifestyle on the mountain until the late 1960's.
Waterberg was the site of one of the major turning points in the story of Namibia and its people. It was here, on the foothills, that the Herero people lost their last and greatest battle against the German Colonial forces at the beginning of the century. The Herero were driven across the Kalahari desert into Botswana, the a British protectorate. Since independence descendants of these people have been re-entering Namibia.
Waterberg Plateau and 41000 hectares of surrounding land was declared a Nature Reserve in 1972. The plateau is largely inaccessible and several of Namibia's endangered species were soon translocated here to protect them from predators and poaching. The programme was very successful and Waterberg now supplies the other Namibian parks with rare animals.
Bernebe De La Bat Rest Camp is situated on the lower slopes of the mountain. The rest camp offers bunglows and camping
There is a well situated campsite with good shade trees and an excellent swimming pool. The camp is well maintained and hot showers and flush toilets are provided in clean ablution blocks. The bungalows are in good condition
The restaurant is well situated near the swimming pool with good views of the surrounding area, but the service can be slow. The shop sells basic provisions.
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A normal 2x4 sedan vehicle is sufficient. Waterberg is unusual that you cannot drive around the Plateau Park yourself. Guided 4x4 trips leave morning and evening, and there are several hiking trails on the plateau.
The average summer maximum temperature is 38C, during the cooler months these maximum temperatures are in the lower 20'sC. The area has 500mm of rainfall between November and March.