A group of “foreigners” face punishment after stripping naked and posing at one of Namibia’s top attractions: Big Daddy Dune in the Namib Desert.
Visitors told a local newspaper on Wednesday that they were stunned to find naked people wandering around the sand attraction and have now called for action against the tourists.
Anonymous “foreigners” now risk being blacklisted from entering any of the country’s parks, a Tourism Ministry official told local media.
Images of the male tourists posing naked were widely shared on the Internet and sparked an avalanche of harsh reactions.
Kenneth Nependa, vice-president of the Federation of Namibian Tourism Associations, told the Namibian Sun news website that this behavior risked attracting tourists “who think anything goes in Namibia”.
Three male tourists risk being blacklisted from any of Namibia’s parks after posing completely naked on the country’s Big Daddy dune.
“It is very disgusting and really creates a bad image for Namibia,” Nependa said.
He added that Big Daddy Dune was not only a resting place for tourists but also for families.
It is unclear who took the images and video of the three tourists, who can be seen completely naked as their clothes lie next to them in the dunes.
Romeo Muyunda, spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, said the behavior was “extremely shocking” in a statement cited by local media.
He called the incident public indecency and stated that the tourists’ actions violated the park’s rules and regulations.
‘It is a punishable act, according to the laws of the country.
“When we heard about this, we were surprised to see how far people could go,” Muyunda added.
He said that by the time authorities received the report of the incident, the careless travelers had already left Nambia.
“We condemn these types of actions because they not only go against our morals but also violate the laws of the country,” said Muyunda.
He stated that tourists are generally law-abiding people, but there have been some exceptions.
Muyunda said the ministry is now appealing to those who find violations of the law, or the park’s rules and regulations, to report it to the ministry or the police so that action can be taken.
‘We strongly condemn this action. “We can study the possibility of blacklisting them so that they cannot enter any of our parks,” he added.
But some social media users argued that “there is nothing wrong with sunbathing.”
‘Why are they in trouble? They didn’t bother anyone,” posted an X user, formerly Twitter.
Big Daddy Dune is one of the three largest dunes in Namibia’s massive Namib-Naukluft National Park, one of the largest in the world.
The dunes are popular with tourists who walk to the top to enjoy the stunning views of the ridges.
It comes after a British tourist was arrested for stripping naked in front of other stunned tourists as they posed for a group photo while on holiday in Thailand earlier this month.
Joseph William Kershaw, 23, was caught on camera by a Krabi resident strolling along Ao Nang beach with his clothes in his hand before taking a photo in front of the sailfish sculpture.
Footage shows a gathering of between 20 and 30 young foreigners on the paradisiacal beach, all cheering as Kershaw waved his genitals, paying no attention to horrified locals or passing motorists.
After multiple complaints from locals and after seeing the images, the Krabi Immigration Police and the Ao Nang police station managed to identify Kershaw and discovered that he was in Thailand on a tourist visa.
He was arrested at his hostel and taken to Ao Nang Police Station, where he humiliatedly apologized.
And in October last year, furious Bali officials launched a search for a tourist who was caught on video meditating naked at a Hindu shrine.