ABOUT NAMIBIA The desolate Fish River Canyon in the south is second only to the Grand Canyon in size and grandeur, and from there it’s a short hop to Lüderitz, where the ghost town of Kolmanskop is a huge source of fascination to visitors. It boomed during the gold rush, but today is partially reclaimed by the surrounding desert.
The towering sand dunes at Sossusvlei are utterly mesmerising and those who explore them soon discover that deserts are anything but lifeless once their eyes adapt to the subtlety and scale of these intricate life forms. The dead pan here is a vast expanse of bleached and cracked mud, dotted by the skeletons of ancient thorn trees, with dramatic crimson dunes as a backdrop, a photographer’s paradise!
Swakopmund is a charming, very German coastal town in the midst of desert and dunes. It’s also Namibia’s adventure hub. Take a dolphin cruise from nearby Walvis Bay and you’ll have seals trying to clamber on board your boat for a free ride! Quad bike or sand board over those awesome dunes, then feast on oysters and champagne as the dying sun sets the sea of sand aflame.
Also worth a visit is the Cape fur seal colony at Cape Cross, a few hours north of Swakopmund. Further inland is the untamed magic of Damaraland, with its Bushman relics at Twyfelfontein, petrified forest, strange rock formations that resemble organ pipes, and a good chance of seeing desert-adapted elephant and rhino.
For surreal desolation, the Skeleton Coast is hard to beat. Imagine a deserted coastline, littered with huge, rusting shipwrecks, and surrounded entirely by endless vistas of sea and sand. The Etosha National Park is an oasis in the middle of a semi-desert, providing one of the most extraordinary game viewing experiences in the region.
In contrast, the Caprivi Strip is a lush network of rivers, forests, swamps and waterways. This fascinating and unique country is full of wide horizons, endless stretches of gold-en desert dunes and unusual rocky plains, as though not of this world. Its vast open spaces are home to a wealth of birds and animals, some rare protected species, and some exquisite plant life, found nowhere else in the world!
HIGHLIGHTS • View wildlife in Etosha National Park • Take a hot air balloon flight over the dunes at Sossusvlei • See the incomparable Skeleton Coast • Explore the quaint seaside town of Swakopmund • Spend the day viewing the awesome Fish River Canyon • Experience the ghost town of Kolmanskop • See the rare desert elephants in Damaraland • Enjoy a rail safari on the Desert Express between Windhoek and Swakopmund • Experience traditional Herero and nomadic Himba culture
CLIMATE The cold Benguela current keeps the coast of the Namib Desert cool, damp and rain free for most of the year.
Inland all the rain falls between November and April, and summer temperatures can soar to 35 degrees Celsius and up.
HOW TO GET THERE WINDHOEK South African Airways and Air Namibia fly direct from Joburg to Windhoek (return) twice a day British Airways flies direct from Johannesburg to Windhoek (return) daily SA Express flies direct from Cape Town to Windhoek (return) daily Air Namibia flies direct from Cape Town to Windhoek (return) twice a day WALVIS BAY SA Express and Air Namibia fly direct from Cape Town to Walvis Bay (return) daily except on Saturdays
