Sossusvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park

Sossusvlei

Best time to travel: April-May, Oct-Dec
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$$

  • Salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park
  • The name “Sossusvlei” is of mixed origin and roughly means “dead-end marsh”
  • Sossusvlei owes this name to the fact that it is a drainage basin without outflows for the ephemeral Tsauchab River

Spitzkoppe, Namib Desert

Spitzkoppe

Best time to travel: Sept
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Group of bald granite peaks in the Namib desert
  • Granite is over 120 million years old
  • Many examples of Bushmen artwork can be seen painted on the rock in the area

Mushara, Etosha National Park

Best time to travel: May-Nov
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Privately owned luxury accommodation next to Etosha National Park, one of the most important game reserves in Southern Africa
  • Wildlife sightings in the plains include zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, impala; and elephants can also be seen in large herds in the grasslands

Deadvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park

Best time to travel: April-May, Oct-Dec
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$$

  • White clay pan located near the more famous salt pan of Sossusvlei, inside the Namib-Naukluft Park
  • Dead Vlei has been claimed to be surrounded by the highest sand dunes in the world, which rest on a sandstone terrace
  • The clay pan was formed after rainfall, when the Tsauchab river flooded, creating temporary shallow pools where the abundance of water allowed camel thorn trees to grow
  • When the climate changed, drought hit the area, and sand dunes encroached on the pan, which blocked the river from the area
  • The trees died, as there no longer was enough water to survive
  • The remaining skeletons of the trees, which are believed to have died 600–700 years ago (ca. 1340-1430), are now black because the intense sun has scorched them
  • Though not petrified, the wood does not decompose because it is so dry

Dune 45, Namib Desert

Best time to travel: July-Oct
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Star dune in the Sossusvlei area of the Namib Desert
  • Its name comes from the fact that it is at the 45th kilometre of the road that connects the Sesriem gate and Sossusvlei
  • Because it is near the road the dune is often photographed, particularly early and late in the day when one side of the dune is in shadow

Dassie, Fountain and Porcupine Trail Loop, Waterberg Plateau Park

Best time to travel: July-Sept
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • National park on the Waterberg Plateau, the plateau and the national park are named after the prominent table mountain that rises from the plateau, the Waterberg (Afrikaans: Water Mountain)
  • The plateau is largely inaccessible from beneath, as several of Namibia’s endangered species were relocated there in the early 1970s to protect them from predators and poaching to extinction
  • The Waterberg Plateau Park is ecologically diverse and rich and has over 200 different species of bird with some rare species of small antelope on the lower hills of the mountain
  • Geologically, the oldest rock stratum is over 850 million years old and dinosaurs tracks were left there some 200 million years ago

Skeleton Coast National Park

Best time to travel: Oct-March
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$$

  • National park with the most inaccessible shores, dotted with shipwrecks
  • The park was established in 1971 and the southern section is open to those with 4 wheel drive vehicles
  • The northern section can only be reached by a fly-in safari, and the area is off-limits to all vehicles
  • The list of tourist attractions in the park includes a shipwreck at the South West Seal viewpoint, Huab lagoon and the collapsed oil drilling rig