Namibia

Namibia is celebrated for its vast open landscapes. An abundance of space in which to inhale deeply and bask in an infinite supply of blue, sun-bright skies and star filled nights. Its immensity of space – it is the fifth largest country in Africa (and about the size of France) – is accentuated by the fact that it is the driest country south of the Sahara.

Namibia is also a land of startling contrasts that straddle the two great deserts; the Namib (after which the country is named) is the oldest desert on the planet with its sea of red sand lying along the Atlantic coastline, whilst in the eastern interior lies the Kalahari, a vast and sparsely vegetated savannah that sprawls across the border into neighbouring South Africa and Botswana.

To the far south is the Fish River Canyon, a massive feature little known and rarely visited in any numbers but on a scale to rival many more famous canyons on the planet. Moving further north you enter the stunningly beautiful Namib Sand Sea of the Namib Desert where the red dunes of Sossusvlei soar up to 250 metres in height and change colour in spectacular fashion with each dusk and dawn. The northern coastline is dominated by the Skeleton Coast, with its graveyard of ships driven ashore by Atlantic storms.

The many national parks and game reserves boast a huge variety of wildlife in a kaleidoscope of differing environments; giraffes and elephants amble across the blinding white salt pans of the Etosha National Park, oryx plunge headlong up the impossibly steep red dunes at Sossusvlei and seals in their many thousand colonise beaches along the world famous Skeleton Coast. Astonishing contrasts are everywhere for the visitor to savour and photograph.

The distances involved between destinations in Nambia are truly huge and visitors are advised to fly between camps. This allows a greater appreciation of the country in all its vast splendour.

Namibia can be combined with Mozambique

Climate and When to Go
Temperature (ºC). These are the average lows and highs

Rainfall (mm)
Average rainfall but will vary according to where you are in Namibia

Namibia has a dry climate typical of a semi-desert country where droughts are a regular occurrence. Days are mostly warm to very hot, although not humid, whilst nights are generally cool. Rain falls in the summer months from October to May and snow has even been known on the highest dunes in Sossusvlei. Wildlife in the Etosha National Park disperses during the rainy seasons but converge on available water sources from July onwards. October to December can be very hot but game viewing excellent.

Travel Tips
Namibia is a vast country and contains a huge chunk of the Kalahari Desert and receives sparse rainfall.

It is a year-round destination from November through to March can be extremely hot.

Namibia main roads are good, although many side roads are unmade. Self-drive trips are popular using 4x4 vehicles.

If you are short of time Namibia is an excellent fly-in safari destination with most camps having an airstrip nearby.

Botswana or South Africa (especially Cape Town) combine well with a safari in Namibia.

Further reading
This is Namibia - Gerald Cubitt & Peter Joyce
Newman's Birds of Southern Africa - Ken Newman
Skeleton Coast - Amy Schoeman
Etosha Visual Souvenir - Darryl Balfour
Namibia: The Beautiful Land - David Bristow
The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals - Jonathan Kingdon
Namibia – the Bradt Travel Guide – Chris McIntyre
Fascination of Geology – Nicole Grunert