Namib Desert

The Namib Desert is a desert in Namibia and southwest Angola which forms part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The desert is Africa’s second largest after the sahara desert. The name “Namib” is of Nama origin. Nama or Hottentot is the largest of the Khoisan languages and is spoken in parts of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia by approximately 233,701 people.

In the Nama language, Namib means vast, an understatement when you’re confronted with the endless orange dunes of the parched Namib desert.

The Namib is one of the oldest and largest deserts in the world and is protected by the Namib-Naukluft Park - a 50 000km2 wonderland of shifting sands and colourful dunes.

A trip to this area is a remarkably surreal experience. Some travellers are simply too unnerved by how empty, arid and lonely the Namib landscape is. Others revel in its strangeness and the feelings of stillness and quiet desert solitude that it evokes.

Although the desert is largely unpopulated and inaccessible, there are year-round settlements at Sesriem, close to the famous Sossusvlei and a huge group of sand dunes, which at more than 300 meters high are among the tallest sand dunes in the world. The complexity and regularity of dune patterns in its dune sea have attracted the attention of geologists for decades.

One of the best ways to appreciate the magnificence of this area is by light aircraft on a scenic flight from Walvis Bay or Swakopmund or a balloon ride over the dunes.