Named for the ancient desert that stretches the length of its Atlantic coast and dominated by thousands of square miles of sand and rock, Namibia has a landscape that is always extreme. Yet while it may not seduce with the bountiful charms of neighbours like cosmopolitan South Africa, or Botswana with its profusion of wildlife, it is Namibia’s desert with its extraordinary flora and fauna, gutsy people and vast distances that brings visitors back – and back again – for another taste of an untamed wilderness.
En route to Keetmanshoop.
Clare Louise Thomas/Apa Publications
Fish River Canyon as seen from the air.
Ute von Ludwiger/Namibia Tourism Board
There’s more to this enormous country (it’s nearly as big as France and Italy combined) than just the desert, too. Its northern borders are well-watered by rivers, while other parts of the country offer landscapes of spectacular, rugged mountains, deep canyons and wide-open plains.
The Namibian adventure usually begins in Windhoek, a city still dominated by the graceful buildings erected at the turn of the 19th century when the great scramble for African territory brought a sudden influx of German missionaries and colonists to this wild land. The capital acts as a useful jumping-off point for a range of intriguing journeys into the interior, including the majestic Fish River Canyon in the south and the mysterious Skeleton Coast to the west.
Quiver Tree Forest, Keetmanshoop.
Clare Louise Thomas/Apa Publications
Wildlife fans will most probably already have heard of the Etosha National Park, one of the finest game reserves in the world, where the huge diversity of southern Africa’s wildlife (including all of the “Big Five”) can be viewed at close range. Heading to the northwest, the Kaokoveld is home to some extraordinary desert-adapted flora and fauna as well as the proud Himba people. Then there’s remote Damaraland, strewn with archaeological finds dating back to Stone Age times. While it’s only accessible to expeditions with four-wheel-drive vehicles, the lush wilderness of the Caprivi region, on the other hand, is easily explored by car.
