If it’s dramatic landscapes you’re after, dramatic landscapes you’ll get! Namibia is an absolute visual treat, offering some of the most memorable scenery in the world. The country’s remarkable and diverse desert scenery, wonderful desert-adapted wildlife, as well as the diverse culture, including some very remote and authentic tribes like the semi-nomadic Himba are Namibia’s main draw-cards for visitors.
HIGHLIGHTS IN NAMIBIA
Our ‘not to be missed’ recommendations for your holiday
SOSSUSVLEI & DEAD VLEI
The heart of the Namibia’s ancient Namib Desert, with impressive mountains and sand dunes, feels like another world. Be surrounded by an oasis of total silence and tranquillity of the desert wilderness. In this malaria free area local wildlife includes oryx, springbok, Hartmann’s zebra and bat-eared foxes can be spotted.
Desert adventures include excursions to the renowned Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei salt pans, and the deep gorge of Sesriem Canyon. Other activities to explore the desert scenery include hot air ballooning flights (at additional cost), guided nature walks to see San rock paintings and quad bike excursions.
Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan surrounded by iconic high red dunes.
ETOSHA’S RICH WILDLIFE
Situated in north-central Namibia, Etosha National Park is the best known and richest wildlife area in the country and renowned for intense wildlife scenes around the park’s many waterholes. It is centred on a vast open salt pan, and surrounded by broad grasslands and scrub acacia woodland.
Although the park itself is primarily set up for self-drive (and can get fairly busy at times), a network of private reserves adjacent to the park can offer a more qualitative experience in our opinion.
Etosha, renowned for its intense wildlife scenes around the park’s many waterholes.
HOT AIR BALLOONING
Floating in silence above the satin sands of the Namib Desert offers a truly unique opportunity of taking in some of the world’s most spectacular wildlife and scenery from the ultimate perspective: a thousand feet above. Gently rising with the sun, you will travel as the wind takes you. It’s silent, other than the occasional sound of the burner, and the feeling of floating calmly over the wild Africa below is indescribable; other than to say you will remember it for the rest of your life.
Please note: hot air ballooning comes at an additional cost and pre-booking is essential. Contact us for more information to include ballooning in your tailored itinerary.
Enjoy a balloon safari – soaring above the desert offers an awe-inspiring experience.
WHERE TO GO IN NAMIBIA
A selection of unforgettable places to visit
Etosha
The best known national park and Namibia’s richest wildlife area, renowned for intense wildlife scenes around the park’s many waterholes.
Sossusvlei
Located in the southern part of the ancient Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan surrounded by iconic high red dunes.
Damaraland
A huge, untamed, ruggedly beautiful region located in north-west Namibia. Local wildlife includes giraffe, eland, zebra, kudu, oryx and springbok.
Kaokoland
Located deep in north-western Namibia and one of the world’s last wilderness areas: towering mountains, sand dunes, and huge expanses of desert, unique wildlife and home to the nomadic Himba people.
Skeleton Coast
Explore a raw, rugged and impossibly remote slice of African wilderness. Activities include game drives within the national park, sundowners, enjoy a beach walk or go fishing on the beach.
Windhoek
Most travellers start their Namibia holiday in the capital; a modern city situated in the country’s central highlands.
Where to stay in Namibia
Some of our preferred safari camps and lodges
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Shipwreck Lodge
Skeleton Coast, Namibia
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Sossusvlei Desert Lodge
Sossusvlei, Namibia
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Vingerklip Lodge
Damaraland, Namibia
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Hoanib Valley Camp
Kaokoland, Namibia
Rooms at night
Family room set up
Skeleton Coast
Main dining area
Shipwreck Lodge
Skeleton Coast, Namibia
Located in Namibia’s remote, wild and inhospitable Skeleton Coast, Shipwreck Lodge is nestled between the dunes with a view of the Atlantic Ocean, where the cold Benguela current provides a refreshing breeze. The lodge’s uniquely designed 10 shipwreck-shaped chalets resemble the wrecks that line the coastline.
Explore a raw, rugged and impossibly remote slice of African wilderness. Activities include game drives within the Skeleton Coast National Park, sundowners, enjoy a beach walk or go fishing on the beach. Discover the enchanting desert flora or end your day sitting atop the magical roaring dunes as the sun sinks below the horizon.
Aerial view of the main area
Indoor lounge at the Star Dune suite
Main area by day
Sossusvlei Desert Lodge
Sossusvlei, Namibia
In the heart of the Namibia’s ancient Namib Desert, surrounded by impressive mountains and sand dunes, Sossusvlei Desert Lodge feels like another world. Be surrounded by an oasis of total silence and tranquillity of the desert wilderness.
The 10 beautifully styled guest suites offer an outdoor shower and a dramatic skylight over the bed for late night star gazing. The extraordinary clarity of light in this part of the world offers magical skies and exceptional stargazing.
Vingerklip Lodge
Enjoy a refreshing dip in the pool
Comfortable rooms
Nestling in a timeless valley in Damaraland is Vingerklip Lodge
Vingerklip Lodge
Damaraland, Namibia
Nestling in a timeless valley in Damaraland is Vingerklip Lodge, named after one of the most dramatic rock formations in Namibia; the 35m high pillar of rock, the ‘Vingerklip’ or ‘Finger of Stone’. Proudly standing above a valley in the ancient landscape known as the Ugab terraces. Local wildlife in the Damaraland area includes giraffe, eland, zebra, kudu, oryx and springbok. They frequently visit the waterholes in the area and are also often spotted when following the walking trails.
The lodge’s 11 double unit thatched bungalows (including family bungalows) include an en-suite bathroom which are all individually furnished and equipped to make for a comfortable stay. Spend some time relaxing in the two swimming pools or the jacuzzi. Each bungalow also has a private terrace to complete the atmosphere of relaxation and tranquillity in this one of a kind place of mystery, wind-sculpted rock and far horizons…
Guest bedroom exterior
Guest bedroom interior
Enjoy a sundowner around the campfire
Kaokoland aerial view
Hoanib Valley Camp
Kaokoland, Namibia
In an area called Kaokoland, situated deep in Namibia’s north-western corner, the elegant Hoanib Valley Camp immerses you into a remote and wild desert environment. The intimate camp is a partnership between the local community and Giraffe Conservation Foundation, the world’s only Africa-wide giraffe conservation organisation. The area is an impressive melting pot of towering mountains, sand dunes, and huge expanses of desert, scattered with unique desert-adapted wildlife and nomadic Himba settlements.
The six guest tents blend almost perfectly into the desert environment. Its colours, textures and patterns are inspired by the Hoanib; the dunes’ rich ochre, the geometric patterns of the Himba and, of course, the giraffe. Embark on a guided nature walk and discover the desert’s smaller flora and fauna of. This is one of the best places to see desert adapted elephant and giraffe, lion, rhino, mountain zebra, oryx and to track endangered rhino. Cultural excursions to the Himba and local Herero people will impress visitors. At the end of a long day, enjoy a refreshing G&T in the privacy of your own veranda.