Namibia

Namibia is a vast arid wilderness of rocky deserts, spectacular sand dunes, wild coastline and incredible wildlife.  The country’s well maintained and empty roads mean that it is a perfect destination for a self-drive holiday.  For the more adventurous, roof top camping vehicles can be hired, but Namibia can also be visited as a private or small group tour.  Highlights of Namibia include:

• The towering red sand dunes of Soussuvlei in the Namib Desert. Said to be the highest in the world, one of the dunes, Big Daddy, rises over 300m above the desert floor.
• Namibia’s Grand Canyon, Fish River Canyon,  is a harsh but stunning environment.  At nearby Luderitz you can visit abandoned diamond mines and mining ghost towns.
• Etosha National Park is an area of bush, savannah and salt pans covering over 8600 square miles in the north west of Namibia.  It is a great place for viewing the wildlife which gather at watering holes in the dry season, having an abundance of African elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards and more.  In fact the greater park is home to several hundred species.  
• The Skeleton Coast, named after the bones from whaling that once lay scattered on its shores, is home to colonies of Cape Fur Seals and seabirds.  Inland, amongst its sand dunes, canyons and mountains you can find desert adapted elephants, black rhinos, lions, giraffes, zebras and cheetahs.  Offshore you can see killer whales, dolphins and humpback whales.   
• Damaraland is a rocky desert wilderness with huge granite domes and geological features such as Organ Pipes and Burnt Mountain.  You can visit caves with rock engravings and paintings.  
• Swakopmund is coastal centre for adventure activities including sand boarding, quad biking, parachuting and deep sea fishing.  It is also a great place for birdwatching.  
• Visit the Africat Foundation in Okomjima and stay in one of its lodges where you can track cheetahs on foot and watch leopards from hides or game viewing vehicles.  The aim of the foundation is long-term conservation and survival of Namibia’s largest carnivores in their natural habitat.  

Walking

The main reason most visitors travel to Namibia is to see the dramatic scenery and the variety of wild animals.  These can be seen by private aircraft, jeep, hot air balloon and even on horseback.  But to get closer to the land (although not always the animals) nothing is better than a hike.  In Namibia it is possible to track both white rhinos in Etosha and the even rare black rhinos in Damaraland on foot.  Many of the camps have trails leading from their door which can be walked with a guide and sometimes without.  In Damaraland there are are walks to see bushman artwork over 2000 years old.  In Sousseveli you can climb the dunes.  In Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world,  there is the Fish River hiking trail.  This is a multi-day hike but some lodges will offer to take you to parts of the trail for shorter walks or combine a jeep ride through the canyon with some walking.