Namibia.
The oldest desert on earth, the emptiest country in Africa, and a landscape that does more work than the wildlife.
Twelve nights, self-drive or fly-in. A landscape journey with wildlife in two regions — come for the oldest desert on earth, not for herds, and expect 300 to 500 kilometres between stops.
- Give it
- 12 nights
- Best months
- Apr–May, Sep–Oct
- From
- $350 pp/night
- Come for
- Desert, rhino on foot
A landscape journey with animals in it, not the other way round
Namibia has 2.6 people per square kilometre — the second-lowest density on earth after Mongolia — and the space is the product. This is a country you come to for dunes, gravel plains, canyons and coastline, with wildlife as a remarkable bonus rather than the organising principle. Guests who arrive expecting the Serengeti are disappointed; guests who arrive expecting Iceland with oryx are not.
The Namib is the oldest desert in the world at around 55 million years, and Sossusvlei’s dunes are the tallest and most photographed. The Skeleton Coast is exactly as advertised — fog, shipwrecks, seal colonies and desert lion — and Damaraland holds desert-adapted elephant and one of Africa’s few free-ranging black rhino populations, tracked on foot.
Etosha, in the north, is the country’s conventional game park: a vast salt pan ringed by waterholes where in the dry season the animals simply come to you. It is genuinely excellent and it is not why most people come.
2.6
People per km²
55 million
Years — the age of the Namib
300 m
The tallest Sossusvlei dunes
~750
Free-ranging black rhino in the north-west
- Landscape and photography above all
- Self-drive travellers — the roads genuinely allow it
- Desert-adapted wildlife and rhino tracking on foot
- Malaria-free travel in the south and centre
Less good for
- Guests whose priority is big cats and big herds
- Anyone unwilling to cover long distances
- Green-season travellers: it is dry almost always
Six regions, and what each is for
Sossusvlei and the Namib
3 nights · the dunes
Deadvlei at sunrise, 300-metre dunes, and gravel plains that go on for a day. The photograph everyone comes for.
The Skeleton Coast
3 nights · fog and wrecks
Fly-in only in the north: shipwrecks, seal colonies, roaring dunes and desert lion on the strandline.
Damaraland
3 nights · rhino on foot
Desert-adapted elephant and black rhino tracked on foot with Save the Rhino Trust. Our favourite region here.
Etosha
3 nights · the waterholes
A 5,000 km² salt pan ringed by waterholes. In the dry season you park and the animals arrive — including black rhino at night.
The Kaokoveld
4 nights · the far north
Himba country and the Kunene river, roadless and remote. For third visits and travellers with time.
Swakopmund and the coast
1–2 nights · the interlude
A German colonial town in the fog, good coffee, and Sandwich Harbour where the dunes meet the sea.
Month by month
| Months | Weather | Conditions | Crowds | Our view |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan – Mar | Hot; occasional dramatic rain | Green, dramatic skies, fewer visitors | Low | Photographers’ months |
| Apr – May | Cooling, clear | Excellent; green after rain | Moderate | Our favourite window |
| Jun – Aug | Cold nights, clear days | Excellent Etosha game; dune light superb | High | Peak, and genuinely cold at dawn |
| Sep – Oct | Warming, very dry | Best Etosha waterhole viewing of the year | High | Excellent |
| Nov | Hot, building | Good; quiet | Low | Value |
| Dec | Hot, first rain | Good; green flush | Moderate | Fine, and hot |
Flights and entry
Windhoek is served from Frankfurt, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Internally there are two ways to travel: self-drive on some of the best gravel roads in Africa, which most guests genuinely enjoy, or fly-in by light aircraft, which is essential for the Skeleton Coast and Kaokoveld. We build both, and often a hybrid.
What it runs to
Mid-range by African standards and far cheaper than Botswana. Lodges run USD 350–1,200 per person per night; the fly-in Skeleton Coast camps are the exception at USD 1,400–2,000. Self-drive with a good 4×4 costs USD 180–260 a day. A twelve-night journey typically lands between USD 8,000 and 16,000 per person.
Before you go
Distances are long — 300 to 500 kilometres between stops is normal, on gravel. Self-drivers should budget four hours where a map suggests three. The south and centre are malaria-free; the Caprivi and northern Etosha are not. June and July nights fall below freezing in the desert.
Desert lodges, and a few remarkable ones
Namibia does architecture unusually well. Because the landscape is the point, the best lodges are built to frame it — glass, stone, and rooms that open entirely onto the desert — and several are among the most striking buildings in African tourism.
For self-drive journeys we book guesthouses and lodges with generous arrival windows, because a gravel-road day rarely runs to schedule. For fly-in journeys, particularly the Skeleton Coast, the camps are tiny and book out a year ahead.
A hybrid works well and is what we build most: self-drive the accessible south and centre, then fly the north-west where the roads run out. It keeps the freedom and removes the two hardest days.
Twelve nights, as we would build it
Windhoek
Landed and collected, with a night in the capital to sleep and take delivery of the vehicle or brief the pilot.
To the Namib
South-west into the desert. An afternoon on the gravel plains, and the first sense of the scale of this country.
Sossusvlei
Into the dunes before sunrise for Deadvlei — the trees, the clay, and the light for about twenty minutes. The afternoon is too hot for anything.
The Namib
Quad biking or a scenic flight over the dune sea, and the Sesriem canyon in the late afternoon.
To Swakopmund
North to the coast through the Kuiseb canyon. Fog, coffee, and Sandwich Harbour where the dunes drop into the sea.
To Damaraland
Inland and north to the red rock country. Desert-adapted elephant along the dry riverbeds in the afternoon.
Rhino on foot
Out at dawn with Save the Rhino Trust trackers, on foot, after free-ranging black rhino. The best morning in Namibia.
Damaraland
The Twyfelfontein engravings, the organ pipes, and an afternoon that is mostly driving through extraordinary country.
To Etosha
North-east to the pan. An afternoon at a waterhole, doing nothing, while the animals arrive.
Etosha
A full day between waterholes, and the floodlit hide after dinner for black rhino.
Etosha
A last morning, then the long drive or short flight south.
To the Skeleton Coast
For guests with the budget: a fly-in leg to the far north-west — wrecks, seals, roaring dunes and desert lion.
Homeward
Back to Windhoek and the evening international departure.
Namibia against the rest
Against Botswana: opposites that combine beautifully. Namibia is desert, landscape and self-drive at moderate cost; Botswana is water, wildlife and fly-in at very high cost. Three weeks covering both is one of the best journeys in Africa.
Against Kenya and Tanzania: not really comparable. East Africa is about animals; Namibia is about land. Guests who want both should do East Africa first and Namibia as a subsequent, quite different trip.
Against South Africa: both are easy, self-drivable and well-infrastructured. South Africa has the Big Five in malaria-free reserves and better food and wine; Namibia has vastly more space and a landscape that South Africa cannot match.
Every country we work in
On Namibia
Is self-drive really sensible?
Yes, and most of our guests enjoy it. The gravel roads are well-maintained, signposting is good, and the freedom suits the country. Take a proper 4×4, budget four hours for every three the map suggests, and do not drive at night — that last one matters.
Will we see much wildlife?
In Etosha and Damaraland, yes — and desert-adapted elephant and rhino are extraordinary. Across the rest of the country, sparsely. Namibia is a landscape journey with excellent wildlife in two regions, not a game-viewing country.
When should we go?
April to May, or September to October. Winter — June to August — has the best Etosha viewing but genuinely freezing dawns in the desert. January to March brings dramatic skies and green, which photographers prefer and most guests do not expect.
Is it malaria-free?
The south and centre, including Sossusvlei, Damaraland and Swakopmund, are malaria-free — one of Namibia’s real advantages. Northern Etosha and the Caprivi are not, and prophylaxis is advised for those.
How does it work with children?
Well, particularly self-drive: no minimum ages, malaria-free across most of the route, dunes to climb and a car of your own. The long driving days are the constraint, and we shorten them for families.