Namibia is unrivalled when it comes to vast desert landscapes, dramatic and diverse scenery and stargazing beyond your wildest imagination. One of the largest and driest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the climate is generally hot and dry with sparse and erratic rainfall; and it has a population of approximately two and a half million people so it feels like wilderness nearly everywhere you go. Its main features are the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Basin in the east with a highland plateau in the middle. The three run alongside each other for almost the entire length of the country. The ancient Namib Desert is hyper-arid, the only “true” desert south of the Sahara. 

Sossusvlei is one of Namibia’s most iconic landmarks (and therefore a popular stop) and is a clay pan set amid enormous piles of sand known as star dunes that reach some 300 metres high, the height of a 60 storey skyscraper and rank among the tallest dunes in the world! Etosha National Park is also one area that you can come across other safari goers in numbers, but it is the hub for wildlife and game drives, particularly for first timers to Africa.

But beyond that you can escape other visitors extremely easily either by self-driving around the country or making use of the light aircraft taxis and scheduled flights. With either mode of transport you quickly come to see that there is no-one else out there and all of the camps and lodges are wonderfully remote and in wild areas.

Damaraland is one of the most scenic areas in Namibia with prehistoric watercourses dotted throughout the rugged terrain, massive granite kopjes, mountains with banks of yellow sand seemingly spilling out down the crevasses and euphorbia bushes. It extends 200km in from the Skeleton Coast and the sandier areas to the west are amazingly able to sustain small, but wide-ranging, populations of desert adapted elephant, black rhino, giraffe, ostrich and springbok.

The Skeleton Coast, with its shipwrecks and deserted mines, is as eerie and barren as it sounds until you spend some time there and appreciated how the wildlife (and plant life) adapts to desert life for survival. The Skeleton Coast Flying Safari is one of those bucket list experiences spread over four action packed days and three different camps spanning the northern half of the Namibian coast all the way to Angola. Not for the faint hearted, it just can’t be beaten for wilderness, expert guiding and adventure as well as appreciating just how diverse the landscape can be from hour to hour.

Swakopmund, a Germanic town half way down the Namibian coast, surrounded by desert, is where you can get a taste for the marine life in the rich Atlantic Ocean or get involved with some of the adrenalin activities or scenic flights that are on offer there.