Summary

One of the oldest places on earth and one of the youngest nations – Namibia gained independence only in 1990.

An extraordinary place – magnificent, magical and mysterious, Namibia is a land of two deserts, the Namib and the Kalahari, acres of nothingness and a coastline where the icy waters of the Atlantic meet the searing heat of the African desert. It’s where you will find penguins playing on the beach next to the remains of wrecked ships and lost whales – chillingly it is known as the Skeleton Coast!

Inland there is the drama of Damaraland with its petrified forest, 1,000-year-old Welwitschia plant and the endangered desert elephant and rhino, while at Sossusvlei, one of the oldest and driest eco-systems, climbing to the top of the highest sand dunes is a must. Then there are the famous salt pans of the Etosha National Park with their abundance of game, the wilderness of Kaokoveld in the far north, and the Fish River Canyon in the south – second only to the Grand Canyon in size. There is also the Caprivi strip – a narrow strip of lush wetlands extending across the top of Botswana where the Chobe and Zambezi rivers meet.