Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

• The current birth rate for Namibia in 2021 is 27.385 births per 1000 people, a 1.74% decline from 2020.
• The birth rate for Namibia in 2020 was 27.869 births per 1000 people, a 1.7% decline from 2019.
• The birth rate for Namibia in 2019 was 28.352 births per 1000 people, a 1.68% decline from 2018.

8 BEST NAMIBIA SAFARI TOURS: OUR TOP PICKS

1. Wildlife, Himbas and Dunes

Duration: 10 Days | Destinations Visited: 5 | Accommodation Visited: 5

Tour highlights

• Visit the Himba people
• See the ‘fairy circles’ of Marianfluss
• Exciting game drives in Etosha National Park
• Germany-meets-Africa in Swakopmund
• Ancient San rock art at Twyfelfontein

Best for these traveller types

Couples, Honeymooners, Families & Groups. – Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

2. Etosha, Damaraland and Sossusvlei Fly-in

Duration: 10 Days | Destinations Visited: 5 | Accommodation Visited: 5

The name says it all: Namibia’s three big destinations on one simple fly-in itinerary plus great accommodation and 10 well-paced days to do it all in. Private settings and romantic, luxurious camps mean that this is a great tour for romantic travellers and safari-goers looking for comfort while off the beaten path.

Tour highlights

• Thrilling wildlife encounters
• Desert-adapted wildlife
• Incredible landscapes
• Fantastic service and cuisine
• Delightful variety of lodges
• Nature walks & mountain biking

Best for these traveller types

Couples, Honeymooners, Families & Groups Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

3. Private Guided Road Safari

Duration: 10 Days | Destinations Visited: 4 | Accommodation Visited: 4

Sit back and watch the scenery go by as a professional guide takes care of the driving on this 10-day overland safari. Taking in Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Damaraland and ending with a private Etosha reserve, this is a multi-activity tour with great game viewing plus encounters with the marine world and desert wildlife; you’ll also see what comes out after dark on exciting spot-lit night drives!

Tour highlights

• Guided northern Namibia road safari
• Diverse landscapes – a photographer’s dream
• See the Big 5 in Etosha National Park
• Spot desert-adapted elephants in Damaraland
• Enjoy a private visit to Sossusvlei

Best for these traveller types

Couples, Honeymooners, Families & Groups Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

4. Family Self-Drive

Duration: 10 Days | Destinations Visited: 5 | Accommodation Visited: 5

Starting and ending in Windhoek, this easy 10-day self-drive opens with big game at Etosha National Park before taking you on a journey through breathtaking desert, coastal and mountain scenery. Enjoy family-friendly camps and excellent wildlife viewing plus two nights in Swakopmund, Namibia’s adventure activity capital on the Atlantic coast: skydiving, dune quad biking or desert walks, anyone?

Tour highlights

• Self-drive Namibia at your own pace
• Spot wildlife in Etosha National Park
• Marvel at millions of stars in Damaraland
• Search for desert elephants & rhino
• See San rock art in Twyfelfontein
• Stay in the heart of buzzing Swakopmund
• Marvel at Dune 45 in Sossusvlei

Best for these traveller types

Couples, Honeymooners, Families & Groups. Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

5. Sossusvlei, Damaraland and Etosha Self-drive

Duration: 15 Days | Destinations Visited: 6 | Accommodation Visited: 7

Designed to appeal to adventurous couples and families with older children, this 2-week Namibia self-drive safari has at least two nights at each destination after a night in Windhoek. Explore at your own pace, do your own thing along the route and enjoy great hospitality each night; you’ll finish the tour with a stay at a big cat conservation centre.

Tour highlights

• Experience Namibia at your own pace
• Explore the dunes of Sossusvlei
• Land and sea adventure in Swakopmund
• Ancient rock art at Twyfelfontein
• Safari in Etosha National Park
• See big cats at the AfriCat Foundation

Best for these traveller types

Couples, Honeymooners, Families & Groups Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

6. Etosha and Damaraland Self-Drive

Duration: 11 Days | Destinations Visited: 5 | Accommodation Visited: 5

An 11-day loop through northern Namibia, this great-value tour will appeal to independent-minded travellers and families with children. Beginning with the wildlife of Etosha National Park before moving to the magnificent mountain scenery of Damaraland, this safari ends on the coast at Swakopmund, giving you a chance to explore desert and marine environments, too.

Tour highlights

• Family-friendly accommodation
• Visit the salt pans & game in Etosha
• Experience the wilderness of Damaraland
• Enjoy history in Swakopmund
• Experience the Waterberg Plateau
• Game watch at an illuminated waterhole

Best for these traveller types

Couples, Honeymooners, Families & Groups Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

7. Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia

Duration: 17 Days | Destinations Visited: 11 | Accommodation Visited: 8

Bursting with biodiversity, this 17-day, multi-country safari opens with the primal beauty of Botswana’s Okavango Delta before whisking you to Victoria Falls where your hotel is within walking distance of the ‘Smoke that Thunders’. Then it’s a flight to Namibia where an 11-day self-drive adventure and a 4X4 rental vehicle are waiting for you – Sossusvlei, Etosha, Damaraland and Swakopmund are all on the itinerary.

Tour highlights

• Experience the excitement of Victoria Falls
• Drift along the Okavango in a mokoro
• Be awed by Sossusvlei
• Road trip through the best of Namibia
• Find the Big 5 in Etosha

Best for these traveller types

Couples, Honeymooners, Families & Groups Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

8. Adventure Namibia and Botswana

Duration: 14 Days | Destinations Visited: 9 | Accommodation Visited: 7

Adventure, yes, but in considerable style. This 2-week, fly-in tour opens with gorgeous lodges in wildly beautiful Namibian landscapes before introducing you to Botswana’s legendary wildlife through luxurious, exclusive and well-located safari camps. The experience is unique, diverse and highly rewarding – recommended for that extra-special occasion.

Tour highlights

• Explore Namib Naukluft from a remote desert camp
• Sleep-outs under the Milky Way
• Encounter desert-adapted wildlife in Damaraland
• Hot-air balloon, quad-bike & mountain-bike rides
• Encounter ancient San Bushman rock art & petrified forests
• Explore the game-rich Savute region on 4×4 & sunset boat cruise
• Cruise the Delta waters by motorboat & mokoro

Best for these traveller types

Couples, Honeymooners, Families & Groups Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

Top Places to Visit In Namibia On Your Next Vacation

Etosha National Park

Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Dr. Friedrich von Lindequist. It was designated as Wildschutzgebiet in 1958, and was elevated to the status of a national park in 1967 by an act of parliament of the Republic of South Africa. It spans an area of 22,270 km² and gets its name from the large Etosha pan which is almost entirely within the park. The Etosha pan covers 23% of the total area of the National Park. The park is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and endangered species such as the black rhinoceros. The park is located in the Kunene region and shares boundaries with the regions of Oshana, Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa.

Sossusvlei

Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. The name “Sossusvlei” is often used in an extended meaning to refer to the surrounding area, which is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia. The name “Sossusvlei” is of mixed origin and roughly means “dead-end marsh”. Vlei is the Afrikaans word for “marsh”, while “sossus” is Nama for “no return” or “dead end”. Sossusvlei owes this name to the fact that it is an endorheic drainage basin for the ephemeral Tsauchab River.

Deadvlei

Deadvlei is a white clay pan located near the more famous salt pan of Sossusvlei, inside the Namib-Naukluft Park in Namibia. Also written DeadVlei or Dead Vlei, its name means “dead marsh”. The pan also is referred to as “Dooie Vlei” which is the fully Afrikaans name. There are many references to the site on the Internet, its name often being translated erroneously in terms such as “dead valley”; a vlei is not a valley. Nor is the site a valley; the pan is a desiccated vlei. Dead Vlei has been claimed to be surrounded by the highest sand dunes in the world, the highest reaching 300–400 meters, which rest on a sandstone terrace. The clay pan was formed after rainfall, when the Tsauchab river flooded, creating temporary shallow pools where the abundance of water allowed camel thorn trees to grow. When the climate changed, drought hit the area, and sand dunes encroached on the pan, which blocked the river from the area. The trees died, as there no longer was enough water to survive. There are some species of plants remaining, such as salsola and clumps of nara, adapted to surviving off the morning mist and very rare rainfall.

Twyfelfontein

Twyfelfontein, officially known as ǀUi-ǁAis, is a site of ancient rock engravings in the Kunene Region of north-western Namibia. It consists of a spring in a valley flanked by the slopes of a sandstone table mountain that receives very little rainfall and has a wide range of diurnal temperatures. The site has been inhabited for 6,000 years, first by hunter-gatherers and later by Khoikhoi herders. Both ethnic groups used it as a place of worship and a site to conduct shamanist rituals. In the process of these rituals at least 2,500 items of rock carvings have been created, as well as a few rock paintings. Displaying one of the largest concentrations of rock petroglyphs in Africa, UNESCO approved Twyfelfontein as Namibia’s first World Heritage Site in 2007.

Namib-Naukluft National Park

The Namib-Naukluft Park is a national park in western Namibia, situated between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. It encompasses part of the Namib Desert, the Naukluft mountain range, and the lagoon at Sandwich Harbour. The best known area of the park and one of the main visitor attractions in Namibia is Sossusvlei, a clay pan surrounded by sand dunes, and Sesriem, a small canyon of the Tsauchab.

Cape Cross Seal Reserve

Cape Cross is a small headland in the South Atlantic in Skeleton Coast, western Namibia, on the C34 highway some 60 kilometres north of Hentiesbaai and 120 km north of Swakopmund on the west coast of Namibia.

Spitzkoppe

The Spitzkoppe is a group of bald granite peaks or inselbergs located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert of Namibia. The granite is more than 120 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1,728 metres above sea level. The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains. The highest peak is about 670 m above the floor of the desert below. A minor peak – the Little Spitzkoppe – lies nearby at an elevation of 1,584 m. Other prominences stretch out into a range known as the Pontok Mountains. Many examples of Bushmen artwork can be seen painted on the rock in the Spitzkoppe area. The Spitzkoppe Mountains were also the filming location for 2001: A Space Odyssey in the “Dawn of Man” sequences.

Dune 45 Sossusvlei

Dune 45 is a star dune in the Sossusvlei area of the Namib Desert in Namibia. Its name comes from the fact that it is at the 45th kilometre of the road that connects the Sesriem gate and Sossusvlei. Standing over 170 m, it is composed of 5-million-year-old sand that is detritus accumulated by the Orange River from the Kalahari Desert and then blown here. Because it is near the road the dune is often photographed, particularly early and late in the day when one side of the dune is in shadow. It is often climbed by visitors to Sossusvlei.

Namib Naukluft National Park

Dune 45 is a star dune in the Sossusvlei area of the Namib Desert in Namibia. Its name comes from the fact that it is at the 45th kilometre of the road that connects the Sesriem gate and Sossusvlei. Standing over 170 m, it is composed of 5-million-year-old sand that is detritus accumulated by the Orange River from the Kalahari Desert and then blown here. Because it is near the road the dune is often photographed, particularly early and late in the day when one side of the dune is in shadow. It is often climbed by visitors to Sossusvlei.

Waterberg Plateau National Park

Waterberg Plateau Park is a national park in central Namibia on the Waterberg Plateau, 68 kilometres south-east of Otjiwarongo. The plateau and the national park are named after the prominent table mountain that rises from the plateau, the Waterberg. The Waterberg Plateau is a particularly prominent location, elevating high above the plains of the Kalahari of Eastern Namibia. Waterberg Park and some 405 square kilometres of surrounding land were declared a Nature Reserve in 1972. As the plateau is largely inaccessible from beneath several of Namibia’s endangered species were relocated in the early 1970s to protect them from predators and poaching to extinction. The programme was very successful and Waterberg now supplies other Namibian parks with rare animals. In 1989, the black rhinoceros was reintroduced to the area from Damaraland. The Waterberg Plateau Park is ecologically diverse and rich and has over 200 different species of bird with some rare species of small antelope on the lower hills of the mountain. Geologically, the oldest rock stratum is over 850 million years old and dinosaurs tracks were left there some 200 million years ago.

Brandberg Mountain

The Brandberg is Namibia’s highest mountain.

Skeleton Coast Park

Skeleton Coast National Park is a national park located in northwest Namibia, and has the most inaccessible shores, dotted with shipwrecks. The park was established in 1971 and has a size of 16,845 km². The park is divided into a northern and southern section, the southern section is open to those with 4 wheel drive vehicles, they are allowed to go up as far as the Ugab River Gate. The northern section can only be reached by a fly-in safari, and the area is off-limits to all vehicles. The list of tourist attractions in the park includes a shipwreck at the South West Seal viewpoint, Huab lagoon and the collapsed oil drilling rig.

Epupa Falls

Epupa Falls is a series of large waterfalls created by the Cunene River on the border of Angola and Namibia, in the Kaokoland area of the Kunene Region. The river is about 0.5 kilometres wide in this area and drops in a series of waterfalls across a length of 1.5 kilometres, with the greatest single drop being 37 metres in height. The name “Epupa” is a Herero word for “foam”, in reference to the foam created by the falling water. The Epupa Constituency is named for the falls.

Quiver Tree Forest

The Quiver Tree Forest is a forest and tourist attraction of southern Namibia. It is located about 14 km north-east of Keetmanshoop, on the road to Koës, on the Gariganus farm. It comprises about 250 specimens of Aloidendron dichotomum, a species that is also locally known as the quiver tree because San people traditionally used its branches to make quivers. The forest is spontaneous; the tallest quiver trees are two to three centuries old. The forest was declared a national monument of Namibia in 1995. The quiver tree is also known for looking upside down because the “leaves” look somewhat similar to roots. This tree has a long history of beliefs that it will bring good luck to anybody that worships a tree and nurtures it. Since diamonds are very rich in Namibia, people say that if one of these trees is dug up, one will get diamonds in their lifetime, but since these trees are blessed nobody wants to dig them up. Near the forest, there is another site of natural interest for its geology, the Giant’s Playground, a vast pile of large dolerite rocks.

Christuskirche

The Christ Church is a historic landmark and Lutheran church in Windhoek, Namibia, belonging to the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. It was designed by architect Gottlieb Redecker. The church was built following the wars between the Germans and the Khoikhoi, Herero, and Owambo. The foundation stone was laid on 11 August 1907, while on 16 October 1910 the church was officially dedicated. It was originally known as the Church of Peace. Christ Church was constructed from quartz sandstone mined from the vicinity of Avis Dam. It has a mixture of neo-Romanesque, Art Nouveau and Gothic revival influences. Its spire is 24 m high. The portico was made from Carrara marble imported from Italy. The clock and part of the roof was shipped from Germany, as were the three bronze bells cast by Franz Schilling. They bear the inscriptions “Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe”, “Friede auf Erden”, and “Den Menschen ein Wohlgefallen”. During a confirmation service in the 1960 the clapper of the main bell came loose, smashed through the window and fell on the street. Window bars were installed in reaction to this.

Bwabwata National Park

Bwabwata National Park is a protected area in northeastern Namibia that was established in 2007 and covers 6,274 km². It was created by merging Caprivi Game Park and Mahango Game Reserve. It is situated in the Zambezi and Kavango East regions, extending along the Caprivi Strip. It is bounded by the Okavango River to the west and the Kwando River to the east. Angola lies to the north and Botswana to the south. The area is an important migration route from Botswana to Angola for African elephant and some other game species. It is an unusual Protected Area as about 5,500 people live in the park. The Namibian government involves park residents and neighbours in planning and managing the park.

NamibRand Nature Reserve

The NamibRand Nature Reserve is a private nature reserve in Southwestern Namibia in the Namib Desert. Founded in 1984 by J.A. Brückner, it has more than 215,000 hectares and shares a 100 km border with Namib-Naukluft National Park to the west and the Nubib mountains to the east. It is financially self-sustaining mainly through low impact tourism fees. In 2012, the International Dark-Sky Association designated this as an International Dark-Sky Reserve.

Naukluft Mountains

The Naukluft Mountains are a mountain range in central Namibia. The southern part of the mountain range forms the easternmost part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The northern mountains are occupied by privately held farms. They are known for their wildlife, including mountain zebras and leopards. The mountains have many small streams and waterfalls.

Alte Feste

The Alte Feste is a fortress and museum in downtown Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. The building was designed by captain Curt von François to serve as headquarters of the imperial German Schutztruppe during German colonization of South West Africa. The location of Windhoek, which was deserted and completely destroyed at that time, was chosen because the Germans felt it would serve as a buffer zone between the Nama and Herero tribes. The fort was, however, never involved in any military action. The foundation was laid on 18 October 1890 by then Schutztruppe private Gustav Tünschel. The building was redesigned multiple times during the first years; its final layout was only completed in 1915. It consists of an inner courtyard with high walls and accommodation for the troops on the inside, as well as four towers. Alte Feste is the oldest surviving building in the city which subsequently developed around it. After the World War I German surrender in South West Africa Windhoek was occupied by the South African Army in March 1915. Alte Feste now served as military headquarters for the South African Union troops

ingerklip

The Vingerklip s a rock needle built up from sedimentary rock layers of the Tertiary around 80 km southwest of the city of Outjo and approx. 50 km east of the city of Khorixas in northwestern Namibia. This rock formationis an erosion residue, a kind of mini-witness mountain of a layer level that extends further east parallel to and north of the Ugab. This layer level, like the finger of rocks, consists of deposits from the tertiary forerunners of the Ugab river system and tower over the recent valley of the Ugab by up to 160 meters. These deposits are predominantly carbonated sandstones and conglomerates. The tip of this rock formation is 929 m above sea level, the rock itself is about 35 meters high and has a circumference of 44 meters at its base. In addition to the rock finger, there are some other, in some cases much larger, erosion residues in this area, that is, “real” witness mountains in the form of table mountains. Since the collapse of Mukurob, this geological formation has been the most famous rock in Namibia

Sperrgebiet

The Tsau ǁKhaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park, formerly known as Sperrgebiet is a diamond mining area in southwestern Namibia, in the Namib Desert. It spans the Atlantic Ocean-facing the coast from Oranjemund on the border with South Africa, to around 72 kilometres north of Lüderitz, a distance of 320 km north. It extends to around 100 km inland, and its total area of 26,000 km², makes up three percent of Namibia’s land mass. However, mining only takes place in five percent of the Sperrgebiet, with most of the area acting as a buffer zone. Members of the public are banned from entering most of the area, despite the creation of a national park there in 2004.

Popa Game Park

Hiking, bird watching, fishing & camping

Mudumu National Park

Mudumu is a National Park in Caprivi Region in north-eastern Namibia. The Park was established in 1990. It covers an area of 737 square kilometres. Botswana borders it to the west and is surrounded by communal area conservancies. The Kwando River forms the western border with Botswana. Various communal area conservancies and community forests surround Mudumu National Park. The area is an important migration route from Botswana to Angola for large game species such as African elephant. There is no boundary fence, and Mudumu forms a crucial trans-boundary link for wildlife migration between Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. It is in the centre of Africa’s largest conservation area, the Kavango-Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area.

Otjikoto Lake

Otjikoto Lake is the smaller of only two permanent natural lakes in Namibia. It is a sinkhole lake that was created by a collapsing karst cave. It is located 20 kilometres north-west of Tsumeb and only 100 meters from the main road B1. The lake was declared a national monument in 1972. The diameter of the lake is 102 metres; its depth is supposedly a maximum of 300 feet plus according to scans. According to a Namibian tourism information organisation, “the depth varies from sixty two meters at the side to one hundred meters in the center, and in some places leading off from the side depths of one hundred meters have been recorded”, while an article in the Allgemeine Zeitung explains the depth problem: “the lake tapers into a lateral cave system making it impossible to determine its exact depth, estimated to be in access of 142 meters.” The lake was known to the San under the name Gaisis. When the Herero moved into the area, they named it Otjikoto. Namibia’s Oshikoto Region, in which the lake is situated, is an alternative spelling of Otjikoto and derives its name from that of the lake.

Khaudum National Park

Khaudum National Park is an isolated Nature Reserve situated in the Kalahari Desert at the west of the Caprivi Strip in northeast of Namibia. It is a very remote and inaccessible reserve but is home to some magnificent animals such as the lion and the hyena. The park also has a campsite for visitors

Burnt Mountain

The Burnt Mountain is a hill with a solidified lava flow at the foot of a 12-kilometre-long volcanic ridge in Damaraland in northern Namibia. The 80-million-year-old stream of lava was formed by thermal and compression metamorphism and its red, brown, cream and purple colours creates a striking contrast at dusk with the surrounding 200-million-year-old beige rocks of Karoo slate. During the contact metamorphism that was caused by the intrusion, volatile organic components were driven off from the shale, leaving a charred black, clinker like burnt mass from which the mountain got its name. Burnt Mountain rises above the surrounding area by about 200 metres and is not far from the Organ Pipes on the D3254 road and about 10 kilometres southeast of Twyfelfontein. Since 15 September 1956, the Burnt Mountain has been a National Monument of Namibia.

Nkasa Rupara National Park

Nkasa Rupara National Park, also Nkasa Lupala National Park, formerly Mamili National Park, is a national park in Namibia. It is centered on the Nkasa and Rupara islands on the Kwando/Linyanti River in the south-western corner of East Caprivi. Botswana lies to the west, south and east, and Sangwali village to the north. It is Namibia’s largest formally protected wetland area. It is one of Namibia’s protected areas that benefits local communities surrounding parks. The unfenced park forms a trans-boundary link for wildlife migration between Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. Nkasa Rupara is part of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.

Duwisib Castle

Duwisib Castle, sometimes spelt Duwiseb or Duweseb, is a grand pseudo-medieval looking fortress in the hills of the semi-arid Southern Namib region of Namibia, specifically 72 km southwest of Maltahöhe, Hardap Region.

Daan Viljoen Game Reserve

Daan Viljoen Game Reserve is a game reserve near Windhoek, Namibia. It is situated in the hill area of Khomas Hochland. The park has many walking paths and allows tourists to travel around by themselves. The park is a good example of the wildlife of Namibia. It is named for Daniel Thomas du Plessis Viljoen, the South African administrator of South West Africa from 1953 to 1963. The park covers an area of 40 square kilometers, and provides a home to many plant and animal species.

National Marine Aquarium

The National Marine Aquarium of Namibia is an aquarium in Swakopmund, Namibia. The Aquarium features fauna from the cold Benguela Current in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

Independence Museum

The Independence Memorial Museum is a historical museum in Windhoek, Namibia. It focuses on the anti-colonial resistance and the national liberation struggle of Namibia. The museum is located on Robert Mugabe Avenue and was designed and built by Mansudae Overseas Projects, a North Korean firm. The museum was inaugurated on March 21, 2014, the twenty-fourth anniversary of independence of the country, by President Hifikepunye Pohamba. The museum is flanked by two statues: the Sam Nujoma Statue and the Genocide Statue, also built by Mansudae. The Sam Nujoma Statue sits on the site of the German-era Reiterdenkmal equestrian statue.

Grootberg

Resort & wildlife on a mountain plateau

Naankuse Foundation Wildlife Sanctuary

The Naankuse Foundation Wildlife Sanctuary, also stylized Nǀaʼankusê, is a wildlife sanctuary in central Namibia, situated c. 42 kilometres outside Windhoek. Besides the sanctuary the establishment also runs a carnivore conservation research programme, the Clever Cubs Pre-primary School, and a clinic for the San people. Naankuse is a Juǀ’hoan word that means “God will protect us”, or “God watches over us.” The sanctuary opened in 2007. It is run by Namibian conservationist Marlice van Vuuren and her husband Rudi van Vuuren. Naankuse is funded by voluntary donations and relies on the time of volunteers to continue its projects. The Naankuse Foundation is based on a 10,000 hectare nature reserve. In January 2011, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie chose Naankuse to become a partner of the Shiloh Jolie-Pitt Foundation, in honour of their Namibian-born daughter. “We have known Rudie and Marlice for many years and continue to be impressed by their hard work and dedication to the people and conservation of the land and wildlife of Namibia. The new section of the project will be under Naankuse and in Shiloh’s name.

Khomas Highland

Upland region of scrub & grassland

Brandberg White Lady Painting

The White Lady is a rock painting, located on a panel, also depicting other art work, on a small rock overhang, deep within Brandberg Mountain. The giant granite monolith located in Damaraland and called ‘The Brandberg’ is Namibia’s highest mountain. The painting’s German name is Weiße Dame. The painting has long been an archaeological dilemma, and several different hypotheses have been put forth on its origins, authorship and dating. It is now usually accepted to be a bushmen painting, dating back at least 2000 years ago.

Harnas Wildlife Foundation

Harnas Wildlife Foundation is an organization located in Namibia, approximately 300 km east of the capital Windhoek. Harnas is one of the few wildlife orphanages and medical centers in the world to take in abused, injured, and captured wild animals from Namibia, Botswana, and southern African nations, saving hundreds of animals per year. Its mission is to protect life; done through the responsible and effective management, regulation and understanding of the resources necessary for this task.

Spreetshoogte Pass

Spreetshoogte Pass is a mountain pass in central Namibia, connecting the Namib Desert with the Khomas Highland by traversing the Great Escarpment, a geological feature of much of the southern part of the African continent. With gradients between 1:4.5 and 1:6 it is the steepest pass in Namibia, as well as the one straddling the biggest elevation difference, descending almost 1,000 metres within 4 kilometres of road. The top of the pass features a rest place from which there are views into the adjacent Namib. The pass was erected during World War II by farmer Nicolaas Spreeth, after whom it is named. Spreeth owned the farm Ubib just at the foot of the escarpment. Whenever goods were delivered to his farm they would be dropped at a bus stop at farm Namibgrens on top of the mountain. To gather them the choice was to either travel via Remhoogte Pass approximately 30 kilometres southwards, or to trek uphill along existing Zebra paths. Spreeth decided to do the latter, fortifying the path with quartzite rocks whenever he undertook the journey. Soon the bright white rocks formed a line that could be spotted from a distance.

Waterberg Plateau

National park home to rare species

Swakopmund Museum

Exhibits on cultural & geologic history

Gamsberg (Namibia)

Flat-topped mountain with desert views

National Museum of Namibia: Owela Display Centre

Big Daddy Dune

Desert dune with views of dead trees

Mount Erongo

Granite peak formed by an eroded volcano

Hardap Dam

Hardap Dam is a dam close to Mariental in the Hardap Region of central Namibia. Created in 1963 while Namibia was under South African occupation, Hardap Dam is the largest dam in the country. The reservoir dams the Fish River and is home to numerous examples of wildlife of Namibia.

Caprivi Game Park

Caprivi Game Park is a protected area in north eastern Namibia that is now called Bwabwata National Park. It was proclaimed as the Caprivi Game Reserve in 1966 and upgraded to the Caprivi Game Park in 1968. It was never managed as a game park as the area was a restricted security zone during Namibia’s liberation struggle. The South African Police and later the South African Defence Force occupied the area until the implementation of U.N. Resolution 435 in April 1989. The then Department of Nature Conservation appointed the first nature conservation officer and other staff and started work in the area. Many of the area’s original Khwe San inhabitants, were conscripted into the army and lived in military bases such as Omega. At independence approximately 5000 people were living in the Caprivi Game Park. Caprivi Game Park, Mahango Game Reserve and an area known as the Kwando Triangle were incorporated into the Bwabwata National Park, which was proclaimed in 2007. Since 2005, the park is considered a Lion Conservation Unit together with Khaudum National Park.

Onguma Private Game Reserve

Game reserve, park and garden, wildlife and hunting

Petrified forest, Khorixas

The Petrified forest, located 42 kilometres west of the Namibian town of Khorixas, on the C39 road, is a deposit of large tree trunks that have “turned to stone” through a process of diagenesis. There are at least two large tree trunks, each 45 metres long, exposed to view. Several hundred others are located in the vicinity. It is believed that the trees were swept downstream by a large flood and covered by alluvial sands. Deprived of air, the organic matter could not rot and decay, but instead, over millions of years, underwent silicification, whereby each cell is individually fossilised and the appearance, if not the colour, of wood is retained. The surrounding sands became sandstone, which is now eroding away. In addition, there are a large number of welwitschia plants at the site. The site was declared a National Monument on 1 March 1950.

Doro Nawas Camp

Site of Original Dias Cross

Lighthouse and camping

Hidden Vlei

Nature and desert

Zoo Park

Zoo Park is a public park on Independence Avenue in downtown Windhoek, Namibia. It is also a focal point of social life in the city The current park is landscaped and features a pond, children’s playground and open-air theatre.