Travelogues

NAMIBIA - Il Namib Naukluft Park

The Namib Naukluft Park is the biggest protected area in Africa and the fourth in the world.
It's divided in four zones:
- Namib section
- Sandwich Harbour
- Naukluft
- Central Namib.
The Namib is the most ancient desert in the world and here you can find some uniques plants and animals. The best part is between Swakopmund and Luderitz.
On the coast the dunes are grey, because they are "young", so the mineral inside the sand aren't oxidated.
Going inside the desert, the dunes become red: they are "older", so the red colour is given by the oxidation of the iron minerals in the sand.

The Namib section is the northern side of the park, between the rivers Swakop and Kuiseb.
The Welwitschia Drive is a loop you can make by car (3 hours) or riding a horse (6 hours); it starts from Swakopmund and go inside the rocky Moon Valley.
The landscape is nice and you can see the Welwitschia, a strange fossil plant existing only in Namibia.

Sandwich Harbour is 50 km South from Walvis Bay.
The landscape is dominated by the huge dunes of grey sand.
The heart of this place is a lagoon, home of many many birds; some of them come from Europe and live here from October to April.
We rented a Land Rover with a driver-guide and made the experience of descending by car from a dune!

The Naukluft is the eastern and rocky side of Namib. It's possible make a tour with a 4x4 jeep or sleep in the Restcamp. We just bordered this part of the desert driving from Walvis Bay to Sesriem.

The Central Namib is the most beautiful part of the national park.
The best spot is the sunrise or the sunset at the top of the Duna 45.
In July and August in the Sossusvlei oasis there's no water at all, but the landscape from the dunes is unforgettable.