Kolmanskop

Namib Ghost Town of Kolmanskop

For Kolmanskop take a look at my full article here.

Namib Desert

This is the oldest desert in the world, with world famous spots such as the dune 45:

Deadvlei, a dead salt lake with fossilized trees.

Tall, impressive dune that you can ride on

In the surrounding area of Soussuvlei there are scenic lodges that will put you in front of endless desert. This one for example is the Desert Homestead Lodge, seen from the drone perspective

This area has also one of the darkest sky in the world, making it the perfect place for astrophotography.

Sandwich Harbour

Namib Desert is connected to the coastal city of Swakopmund with a lonesome road into the wilderness, with the only famous outpost of Solitaire.

Solitaire is a remote settlement in Central Namibia, and is has been a stopover for travelers for more than 60 years.

It is the only place for gas and food in the 5 hours journey that crosses the Namib Desert to the coastal town of Walvis Bay. It features a gas station, a lodge and a bakery, nationwide famous for its apple pie, the best of Namibia.

I didn’t have the pleasure of trying it during our road trip: we were short on time and I got to chose between tasting the cake and taking photos: the hard choices of a travel photographer!

Solitaire

Along the way, you can encounter wildlife such us Oryx just next to the road.

Once in Swakopmund, the main sight is a day trip to Sandwich Harbour, where the desert meets the ocean.

Skeleton Coast

“The Land God Made in Anger”: this is how Bushmen used to call the Skeleton Coast, an unwelcoming stripe of more than 1.500 kilometers in the north of Namibia. Also straightforwardly referred by Portuguese sailors as “The Gates of Hell”.

The scenario is made of arid dunes that end up in the ocean, where violent waves and sudden fogs show up to welcome the few visitors that shows up. Actually, only lions, hyenas and occasionally elephants walk around here, since the whole region is uninhabited.

The only witnesses of human presences are the many shipwrecks on the coast, like the Zeila in this shot, a fishing boat that crashed on the shore only 10 years ago, the last victim of this hostile, end-of-the-worldly land.

Cape Cross Seal Reserve

This massive colony of hundred of thousands of seals will allow you a very, very close encounter with seals. Just beware of the noise and the smell!

Damaraland and Spitkoppe

Spitzkoppe is a rock mountain in the region of Damarland, with some of the most scenic landscapes of Namibia.

Spitzkoppen

A true gem is the Spitzkoppen Lodge, a majestic resort hidden in the rocks of the mountain. You can actually spot it in the bottom right corner of the above picture!

Otjitotongwe Cheetah Guestfarm

This place, between Damaraland and Etosha National Park, lets you get a very close look to some domesticated cheetah.

The struggle between large carnivores and farmers is real in all Africa. While in Kenya it often ends up in a tragedy (for the animals), in Namibia often it is converted in a touristic attraction.

Instead of killing of cheetahs that are threatening the hers, Namibian farmers are domesticating them, letting travelers have a close up encounter with them. Better off dead than domesticated for these majestic animals? Or this could raise awareness on their conditions?

If you are (literally) good, maybe some of them could decide to taste you a little bit. Truly an amazing scene like this one!

Etosha National Park

One of the main attractions of Namibia, this national park is famous for its self-driving safari. Human-build waterholes let you easily spot wildlife that comes to drink, with the opportunity to have a close look to elephants, giraffes, lions, zebras, rhinos and if you are lucky leopards.

Okonjima Nature Reserve

Okonjima is a private reserve home to the AfriCat foundation, and an unmissable place to meet cheetahs and leopards

One evening this majestic male leopard had quite a company during his tasty Oryx dinner: from one side there was me, silently and breathlessly taking photos of this amazing wildlife scene.

On the other side two hungry brown hyenas, that patiently were waiting for the big cat to leave them some leftover.

This temporary wildlife restaurant happened at the AfriCat Foundation, a Namibian non-profit organization. Its goal is to mitigate Human-Wildlife Conflict on commercial farmlands, through the education and research of large cat carnivores.

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