Destination Guide

Namibia

Solitude, vastness and freedom — an 824,000 km² country with the world's oldest desert, wildest coastline, and only 2 million people.

Best months
May – Oct
Climate now
Cool · Dry
Currency
NAD / ZAR
Languages
EN · AF · OS
Visa (SA)
Not required
Flight time
2h from CPT
Time zone
SAST

Why visit Namibia

Six reasons travellers come — and why eighty percent of them come back.

The oldest desert on earth

The Namib has existed for 55 million years. Towering dunes at Sossusvlei, the ghost shipwrecks of the Skeleton Coast, and sand that meets the cold Atlantic.

Solitude on an epic scale

Just 2 million people in a country almost the size of France and Germany combined. You can drive for hours without seeing another vehicle.

Desert-adapted wildlife

Etosha’s unusual animals like Black-Faced Impala and Rhinos. Elusive desert adapted elephants in Damaraland. Vast Cape fur seal colonies at Cape Cross.

Pristine night skies

The NamibRand Reserve is one of the world’s largest International Dark Sky Reserves — stars like you’ve never seen them.

Cultural depth

The Himba, San, Damara and Herero people each hold a thread of Namibia’s story. Travel here is travel through time.

Easy access from SA

Short flights from South Africa. English widely spoken. Easy access to the Namib Desert. Etosha National Park and Kaokoland.

Available tours in Namibia

Thirty scheduled departures — or design something bespoke.

Filter all tours
When to go

Namibia is good year-round. The cool dry season is unbeatable.

Jan
32° · wet
Feb
32° · wet
Mar
28° · good
Apr
26° · good
May
22° · prime
Jun
19° · prime
Jul
18° · prime
Aug
20° · prime
Sep
24° · prime
Oct
28° · prime
Nov
30° · good
Dec
32° · wet
Prime — ideal for all activities
Good — shoulder season, fewer crowds
Do not recommend — weather or seasonal limits
Prime · May – Oct

Cool nights, clear skies, no rain. Wildlife clusters at waterholes. All hikes and 4×4 tours run. Book early — these months sell out 6+ months ahead.

Good · Mar–Apr · Nov

Warming up, mostly dry, dramatic skies. Photography is at its best in these shoulder months. Smaller groups, easier availability.

What Namibia is known for

The signature experiences this country is famous for.

S
Sossusvlei dunes

325m tall dunes at the world’s most photographed desert site. Climb Dune 45 at sunrise.

C
Skeleton Coast

Where dunes meet the Atlantic — and ships go to die. The Eduard Bohlen sits 400m inland.

E
Etosha pan

5,000 km² salt pan. Floodlit waterholes for night-time elephant, rhino and lion photography.

H
The Himba people

One of Africa’s last semi-nomadic cultures, in northern Kunene. Visit with respect, with us.

P
Slack-pack hiking

Multi-day desert hikes carrying just a daypack — uniquely Namibian. The Namib100 is our most loved.

B
German heritage

Apfelstrudel and bratwurst in Swakopmund’s cafés. Colonial architecture in Lüderitz.

Q
Quiver trees

The iconic Aloidendron dichotomum forest in the Karas region. Stark, surreal, unforgettable.

F
Fish River Canyon

Africa’s largest canyon, and one of the world’s oldest. 161 km long, 550m deep, 27 km wide.

How to travel Namibia

Three signature ways we know this country.

Slack-pack Hike

Hike it

The Namib100 and Kuiseb90 take you on foot across landscapes most people only see through a windshield. Full crew, catering and camp set-up — you carry just a daypack.

2 hikes →

4×4 Self-Drive

Drive it

Lüderitz to Walvis Bay, Faces of the Namib, Faces of the Skeleton Coast, the Seven Rivers of Kaokoland — guided convoys for self-drivers who want to go where the tar ends.

8 drives →

Bespoke

Tailor it

Custom routes, fly-in safaris, family trips, photographic expeditions — designed by our Namibia specialist with twelve years on the ground.

Plan custom trip →

Did you know?

A few things about Namibia most visitors don’t expect.

01
Conservation is constitutional.

Namibia was the first country in Africa to write environmental protection into its constitution. About 42% of the country is under some form of protection.

02
The desert lives on fog.

Less than 50mm of annual rainfall — but morning fog rolling in from the cold Benguela current sustains entire ecosystems. Welwitschia plants can live 1,500 years on it.

03
The shipwrecks moved inland.

The Eduard Bohlen ran aground in 1909. Today it sits 400m from the sea, swallowed by advancing dunes — a stark monument to the Atlantic’s retreat.

Photo gallery

Namibia through our travellers’ lenses.

Imagining your own Namibia?

Our specialist has twelve years on the ground.

Tell us what you're dreaming of — Sossusvlei at sunrise, a family Etosha safari, a self-drive with custom routes — and we'll build the trip around you.

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