When people think of traveling to Africa, they often choose eastern Africa or South Africa for a classic safari out of a novel or a movie. Namibia was just starting to gain ground as a wonderful alternative before the pandemic, yet now it’s struggling a bit to stay top of mind for travelers. Yet what an extraordinary, otherworldly place it is! It’s time to think again about Namibia.
At Wild Nectar, we have two different ways that you can visit Namibia. You can either take a small group journey such as The Great Namibia Wildlife Safari where you can join a tiny group of seven passengers, or we can plan a fully custom Namibia program for you with one of our fantastic operators. Whether you love high luxury or want to get way off the beaten track, we can offer you a Namibia adventure that suits your style and desire to get close to this fascinating place.
But what’s there? Why would anyone want to go? Hold on to your hats, Salvador Dali fans because the surrealist landscapes and unbelievable vistas of Namibia are going to blow your mind. First there’s Sossusvlei, a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes. Occasionally it floods, yet no matter what it’s doing, the bare expanses of light and dark sand are going to inspire endlessly creative photos. Deadvlei is another nearby salt pan which some like even more than Sossusvlei as it is characterized by dark, dead camel thorn trees that make you feel like you’ve entered another world, perhaps some kind of shadowy fairy tale.
Then there’s the Kolmanskop Ghost Town, founded in 1908 when a diamond mine was discovered and frenzied miners set up a whole thriving German town with a ballroom, hotel, butcher shop, and more. When the diamonds ran low after World War I and other diamond deposits were found, people ditched Kolmanskop and left behind an eerie, sand covered shadow of its former self.
Animal lovers will swoon over Etosha National Park, home to 140 large and small mammal species and over 400 bird species. These animals live on a massive salt pan and the watering holes are legendary for wildlife viewing. The park is home to elephants, black and white rhino, black-faced impala, lions, giraffes, leopards, cheetahs, eland, Burchell’s zebras, springboks, blue wildebeest, gemsboks and, Damara dik-dik among many others.
If you’re a canyon collector and you’ve seen the Grand Canyon, Fish River Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world. It’s the largest canyon in Africa at 160 km long, up to 27 km wide, and almost 550 meters deep in some places. The canyon is over 500 million years old, 650 million years in some areas, and stretches out in creams, browns and grays across a vast landscape.
Whether you’d like to track rhinos on foot, stare out across the great sand sea, walk among the eerie camel thorn trees, or be startled by one surreal and vast landscape after the next, Namibia is a less visited part of Africa with many rich moments to offer. I hope you’ll contact us today so we can help you plan your journey into the great salt pans, mighty deserts, fascinating coastal towns, and wildlife-rich regions of Namibia.