When most people think of countries in Africa, I’m sure that Namibia is not at the top of the list. With a small population of about 2.5 million people, it is one of the least-populated countries in the world. And while there are a lot of interesting and friendly people in Namibia (which I’ll write about soon!), the main draws for most tourists are the landscape and the wildlife, both of which are in abundance.

There were many social weaver nests that we spotted while driving through Namibia.

In selecting a tour route to take between Cape Town and Victoria Falls (the two “must-have’s” on my list), I decided upon a path that would take us through Namibia. Jon loves deserts, mountains, and geology, so it seemed like a no-brainer to include some time in the country that is full of this type of scenery. Our tour with Intrepid scheduled about half our time in the country, driving from the southern border with South Africa north through the desert and national parks to the northeastern border with Botswana. Some days were spent so far removed from civilization that we only had our crew and fellow tripmates for company, which ended up being a highlight of our time with Intrepid.

The landscape of Namibia is dry and desolate, seemingly from another planet.

Exploring Namibia felt like exploring Mars, if I had ever made the two-year journey to the red planet. The country is often visited by film crews shooting movies based on Mars, post-apocalyptic times, or desert sagas. You may recognize a few of these on the list: Mad Max Fury Road; 10,000 BC; 2001 Space Odyssey; Beyond Borders; and Flight of the Phoenix. Watch any of these movies and you’ll get an idea of the type of landscape available in Namibia.

One of the first instances of awe-inspiring terrain that we encountered was Fish River Canyon. After visiting the Grand Canyon in the USA, we were interested to see how they would compare. While nowhere near as large, Fish River Canyon is impressive in its own right, stretching 100 miles long and 17 miles wide. Our group was dropped off at one point and hiked about a mile-and-half to a viewing platform, where we sat at picnic tables to watch the sunset over the canyon. Along the hike, we were lucky to see a quiver tree which is a tree native to a small region in southern Namibia and northern South Africa. As expected, the sunset over the canyon at the end of our hike was spectacular, eventually dropping below the canyon walls in the distance.

A lone quiver tree, standing near the edge of the canyon.

Fish River Canyon stretches far into the distance. Although it appears all brown during the day, colors start to appear as the sun descends over the horizon.

The Namib Desert stretches for over 1,200 miles north-to-south and is one of the oldest in the world, dating from 55 to 80 million years ago. Despite the dry, arid land, the desert is home to numerous wildlife, such as the Cape Cross Seal Colony, which we visited one smelly morning on our tour. Larger animals, such as elephants, zebras, and lions also call the desert home, roaming freely and within the protection of national parks. We visited one of these, Etosha National Park, later during our time in Namibia.

This was only a portion of the seals that had taken over this part of the coast – there were more than could fit in one picture!

The seal pups were just a month or two old and very curious.

Being a desert, there is obviously a lot of sand located everywhere from campsites to beaches. The most well-known stretch is Sossusvlei, an area of red sand dunes surrounding dead marshes. Sossusvlei roughly translates to “dead-end marsh,” taking its meaning from the Nama word for “dead end” and the Afrikaans word for “marsh.” The dunes are some of the highest in the world; Dune 45, which we climbed at 5:00am to watch the sunrise, is only 80 meters high while the ‘Big Daddy’ dune stands at 325 meters. Although we climbed barefoot, it was slow going as we slid backwards for every step we took forwards. The sunrise over the dunes was colorful and quiet, with everyone adopting a reverent tone for the sight.

You can see people walking and sitting on Dune 45 to watch the sunrise in the morning. The sky was beautiful!

Jon and Makori were all smiles after skipping down the dune to breakfast.

Deadvlei, located near Dune 45, was next on our schedule after breakfast at the foot of Dune 45. Accessible only by 4×4 Jeep and a walk over some small dunes, it seems unnecessary to say that Deadvlei is remote. Many years ago, a nearby river flooded and small pools of water collected in the valley between the dunes. The small amount of water was enough to allow some camel thorn trees to grow, but the arid landscape soon killed the trees and dried them out. 600-700 years later, the trees remain, blackened by the sun and making a stark contrast to the bright red dunes and white pan.

The colors of the sky, dunes, pan, and trees all contrasted nicely with one another, making it a fun place to photograph!

The dead and dried out trees of Deadvlei… still standing after hundreds of years.

Returning to our dusty campsite after our adventures at Dune 45 and Deadvlei, we showered and then hit the road to our first bush camp of the trip. Out of 22 days with Intrepid, three nights were spent at bush camp with no facilities (no toilets or electricity!). Two of our bush camps were in Namibia, with both sites nestled at the foot of large rocks or mountains. We set up our tents wherever we wanted, with the truck parked between us and the area we used for cooking (typically under an overhang or next to a large rock to provide protection from the wind).

We were completely isolated at our first bush camp – you can see our truck down below as we were all sitting above on the rock to watch the sunset.

Another bush camp, with our truck and tents far away from civilization.

The geography of Namibia is unique: barren, dry, and remote. For almost a week, we felt isolated within the vast terrain, spending hours driving from one landmark to the next. It was completely different than other deserts we have visited before and gave us an overview of the tough conditions that the native tribes have withstood over time. Being in Namibia felt like being on another planet and made us appreciate the crew and friends we had with us during that time. After experiencing such isolation, we were looking forward to getting to know other aspects of Namibia: the people and the wildlife.

It’s hard to describe Solitaire as an actual town in Namibia – there was one convenience store (half full), one coffee shop/restaurant/ice cream store, and a gas station. We stopped for a bathroom break and to stretch our legs in the middle of a drive.