Namib-Naukluft National Park is located in southwestern Namibia and encompasses spectacular landscapes ranging from rust-colored sand dunes hundreds of meters high and spectacular canyons to wild horses and ghost towns.
The Namib-Naukluft National Park is located in the Namib Desert, which is uninhabited by humans, in the southwest of Namibia and is one of our top 10 sights of Namibia. At 50,000 square kilometers, it covers about two-thirds of the area of Austria, making it the largest national park in Africa.
The Namib-Naukluft National Park was founded in 1979 after the area between the Kuiseb and Swakop rivers had already been declared a game reserve in 1907. Namibia's largest protected area stretches from Swakopmund in the north to Lüderitz and the former diamond barrier area in the south and is home to the Naukluft Mountains, which are up to almost 2,000 meters high.
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PICTURES: Namib-Naukluft National Park
Photo gallery: Namib-Naukluft National Park
Best time to visit Namib-Naukluft National Park
The best time to visit the Namib-Naukluft National Park, is between April and June, when the temperatures are around 25°C. Until September it is a bit cooler with an average temperature of 20°C, before the thermometer climbs up to 40°C from October to March.
The park headquarters is located in Sesriem, this is also the best access to the breathtaking sand dunes of Sossusvlei. Just near the park entrance is the Sesriem Canyon, one of the most impressive canyons of the national park and also Sossusvlei, THE tourist attraction of the national park, can be reached by a direct road.
Visitor Info for Namib-Naukluft National Park
By the way, this is also the only road into the protected area between the Kuiseb River and the southern border. Only the northern gravel desert is still crossed by a few dirt roads. An off-road vehicle is not absolutely necessary in the Namib-Naukluft National Park, but recommended for anyone who also wants to explore the gravel and sand tracks.
The beauty of the Namib can also be explored from the air. Small planes and hot air balloons take off from Swakopmund, Windhoek and Walvis Bay. From a bird's eye view, the witch rings or fairy circles, mystical circular areas without any vegetation, can also be seen particularly well.
Tip: Almost all accommodation and campsites in the Namib-Naukluft National Park must be booked in advance with Namibia Wildlife Resorts. As a day visitor, you can purchase a paid entrance ticket on site and must have left the park before sunset (will be controlled).
Sossusvlei: The highest sand dunes in the world
The Namib is considered the oldest desert in the world and gave Namibia its name. "Namib" means something like "empty place" or "place where there is nothing". The Namib presents itself as a gray gravel landscape in the north and as an orange-red sandy desert in the south. The exact border between these two appearances is formed by the Kuiseb River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Walvis Bay.
In the southwest of the Namib-Naukluft National Park, a constant wind blows, piling up the bright orange sand of the Namib into huge dunes. In the Sossusvlei are the highest sand dunes in the world, rising up to 300 meters above the desert floor.
This wind also brings fog into the desert, the moisture of which causes the iron in the desert sand to oxidize. This is why the dunes of the Namib have their characteristic rust-red color. The magnificent gently undulating desert landscape extends to the Atlantic coast, where they merge into lagoons and marshland.
PICTURES: Sossusvlei
Photo gallery: Sossusvlei in the Namib-Naukluft National Park
Sesriem Canyon
After the spectacular sand dunes in Sossusvlei, Sesriem Canyon is the second main attraction of the national park. The Sesriem Canyon was eaten up to 30m deep into the Namibian desert by the Tsauchab River over the course of 2 million years, but today is mostly bone dry except for a few waterholes.
To the left and right of the canyon, the jagged sandstone walls rise almost vertically into the sky, leaving only about 2 meters of space to slip through in some places. As the canyon continues, it widens and finally merges into a tree-lined riverbed that leads all the way to Sossusvlei.
About once a decade, when heavy rains fall over Namibia, the dry valley in Sesriem Canyon turns into a river and the parched sand pans in nearby Sossusvlei into a shimmering lake landscape.
The name of the Sesriem Canyon translates from Afrikaans as "six straps". At that time, six antelope skin straps had to be tied together to reach its bottom for fetching water.
Best time to visit Sesriem Canyon
Sesriem Canyon can be visited all year round, but the African summer months of December and January are the least suitable. Because even if it is shady in the canyon, it can get very hot and in the desert outside the temperatures are almost unbearable. In addition, it is the rainy season and many paths are impassable.
What is the best way to get to Sesriem Canyon?
The ideal starting point for an excursion into the Sesriem Canyon is the village of Sesriem, 4km away. With kiosks, a gas station, a campground and several lodges, Sesriem also serves as the tourist headquarters of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. It is located not far from the Sesriem Gate, the main entrance to the national park. Already from above, the Sesriem Canyon offers a spectacular sight, when suddenly the bottom of the desert drops 30m into the depth.
Tip: Hot air balloons take off from Sesriem Gate in the morning, in which the fantastic landscape of the canyon and the dune landscape can be experienced from a bird's eye view.
At the edge of the canyon is a parking lot from which you can descend into the canyon, which is about a kilometer long. Fascinating light patterns are created on the bright sandstone walls by the different incoming rays of the sun.
Hike through the Sesriem Canyon
The hike is by far not as strenuous as for example through the Fish River Canyon in the Ai-Ais-Richtersveld National Park, but good shoes and moderate condition are a prerequisite.
Some spots carry water all year round and attract thirsty oryx antelope, springbok and birds to their banks. Shortly after the rainy season (from December to February) these waterholes are more frequent and at the end of the Sesriem Canyon even a natural pool tempts for a refreshing bath.
The Naukluft Mountains in the National Park
The Naukluft Mountains in the east of the national park are easier to explore. A dense network of hiking trails crisscrosses the emerald green slopes of the Naukluft Mountains, leading through rugged cliffs and spectacular canyons. It rains here about 5 times as much as in the Namib, allowing the vegetation to survive the dry season in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The lush greenery covers a gorgeous dolomite landscape crisscrossed by deep canyons.
In the Naukluft Mountains, the most difficult hiking trail in southern Africa, the "Naukluft Hiking Trail" can be tackled. On a length of 120 kilometers you can experience the fantastic landscape of the Naukluft Mountains. Those who do not want to be on the road for quite so long can take the two one-day hiking trails "Oliventrail" and "Waterkloof Trail".
Tip: In the Naukluft Mountains it can get very cold at night. Who wants to camp here, so be sure to take a good sleeping bag and appropriate clothing.
Flora and Fauna in the Namib-Naukluft National Park
Despite its extreme aridity, the Namib-Naukluft National Park provides a habitat for a variety of animals that have adapted to the hostile conditions of the Namib. These include hyenas, oryx antelopes, springbok, road, jackals, geckos, snakes and whimsical insects such as the fog drinker beetle or the wheel spider, which moves across the sand dunes beating wheels.
Due to the low rainfall of only about 60mm per year, there are hardly any plants in the Namib. However, in the gray gravel desert grows, for example, the famous Welwitschia, of which some particularly impressive specimens can be admired on the Welwitschia Drive.
Welwitischia mirabilis
Named after its discoverer, the Austrian physician and botanist Friedrich Welwitsch, the Welwitsch is found only in western Namibia and southern Angola and has adapted perfectly to desert life with its thick, fleshy leaves. It consists of only two stem leaves, which sometimes unfold, giving it the appearance of multiple leaves. The Welwitschie grows only 0.5m tall, but its leaves can grow to nearly 3m long. The largest welwitschia even had a circumference of 8.5m. The "welwitschia mirabilis" ("wonderful welwitschie") is depicted in the coat of arms of Namibia, Kunene and Swakopmund. The London botanist William Jackson Hooker once described the plant as "the most wonderful ever brought into this country (England), and one of the ugliest".
In the south of the Namib-Naukluft National Park
Besides the highlights of the Namib-Naukluft-National Park in the northern part around the visitor center Sesriem, further south in the direction of the Diamond Barrier Area there are some more destinations worth a side trip, but they are quite a distance away:
- Duwisib Castle on Maltahöhe: A good 150km east of Sesriem lies the imposing fortress, a national monument of Namibia, which was originally built as a horse breeding station.
- Desert horses of the Namib between Aus and Garub: About 3 hours by car south of the Maltahöhe live with the legendary Namibian desert horses some of the last wild horses of the world.
- Ghost town Kolmanskop: It is located on the B4 from Garub about an hour further in the direction of Lüderitz on the coast. Just like the abandoned town of Garub, but much more spectacular, it tells of the former wealth of this area, when diamonds were still mined in the south of Namibia.
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