Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CENTRAL NAMIBIA
Central Namibia zeroes in on the tourist trade but it does so Namibian-style offering epic
road journeys, big skies and mesmerising landscapes. In that sense its not unlike other parts
of the country - except here it is home to two large cities and a spectacular desert.
Walvis Bay and Swakopmund were originally established as port towns during the colo-
nial era. The drive into them defines their surreal nature as desert wildernesses, which is
magically replaced by (in the case of Swakopmund) a Germanic urban landscape that
would be a colonial relic if it weren't for the life and energy brought to bear by a thriving
tourist industry.
Adventure sports and Swakopmund go hand in hand. From quad biking up the crest of a
soaring seaside dune to jumping out of a plane at 3000m, Swakop is where you can test
your limits and go wild amid a stunningly beautiful natural setting unlike any other on the
planet.
The region is defined by the Namib Desert though, a barren and desolate landscape of
undulating apricot-coloured dunes interspersed with dry pans. Indeed, the Nama word
'Namib', which inspired the name of the entire country, rather prosaically means 'vast dry
plain'. Nowhere is this truer than at Sossusvlei, Namibia's most famous strip of sand,
where gargantuan dunes tower more than 300m above the underlying strata.
Geography
The Namib Desert is one of the oldest and driest deserts in the world. As with the Atacama
in northern Chile, it is the result of a cold current - in this case, the Benguela current -
sweeping north from Antarctica, which captures and condenses humid air that would other-
wise be blown ashore. Although travellers to Namibia and Botswana are surprised (and
even a bit disappointed) by the lushness of the Kalahari, the soaring sand dunes of the
Namib rarely cease to amaze. Much of the surface between Walvis Bay and Lüderitz is
covered by enormous linear dunes, which roll back from the sea towards the inland gravel
plains that are occasionally interrupted by isolated mountain ranges.
Getting Around
If you don't have a private vehicle, Swakopmund is serviced by a variety of transport op-
tions, and Sossusvlei is visited on virtually every organised tour of Namibia. Like the rest
