The Namib Desert

The Namib Desert, stretching almost 2,000km from the Orange River on the southern border with South Africa up north beyond the Kunene River into Angola is an inhospitable region characterized by searing heat during the day and bitter cold at night.

For the most part it's bone-dry with life being nurtured to a large extent by wind-borne nutrients from the interior and moisture from the rolling fog which forms when dry heat rising from the desert sands meets with the air from the cold South Atlantic's Benguela Current.

This is not conventional "safari country" - it does however contain an intriguing diversity of flora and fauna which has over some 80 million years adapted to the apparently barren habitats of the Namib. The entire area harbors ancient archaeological sites providing evidence of the hunter-gatherers who have inhabited the region for as much as 750 thousand years.

The areas of particular interest are the Namib-Naukluft Park located in the central Namib and the Skeleton Coast along the northern coastline.

Provided By: The Zambezi Safari And Travel Co. Ltd.