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ABOUT NAMIBIA

Namibia is a paradise for adventure seekers, offering everything from the dunes of the Sossusvlei to the wildlife-rich plains of Etosha. Explore unique landscapes, or go on thrilling safaris. With its deserts, wildlife and one of a kind culture, Namibia is perfect for adventure seekers.

WHAT TO DO IN NAMIBIA

SOSSUSVLEI

The Sossusvlei is a dune area in Namibia and is known for the high red dunes, Deadvlei and the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Most people stay here for 1 or 2 nights to explore the area. If you stay here for 1 night, this is what we recommend:

SUNSET: climb the Iconic Dunes

The highlight of Sossusvlei is climbing its beautiful red dunes. Dune 45, the most famous, rises 170 meters and provides breathtaking views at sunrise. Dune 40 can be found next to Dune 45, there were less people and just as beautiful, in our opinion. The play of light on the dunes at sunrise is magical. You can reach the dunes with your car and park just in front of the dunes.

Dune 40

SUNRISE: climb Big Daddy and visit Deadvlei

Big Daddy is the tallest dune in the Sossusvlei area and Deadvlei is a white clay pan famous for it’s black death trees. An indispensable place for photographers and travelers. The Big Daddy Dune is next to Deadvlei so you can already see Deadvlei when you’re on top of the dune. That’s why we recommend first climbing Big Daddy and watch the sunrise from there. Once you are ready to move to Deadvlei, you can just run down from the dunes (careful!) and you end up in the middle of Deadvlei. The last 5 km to reach Deadvlei/Big Daddy is not a tarred road and therefore only accessible by 4x4 cars. You can take the risk yourself (deflate your tires!) or pay for the shuttle from the parking.

Deadvlei

Accommodation

There are multiple campsites and lodges inside and outside the park. If you have an accommodation inside the park, you have an hour earlier access to the Sossusvlei, which will give you an advantage if you want to catch the sunrise early.

We stayed at the Sesriem Campsite within the park. The campsites were large and there was a small restaurant with food so we would recommend staying here if you are travelling with your own 4x4!

SWAKOPMUND

Swakopmund is a charming coastal town on Namibia’s Atlantic coastline. You will clearly recognize the German colonial architecture and laid-back vibe, it’s the perfect base for exploring the desert and ocean. Here are some of the top things to do in this coastal spot.

Go on a desert adventure

For a deeper desert experience, go on a guided desert tour to explore the dunes and surrounding landscapes. The guide will take you to the golden Moon Landscape while he tells you everything about life in the desert. You can choose a morning, afternoon, or evening tour. We went on a evening tour and had dinner on the dunes while the sun set into the sea, highly recommended!

Explore the town’s history and culture

Swakopmund is a cute little town with wooden, colourful houses and museums. The Swakopmund Museum and the Kristall Galerie are great places to learn about the town’s history. There a lot of antique shops in town where you can stroll around. If you prefer the nature, you can walk along the palm-lined promenade next to the ocean.

Recommendations - Food

We had dinner at the Tug restaurant and this was probably the best dinner we had in Namibia. Apart from the beautiful view you have on the ocean, the fresh fish is delicious. It’s very popular so make sure you have a reservation.

If you are looking for a breakfast or lunch spot, we recommend the Village cafe! Great people, great food and a lovely inside garden!

The endless dunes of Sandwich Harbour

Accommodation

If you are travelling with your own 4x4 the best place to stay is probably Tiger Reef Campsite. Every campsite has it’s own little veranda and electricity.

If you are not travelling with your own tent you can choose from one of the many hotels in Swakopmund.

Rock Arch

SPITZKOPPE

Spitzkoppe, often called the "Matterhorn of Namibia," is one of the country’s breathtaking natural spots. It is an area of mountains, created by the collapse of a volcano many years ago. The area is a great place for hiking, photography, or just enjoying the peaceful desert vibe. With its striking rock formations and wide-open views, Spitzkoppe is a photographer’s dream, especially at sunset when the colors light up the sky. You can also spot ancient rock drawings from the San people, giving the place a nice cultural touch.

If you're in Namibia, Spitzkoppe is definitely worth a visit—whether you're up for a little adventure or just want to take in some stunning desert scenery.

What to do in Spitzkoppe?

Go to Rock Arch during sunrise - you can park your car pretty close and it is just a little climb up. The spot is cool for pictures and gives a stunning view on the rising sun.
Visit little bushman’s paradise or bushman’s paradise - both are areas where you can find ancient drawings on rocks by the San bushmen people. Little bushman’s paradise is easy to reach but if you go to bushman’s paradise you have to climb up using a rope which requires a little more effort. You can only visit those places with a guide, who are in front of the bushman’s around 07:30 in the morning. A small compensation for the guides is appreciated.
Hike and climb - Spitzkoppe has several trails to explore. The main peaks, like the highest one at 1,784 meters, offer panoramic views of the desert. For more adventure, you can try rock climbing on the smooth granite surfaces. We recommend wearing good shoes and avoiding the mid-day heat.
Go stargazing - it’s so worth it to stay up and wait for the stars to be seen better and better. We have never seen so many stars and we loved playing with our camera to capture them.
Find the ideal sunset spot – grab some drinks, climb a small rock, and make sure you can see the sunset from there. Enjoy the quietness around you and maybe you will spot some wildlife as well!

⁠Accommodation
Since we were travelling with our own rooftop tent, we decided to camp as close to Spitzkoppe as possible. We booked a campsite at Spitzkoppe Restcamp and we couldn’t believe we were actually in between the rocks. By far the most beautiful spot we ever camped. After your check-in you can drive around to claim your own campsite, so the earlier you arrive the best choices you probably will have. Some of them are good for sunrise, others for sunset so drive around and make your pick!
There is no electricity available and you can only find flushing toilets and showers next to the reception. If you are looking for a campsite that offers a bit more like electricity and a pool, an option is Spitzkoppe tented camp & campsites, located about 500 meters outside Spitzkoppe Mountain Reserve.

ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

Etosha National Park, located in the north of Namibia, is one of Africa’s most famous wildlife destinations. It’s known for its open landscapes and the unique Etosha Pan – a large salt flat that can be seen from space! The park offers a chance to see a wide range of animals in their natural habitat, from elephants and lions to giraffes and zebras. We even saw a cheetah!

What makes Etosha special is its waterholes, where animals gather to drink, especially during the dry season. This makes it a great spot for game viewing. You can go on a self-drive safari or join guided tours to explore the park’s different areas. While the wildlife is impressive, the park also has peaceful wide-open spaces and stunning views.

Accommodation

We went to Etosha for 4 days and although we’ve seen so many animals, we could have stayed longer in this magical place. There are several accommodations found within the park, offering campsites and/or chalets. We decided to sleep at a different campsite each night so we would see the whole park while driving to our next accommodation. But we also met people who stayed at the same accommodation for a few nights. You can check the website of Etosha National Park for the accommodation options. It is advised to book a few months in advance since the camps are often fully booked.

Our best tips for Etosha

Set your alarm early! - We are starting off with the most important tip we can give you. If it’s one thing we learned from our safari in Etosha, it’s that the most exciting spotting is done the first hour after sunrise and the first hour before sunset. The gates of the camp open exactly at sunrise, so this differs a few minutes each day. We made sure we were waiting at the gate already so we were the first ones to enter the park. By doing this we were lucky enough to see many lions and a cheetah!
Download the Etosha app on your phone - you can find a detailed offline map of Etosha in this app and using GPS, it also tracks where you are on the map. It also shows an overview of animals that can be found in Etosha with the option of selecting the animals you’ve spotted! We didn’t by a map but just used this app and for us this worked really well.
Go to the grocery shop before entering Etosha Park - although some of the camps offer small shops, they don’t offer much more than ice cream and some cookies. The food at the restaurants within the park is fine but definitely not the best so we were very happy we had our own food for lunch with us!
Be prepared to drive for hours and see nothing – as we mentioned in the first tip, the excitement is usually at the beginning or end of the day. In between those times, we often drove around for hours without seeing much more than a few squirrels and some springboks.

BUSHMAN

After Etosha, it was time to visit the San tribe, also known as the bushmen. The bushmen are the oldest surviving tribe in Africa. They are a group that were known for their hunting, foraging/gathering and symbolic paintings on cave walls. Their mantra was to live in harmony with each other, with nature and always humbly giving thanks for anything they received.

Because of government regulations, the bushmen cannot execute their way of life like they used to do. For instance, they cannot hunt like they did anymore. This forced the bushmen to adapt. As of 2024, the bushmen we visited were mixed up with modern society, but practicing their ancestral way of living every now and then, open to visitors like us.

It is super interesting to see the bushmen practice their way of life. We didn’t ever feel like they were doing it to entertain us, they genuinely love who they are and if it wouldn’t be for the government, they would still be living this way.

After an afternoon of visiting the tribe we had dinner and went back for a big fire with a ritual dance.

Accommodation

If you are interested in visiting the bushmen, you can do so via here. There are multiple ways to contact them via a representative. However, we had a really good experience with these guys.

OKONJIMA

Okonjima was our last stop before heading home. It is, just as Etosha, a national park where you will find wild animals. However, it focuses more on the conservation of leopards. Some of these leopards (around 50 in total) are collared and their behaviour is being examined and analyzed to increase their population. We went on two different leopard tracking drives, in the morning and in the evening. We were incredibly lucky and had some fantastic interactions with these magnificent creatures during these trackings.

There are more trackings available such as rhino tracking, pangolin tracking and hyena tracking. You won’t be finding other wild cats in Okonjima, because the lion is too dominant for the leopard and the leopard is too dominant for the cheetah. However, you can visit the Africat Foundation which is part of Okonjima to visit the cheetahs or the lions they have here. Keep in mind that these wild cats don’t have the freedom the leopards have, simply because they cannot survive in the wild anymore and are dependant on human help. This does take away the magic of it a little bit, to be honest.

There are some other differences with Etosha which are worth mentioning:

Etosha is a government regulated park, which makes it cheaper but the people working there are generally less hospitable than Okonjima, which is a private reserve. This makes Okonjima way more expensive, but the people working there are very nice and really want you to have the best time.
Etosha is a self drive park with options to hire a guide, Okonjima provides guided tours only.
Etosha is about 100x bigger than Okonjima.
The chances to spot a leopard are way higher in Okonjima because of the ability to track them, which is not possible in Etosha.
Okonjima has better sleep and dine services than Etosha, generally speaking.

We didn’t see any leopard in Etosha (the last of our big 5 check list), but we saw multiple in Okonjima. We therefore highly recommend going to Okonjima if your budget allows it.