Namibia Desert Safari

Palm-shaded parks and Lutheran churches: even at first glance, Windhoek has a decidedly German flavor to its architecture, befitting the origins of this once-colonial desert station. It is no coincidence the capital rises from the ochre sands in the center of the country; this is Namibia’s political and cultural heart, where galleries showcase the nation’s artistic talent and museums recount the long and winding Namibian story.

Biscuit-colored sands run away to the eerie shores of the Skeleton Coast at the Purros Conservancy, alone in Namibia’s wild northwest. Spread across the banks of the transient Hoarusib river, Purros is accessible only by 4x4 or light aircraft, offering a more exclusive safari adventure; those who make it here will discover a wealth of iconic animals living side by side, from springboks and elephants to lions, giraffes and black rhinos.

Once-unproductive farmland has been utterly transformed at the edge of Etosha National Park: after years of regenerating the land, Ongava has become something of a success story for the region’s endangered wildlife. Both black and white rhinos are the focus of its efforts, though lions, elephants and leopards roam its grassy horizons, with a quartet of lodges offering a luxurious place to bed down in the heart of the wilderness.  

The great pan of Sossusvlei defines Namibia; its soaring amber dunes, cracked earth and petrified trees have become symbols of the country’s wild, weathered landscapes and the merciless grip of the elements in the Namib Desert. Seen from the air, it is a golden expanse as endless as the starry night skies, but on foot its dunes take on mammoth, otherworldly dimensions, with herds of gemsbok lazing in their shadows.