Namibia Things to See & Do Guide

Day 1—Arrive Windhoek.

Day 2—Depart for Etosha National Park.

Day 3—Etosha.

Day 4—Etosha.

Day 5—Depart by air via Windhoek for the Namib Desert and Skeleton Coast area, staying in Walvis Bay, Swakopmund or a campground in the desert itself. For the desert, we recommend an organized camping trip or caravanning with other cars. You can camp individually, but you must get permission and know exactly what you are doing.

Days 6 and 7—Namib Desert and Skeleton Coast area.

Day 8—Return to Windhoek and depart.

If more time is available, visit the Fish River Canyon/Luderitz/Keetmanshoop area (glorious as it is, it's seldom seen by tourists). The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park can easily be seen on a day trip from there (plan two nights, if your schedule permits).

The Caprivi Strip, the thin strip of land separating Botswana and Zambia, has opened up to adventurous travelers following the end of the Angolan civil war which occasionally spilled across the border. Much of the territory between Angola and Botswana was left in an undeveloped state for the wildlife and the Bushmen tribes living there.

Unfortunately, the undeveloped nature of the area left it open to poachers, who exacted a heavy toll on the wildlife. Most people will want to overnight at Katima Mulilo, a small town with a good arts center and basic facilities, or at Rundu. The latter is the departure point for a number of game reserves, including Mahango, Mudumu and Mamili, all of which are only realistic goals on a self-drive safari and may be difficult to access after a rain. About 375 mi/600 km northeast of Windhoek.

This remote part of northwest Namibia is renowned as the home of one of Africa's few populations of desert-adapted elephants, as well as a desert-dwelling form of black rhino that some authorities regard to be a distinct race. The area isn't formally protected, but the elephants and rhinos can be tracked at one of a handful of vast private concessions leased by the local Damara people to private tour operators. Wildlife aside, it's a stunningly remote and desolate area, and well-worth a couple of night's visit. About 200 mi/320 km northwest of Windhoek.

Most of this coastal area, south of Walvis Bay, is closed to the public to protect diamond-industry interests. Abiding by the boundaries is advisable, as it is said that trespassers will be shot.

However, on the coast in the middle of this area is the picturesque old German port of Luderitz, which is open to visitors. Luderitz, which resembles a Bavarian village, seems a bit out of place on the desolate, windswept coast of the Namib Desert. The area is home to seals, penguins, flamingos and ostriches. At Agate Beach you can find agates and sand roses (sand crystallized into petal-like designs). However, gathering sand roses is forbidden without a permit (diggers must be accompanied by an official from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism). From a nearby campground, there is a stunning view of the desert sand dunes colliding with the ocean.

A worthwhile short drive (14 miles/22km) runs south from Luderitz to Diaz Cross, where seals and marine birds (including the rare black oystercatcher) splash below a replica of the clifftop wooden cross erected there by the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Diaz in 1488. In Luderitz, you can get a permit to visit Kolmanskop, a diamond-mining ghost town just to the east. The Kolmanskop tour will give you an idea of the vast wealth created by the diamonds: The community imported all food and drinking water, built a gym with a bowling alley and owned the first X-ray machine in the Southern Hemisphere. Luderitz is 300 mi/490 km southwest of Windhoek.

Namibia's best-known tourist attraction, and one of the most interesting game reserves in the world because of its unusual terrain. Etosha is a combination of dried lake (salt pan) in the north and grasslands, dense brush and open plains in the south. The sun glints off the 6,500-sq-mi/16,835-sq-km salt pan—a dry, flat, shallow, silvery-white depression—providing an eerie backdrop for wild animals moving through the shimmering haze. Dust in the air adds to the mystery: Everything is slightly indistinct, and since mirages are common, we occasionally found ourselves questioning what we'd really seen. It's widely regarded to be a photographer's paradise, especially during the dry winter months, when wildlife congregates around the artificial waterholes that line the pan, allowing for excellent close-up sightings.

Etosha is home to around 100 large mammal species, among them the elephant, giraffe, zebra, leopard, cheetah, lion, kudu, spotted hyena and black-backed jackal. It is the only reserve where you are likely to see the range-restricted black-faced impala (distinguished from the normal impala by the black blaze on its face) and is also an important stronghold for black rhino. A checklist of 340 bird species includes local specialties such as white-tailed shrike, and an impressive selection of raptors and ground birds such as bustards.

The prime watering holes are on the southern side of the park, but they're only full after the rainy season (December-March). The Kuvelai River, which feeds Etosha, either floods or dries up completely, vanishing into the sand.

The park is open year-round, but the best time to visit, for both climate and the best photos, is August and September. There are three camping/self-catering rest camps with facilities inside the park (Halali, Namutoni and Okaukuejo) and several private lodges just outside. Okaukuejo has a floodlit water hole for nocturnal viewing. Etosha Park is about 250 mi/400 km north of Windhoek.

This breathtaking park in southern Namibia near the border with South Africa boasts a 100-mi-/160-km-long canyon (17 mi/27 km across at its widest point) reminiscent of the Grand Canyon in the U.S. Most budget travelers stay at the Al-Ais resort (pleasant hot springs), which is closed October-March because of the heat, but there are also many private midrange and upscale lodges in the area.

Camping is available in nearby Hobas, and there are accommodations in Keetmanshoop, a two-hour drive north. A four-day hiking trail is open May-August for groups of at least three people, but trips must be booked in advance. You can experience the splendid view over the canyon any time of year, but walking to the base is explicitly forbidden unless you are signed up for the full hike. Spend two nights to be sure of a full day's look at the park. 360 mi/580 km south of Windhoek.

Previously known as Gemsbok National Park (or Kalahari Gemsbok National Park on the South African side), this vast and desolate dry park east of Keetmanshoop on the Botswana/South African border requires at least three days to see fully. It offers the opportunity to see dry-country antelope such as gemsbok (oryx) and springbok, but is most famous for its wealth of carnivores, of which the most commonly seen include cheetahs, bat-eared foxes, leopards, black-backed jackals and the famous black-maned Kalahari lions.

More than 200 species of birds have been identified as well, including the kori bustard (the largest bird that flies), dazzling swallow-tailed bee-eaters and many species of raptors. The most striking avian-associated feature of this landscape is the massive and rather untidy sociable weaver nests that adorn the treetops. The landscape is an unforgettable mix of thornbush and red sand dunes. 260 mi/420 km southeast of Windhoek.

South and east of Walvis Bay, this park, founded in 1907, shelters ostriches, springbok and gemsbok, among other wild animals. In the middle of the park is Sossusvlei, an amazing place for viewing giant sand dunes. (In the dry season, the dunes can be 1,000 ft/300 m tall.) Go at dawn or dusk, not only to avoid the heat, but for prime game viewing (mainly gemsbok and ostrich) and the chance to see the dunes casting their long photogenic shadows.

Every few years or so, depending on rainfall, Sossusvlei briefly fills with water, a truly miraculous apparition below the tall dunes. Even more spectacular than Sossusvlei is the nearby Doodvlei (literally Dead Marsh), a Hadean parody of a lake whose cracked floor, punctuated with desiccated tree trunks, hasn't actually held water for centuries.

The Naukluft area in the southeast is a mountainous reserve that supports the very rare Hartmann's mountain zebra, a Namibian endemic. In the north grows the peculiar welwitschia, a plant that evolved 300 million years ago to get moisture from the air, not the soil. With a permit, you can examine a 1,500-year-old specimen. Permits can be obtained from the Directorate of Wildlife, Conservation and Research in Swakopmund.

Avoid the park during the hot season (October-March). Accommodations are available in nearby Walvis Bay or Swakopmund, and there is a campground complete with a swimming pool in Sesriem. Numerous upscale lodges are scattered on the private conservancies along the eastern border near Sossusvlei. The park stretches 280 mi/450 km along the coast, from just east of Swakopmund to Luderitz.

Many ships have wrecked along this desolate coast in northern Namibia because of dense fogs, hence the region's eerie name—the Skeleton Coast. The park, which encompasses some 5 million acres/2 million hectares of undulating sand dunes and dry, gravel plains, now has a road to Terrace Bay, where you can find food and accommodations (the road goes on to Mowe Bay, 50 mi/80 km farther north). The northern portion of the park (Cape Frio, Rocky Point, Huarusib Canyon) may be visited only on escorted tours. Skeleton Coast Park begins 220 mi/355 km northwest of Windhoek.

This colonial town lies on the coast, a four-hour drive west of Windhoek. It's a distinctly German place, populated with plenty of old German-style buildings, a number of beer gardens and a brewery (tours available with advance notice). It's also a resort town with nice hotels, a good beach, banks and tourist restaurants.

Though there's nothing extraordinary in Swakopmund, there are several interesting places within a short drive of the town. We highly recommend a day at Walvis (pronounced VAL-vish) Bay, an hour's drive south of Swakopmund along a well-protected road. Its protected wetlands abound with flamingos, pelicans and other birds. Walvis Bay was named for the whales that once frequented the area. It is the country's only deepwater port, administered by South Africa throughout the apartheid era.

On the way there, stop to visit Bird Island, a wooden platform built into the sea to provide a roosting spot for coastal birds (about 6 mi/10 km north of Walvis Bay). You could also spend a day traveling north from Swakopmund to Cape Cross (a two-hour drive each way) to see a huge seal colony (some 200,000 of them). The seals are fun to watch, but they're not the best-smelling creatures.

The nearby Namib Desert is one of the most fascinating (and driest) spots on Earth. There are dunes just outside Swakopmund where you can try sand boarding (similar to snowboarding). For other desert excursions, consider Namib-Naukluft National Park and the Skeleton Coast. 160 mi/260 km west of Windhoek.

Namibia's largest collection of prehistoric rock arts sites—some dating back more than 3,000 years—is concentrated is the remote valley of Twyfelfontein, which translates somewhat ominously as Doubtful Spring. Several of the area's 2,000-plus engravings and paintings, including the so-called Lion Man and Dancing Kudus, can be seen on a clearly marked 90-minute walking trail starting at the entrance gate. A good lodge services the site and also offers access to the Khorixas Petrified Forest and a striking rock formation called the Organ Pipes. About 200 mi/320 km northwest of Windhoek.

In north-central Namibia, this park is home to a variety of native and imported animals, including the kudu, warthog, leopard, cheetah, giraffe, white rhino, Cape buffalo, eland and many rare birds (Bradfield's hornbill, Cape vulture). Avoid the park December-February, during the Southern Hemisphere's summer. Camping facilities are available, and it offers great opportunities for walking in the vicinity of large mammals. 145 mi/230 km north of Windhoek.

This German colonial capital (pronounced VIND-hook, meaning Windy Corner), situated at an altitude of 5,400 ft/1,650 m in the central highlands of the Khomas Region, is the commercial center of Namibia. Very clean and rather small, Windhoek is pleasant to walk around (the altitude keeps it cool), provided that you're alert to pickpockets and other opportunistic crime. It's a fairly green city with lots of parks and gardens. It offers the best shopping in the country. The city's colonial past is reflected in its distinctive German architecture. Among the many architectural reminders are the Christuskircke, the German Lutheran Church that dominates the city's skyline, the 1912 Cape Dutch railway station and many of the government buildings. (Many of the structures are jugendstil buildings.) You'll find strudel and an Oktoberfest celebration, too. Most people go to Windhoek to begin and end their tours of Namibia.

Nearby is Daan Viljoen Game Park, where visitors are free to walk around. Another popular nearby excursion is to Gross Barmen, the country's best thermal springs and resort area.