The Namib Desert if home to the much loved destinations of Sossusvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park and Swakopmund. So basically what I just said there is that the Namib Desert is home to scenic adventure, game park adventure, and a heavy dose of muscle clenching, scream inducing, pupil dilating adventure. Namib Desert trips offer opportunity to experience Namibia’s ultimate adventure destination!
Above: Swakopmund quadbiking adventure by Coda
Swakopmund: the ultimate adventure destination
Ever heard of Swakopmund? Yeah, well that little coastal town is the adventure capital of Namibia! Here you can do all the fun crazy things your mom wouldn’t do.
So why Swakopmund and not anywhere else? Well because after you’ve spent a day walking around the town scoping out the place’s intriguing history, culture and beach, you feel a rush of ‘what can we get up to next?’ coming over you. Luckily, the answer is… almost anything!
Here are a few of the awesome experiences well worth your dollars:
- Quadbiking
- Ballooning
- Micro-light flights
- Skydiving
- Paragliding
- Sea kayaking
Is there bungee jumping in Namibia?
One adventure activity you can’t do in Swakopmund is bungee jumping. Not yet anyway. I’m sure that if Swakopmund had a massive bridge, they would strap a bungee cord to it and let travellers take the plunge over a sea of sand. But until then…
If you’ve never been bungee jumping before and you were hoping to experience the thrill while in the Namib Desert, you’re probably wondering how it would have played out. Well the truth is, the exhilarating free-fall would’ve made you scream like a little girl. For those who were hoping to experience bungee jumping for the second time, the experience would’ve been different. The free-fall would’ve still been exhilarating and you still would’ve screamed like a little girl, but this time, you’d buy the video.
Above: Sossusvlei dunes by Monica Guy
Sossusvlei: the ultimate scenic adventure destination
Adventure activities in Sossusvlei are less about teasing your breaking point, and more about lapping up the sheering beauty of the Namib Desert dunes and smaller wildlife.
Here are a few great ways you can adventure your way through the scenery:
- Ballooning
- Guided hikes
- Scenic flights
Sossusvlei is home to stretches of the tallest shifting sand dunes in the world. Here, the contrast of the blue sky with the striking orange hue of the dunes is stunning. This experience wouldn’t be complete without a guided hike up Dune 45 – Sossusvlei’s ‘My Precious‘. Dune 45 stands over 170m high and is made up of 5 million year old sand that was blown there from the Orange River and Kalahari Desert. Journeying up this grand mound one can’t help but imagine an ancient civilisation trudging through the sand on a mission cross country with concealed shanks ready for a tussle. Sossusvlei I would label the ultimate scenic adventure destination!
Above: Deadvlei, situated in Namib-Naukluft National Park by MauritsV
Namib-Naukluft National Park: the ultimate game park adventure destination
The Namib-Naukluft National Park includes the scenic region of Sossusvlei, and is, quite surprisingly, home to wildlife inhabitants and its fair share of greenery. Often one assumes that because an area is located within the Namib Desert, it’s dryer than Woody Allen’s humour. Wrong – this desert does foster vegetation! Creatures that roam this hyper-arid area include snakes, geckos, insects, hyenas, gemsbok and jackals. Along the coastline thousands of birds flock around the park’s lagoons, wetlands and mudflats.
Here are a few great ways you can adventure your way through the scenery:
- Ballooning
- Guided hikes
- Scenic flights
The destination of Deadvlei can also be found within the park. This stretch of Namibia sees trees that have been dead for over 550 years, still firmly planted in the parched, white clay cracked ground. What does parched, white clay cracked ground look like? Granny’s heels.
Above: Granny’s heels. Thanks Wikipedia!
You must be thinking “No lion? No elephant? No cheetah? Where is the game park adventure in that?” Well, the Namib-Naukluf National Park is… wait for it… the biggest game park in Africa, and fourth largest in the world! The desert tours are an adventure of note – delving into the area’s history and eco-system are just a mind-blowing adventure of discovery.
I know by now you’re ready to explore the ultimate adventure destination of Namibia’s Namib Desert. All you need is the dough. Idea! Collect tin cans whenever possible. Sell them to a tin recycling plant for cash. Book your overland trip to the Namib Desert and kiss Mama’s basement goodbye (for a few weeks at least).
