I want to share with the community some tourist information and experience of my recent trip in Namibia

A nice itinerant trip , a travel of interest mainly landscaped and naturalistic . The itinerary of about 2100 miles of paved and dirt roads has been done in 2 weeks crossing the Country in a circular way

To see the photo gallery of my trip click on the link below

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcod...7700399504984/

The Namib desert : it is a place of extraordinary beauty very very varied in the diversity of the landscape ; sandy , rocky , flat , hilly , mountainous , arid , verdant , lunar , exterminated , amazing there are many adjectives that describe this wonderful desert ; Sossusvlei ( or Sossus Vlei ) and Deadvlei ( or Dead Vlei ) they are among the most evocative places

Sandwich Harbour : it is certainly one of the most exciting places in Namibia where very high sand dunes ( as far as the eye can see ! ) enter directly into the Atlantic ocean ; even here the landscape is truly breathtaking !

Epupa : it is a small village grown next to the Kunene river located right on the border with Angola ; the landscape is really impressive : the river before it's getting larger then it goes down through different waterfalls creating a verdant area with lush vegetation , this contrasts a lot with the surrounding landscape which is mostly bare and dry . Nearby I visited 2 small villages where live people of ethnicity Himba ( or Ovahimba ) and Herero ( or Ovaherero )

Walvis Bay : it is surrounded by high dunes of the Namib desert and it is a very important commercial port ; it is interesting for tourists for the beautiful bay and the lagoon where hundreds of sea lions live , the area is also frequented by many pink flamingos , cormorants , pelicans

Etosha National Park : it is the largest and most famous park in Namibia , the main animals that live here are : lions , elephants , rhinos , giraffes , springbok , oryx , cheetahs , hyenas , jackals , leopards , kudu , wildebeest , ostriches , impala , zebras etc. etc

Cape Cross : it is a small town of Skeleton Coast where thousands of sea lions live

Moon Valley : it is located inland about 25 miles from Swakopmund ; it's called with this name for its very special and beautiful lunar landscape

Twyfelfontein : is located in the Damaraland , the landscape of the area is mostly arid , mountainous and it is characterized by red sandstones . The area is interesting as well as for the beautiful landscape also for the 2000 paintings and rock engravings of the Bushmen that are present in the area . Nearby to visit the Museum with the petrified forest of Khorixas with wooden logs dating back to more than 250 millions of years ago

Uis : it is a small mining center located near the Brandberg Massif ( they are the highest mountains in Namibia )

Opuwo : it is a small city , not particularly interesting but it is useful access door to Kaokoland

Swakopmund : it is a coastal town surrounded by the Namib desert ; numerous German-style buildings characterize the city and make it strangely particular

Mariental : it is a small town without particular tourist attractions located at the edge of the Kalahari desert ; nearby there is a private reserve with zebras , rhinos , impala , ostriches , oryx , giraffes , elephants , Springbok

Henties Bay : it is a small fishing village

Naankuse : it is a private reserve which deals of recovery of animals ; there are : cheetahs , lynx , warthogs , african wild dogs , giraffes , lions , baboons , leopards

Under my daily itinerary of the places I have visited ( may be useful to better plan a trip )

Day 1 : departure

Day 2 ( 210 miles ) : arrival in Windhoek and transfer near Mariental

Day 3 ( 180 miles ) : transfer to the edge of the Namib desert near Sesriem

Day 4 ( 75 miles ) : visit of the Namib Naukluft National Park , Sossusvlei , Deadvlei and Sesriem Canyon

Day 5 ( 230 miles ) : transfer to Swakopmund crossing the Gaub , the Kuiseb Canyon , the Moon Valley

Day 6 ( 100 miles ) : transfer to Walvis Bay for boat tour of the bay , off-road ride on the dunes near Sandwich Harbour , return to Swakopmund

Day 7 ( 210 miles ) : transfer to Henties Bay ; subsequently Cape Cross , Uis and arrival in Damaraland in Twyfelfontein

Day 8 ( 220 miles ) : transfer to Opuwo

Day 9 ( 115 miles ) : crossing of the Kaokoland ( or Kaokoveld ) to arrive in Epupa

Day 10 ( 30 miles ) : visit of the Epupa area

Day 11 ( 335 miles ) : transfer to Etosha National Park ( Okaukuejo )

Day 12 ( 95 miles ) : safari in the Etosha park

Day 13 ( 305 miles ) : transfer to private reserve of Naankuse

Day 14 ( 25 miles ) : transfer to Windhoek to return

P.s. to know the location where the photographs were taken , enlarge them individually clicking on it and read under the picture