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| Map of the Namib Desert area & location |
The name 'Namid' originates from the Nama tribe and means a 'vast place'. It also gave the country its name.
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| At Solitaire. |
The Namib Desert is thought to be the oldest desert in the world dating back to 55M years. The Tropic of Capricorn crosses the region in the middle. The latitude in the southern hemisphere and the cold Benguela current from the Arctic have created this vast desert along the south Atlantic coast. It stretches for about 2,000km from the south of Angola to South Africa. In Namibia alone, its length is of about 1,500km with a width varying between 120 to 80km.
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| A Welwitschia mirabilis. |
The cold air from the ocean and the warm air from the desert create morning fogs along the coast. This source of humidity is bringing the water needed to some biological species, endemic to this particular region of the Earth such as the protected Welwitschia mirabilis. However, the interior remains one of the driest areas in the World with the Atacama Desert on the western coast of South America. The landscape varies from area to area. Some of the elusive streams like the Swakop or the Kuiseb Rivers have created canyons in the rocky formations, whereas other flat areas are covered with gravel. But the sand dunes
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| The Moon Landscape near Swakopmund |
are among the highest on the planet, either along the coast in the Walvis Bay/ Swakopmund area or in the Sossusvlei region near the oasis of Sesriem. The latter that belongs to the Namib-Naukluft National Park, is also a UNESCO World Heritage natural site.
The Atlantic coastline is shallow and in the past was responsible for many shipwrecks that have created the Skeleton Coast, north of Swakopmund. The only two real harbors are Walvis Bay, in the middle, and Luderitz, in the south.
This desertic area is also the home of several different species. There are antelopes like oryxes or springboks. But there are also ostriches or the desert elephant, a smaller species of the African elephant. Other animals include the Black-backed jackals, hyenas, meerkats, ground-squirrels, birds, snakes, several species of lizards, or insects like beetles or sand termites.
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| The red sand dunes of Sossusvlei. |
The Namib Desert is a beautiful mineral land. This desert faces the ocean on one side, like the Arabian Desert or the Atacama. It has a great touristic potential, already a source of sightseeing in Namibia.
Christian Sorand
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| Sossusvlei: Dune 45 |
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| At the top of Dune 45 |
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| Sossusvlei: A Sea of Sand. |
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| At Dead Vlei. |
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| Sesriem: top of the canyon. |
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| Sesriem: riverbed canyon. |
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| Moon Mountain view. |
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| The Sand Dunes along the Atlantic Coast. |
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| The Kuiseb River mountains. |
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| Kuiseb River Canyon. |
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