Namib Naukluft Park

The Namib-Naukluft Park is Namibia’s largest nature reserve with a total area of around 50,000 square kilometers. It comprises a belt about 100 to 150 kilometres wide along the Namibian coastal desert, which begins in the north at the Swakop River valley and extends in the south to Lüderitz. The relevant part of this huge area is a concession area and is not accessible to people.

The northern part between Swakop and Kuiseb is called the Namib Section. A wide gravel road leads from Walvis Bay through the Namib Naukluft Park and gives an impression of the imposing landscapes of rugged mountain massifs and gravel plains. After passing the Kuiseb Rivier Bridge, you leave the park area.

Welwitchia Drive

The “Welwitschia Mirabilis” is probably the most famous plant in Namibia. She is about 1000 years old, in some cases also older. in 1859, the ‘living fossil’ was first discovered by the Austrian botanist Dr. Welwitsch and therefore named after him. The Welwitschia plant has only two leaves, which, however, are frayed by the wind over the years. It absorbs the water necessary for its growth via the humidity.

Welwitschias grow exclusively in the middle part of the Namib, about 40 to 120 kilometers from the coast. You can find the strange plants on the signposted Welwitschia Drive. A more interesting sight is the ride leads the bizarre, almost vegetation-free “lunar landscape” along the Swakop Riviera. Around 450 million years ago, soft rock layers were deposited here, into which the river ate its way.

The scenic highlight in the Namib Naukluft Park is the drive to the Sossusvlei. It is located in the middle of the central Namib dunes, which make up the largest part of the park with an area of about 32,000 square kilometers.