10 things not to miss in Namibia

We’re talking about one of the most diverse and beautiful places in the world: Namibia.

Straddling the Tropic of Capricorn, Namibia is an African gem that gives you all the majesty of the continent, scattered here and there across the country: wherever you look, it’s a WOW—so beautiful it will blow your mind! But here, we want to talk about what you absolutely shouldn’t miss in this incredible place. 

So let’s begin!

Here are 10 things not to miss in Namibia:
 

1. THE SKEWERS AT JOE’S BEERHOUSE IN WINDHOEK

You haven’t even arrived yet, and you’re already hungry for safari! So why not enjoy one sitting at a table in the coolest restaurant in the entire capital? At Joe’s, you can try legendary combo skewers made with delicious bites of crocodile, springbok, zebra, oryx and… that’s enough for now! The place is beautiful, with a vintage post-colonial African style. Stuffed leopards, mixed smoking areas, wooden tables and thatched umbrellas set the scene for your first African dinner!!
 

2. A SELF-DRIVE AND FEELING LIKE INDIANA JONES

We simply can’t imagine coming to Namibia and just sitting back while private drivers do all the work. No way. We know the best experiences are the ones you create with your own hands, so: get a powerful jeep and drive thousands of kilometers across this immense and magnificent country. It’s easy, really: just never get out if you don’t want to get eaten! Roar. 
 

3. ETOSHA, WOW! 

Etosha is one of those places you never, ever forget. This is your SAFARI! Its easy accessibility doesn’t immediately make you realize that you’re traveling through the natural habitat of no fewer than 114 species of mammals, 340 of birds, 110 of reptiles, 16 of amphibians, and even one species of fish (okay!). It’s a huge national park that, for several years, was the largest wildlife park in the world! You can explore it far and wide, staying in campsites, lodges, huts, caves, dens… oops! Everything here comes down to one thing only: ANIMALS, and lots of them!
 

4. AN APPLE PIE

If, after all the salt of the dry lakes and the dust-dry mouth, you find yourself craving dessert, you’ll stop in Solitaire for a pit stop. The setting feels like the Wild West: abandoned vintage cars, a half-wrecked gas station and… an excellent little bakery kiosk that has been making an apple pie from a magical recipe for years. And yes, there’s a story behind it. The story is that of Percival Cross, known as Moose McGregor, a Scottish adventurer who in the 1990s decided to settle here and open a bakery. Moose was a one-of-a-kind character, with a mysterious, almost pirate-like past, a typically Scottish appearance, and a friendly, charming personality. His specialty was apple pie, made from an old German family recipe and with apples from… well, certainly not Namibia.
 

5. ROCK ART AND PETRIFIED TREES

And you thought Namibia was only about animals and nature… well, you were right! And yet this is also where our civilizations began, by observing the outside world, made up of animals like us and nature. We’re in Damaraland! At Twyfelfontein, which means “the uncertain spring,” you’ll find one of the largest rock art galleries in Africa: more than 2,000 Stone Age rock paintings and engravings. Not far from this open-air natural museum, you can come face to face with trees that, thanks to a magical process and some excellent chemical rules, survived for 200 million years and turned into stone! Pretty amazing, right??!
 

6. SEALS AT CAPE CROSS 

The Cape Cross colony is the largest colony of Cape fur seals in the world and one of the two largest found along Namibia’s coast. It’s something you should see at least once in your life—you probably won’t get another chance! 
 

7. SHIPWRECKS ON THE SKELETON COAST 

You’ve just passed Springbokwasser Gate and are about to enter the bay of wrecks, a ghostly place full of emptiness and debris. Here the desert takes over the water: sandbanks become the greatest obstacle for ships, which, if they get too close to shore, run aground and remain stuck there forever. The sight is unlike anything else: there are early 20th-century ships you can actually touch, fishing boats turned into homes for seagulls! INCREDIBLE.
 

8. SWAKOPMUND

Swakopmund: the oceanfront town at the gateway to the desert. Between pink flamingos, little restaurants and charming villas, this stop is more enjoyable than you can imagine. You’ve been traveling for days and getting your hands dirty: in Swakopmund, you recharge before setting off again!!
 

9. THE NAMIB DESERT

It’s the desert you’ve never seen before: dunes hundreds of meters high meeting the ocean. It’s the oldest desert in the world! Here you drive, ride quads, go sandboarding. But above all, you fly over this 65-million-year-old expanse of beauty on a charter flight. NO WORDS.
 

10. SOSSUSVLEI PARK 

Red dunes, yellow sand, solitary oryx, beautiful roads, hot-air balloons and walks. In Sossusvlei, one of Namibia’s top destinations, you’ll find peace. The wind sculpts the shapes of this ancient sand, the park preserves them, and we come here to admire them.

Don’t miss Namibia—don’t miss it with us. Take a look at our NAMIBIA ADVENTURE TRIP.