Pop quiz: Where would you go if you yearn for somewhere less populated than Namibia?
Answer: Mongolia
It’s true that Namibia boasts endless emptiness and extreme otherworldliness. There is something magical about riding along a deserted road while the moon bobs from sand dune to sand dune next to you. And Namibia has many other sights that are at least as unique as that.
In 2019 a new spate of properties are opening across Namibia bringing the country fresh attention.
Tented Hoanib Valley Camp in Kaokoland
Tucked into the remote north-west, this joint venture between local communities and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation was designed by Cate Simpson and clearly inspired by the patterns, hues and textures of the setting. Expect Himba people, endangered rhino, desert-adapted elephant and giraffe, onyx, springbok and jackal. This camp is right in the centre of Namibia’s greatest concentration of desert adapted elephant and lion.
Shipwreck Lodge
The Skeleton Coast now has a lodge that echoes the wrecks strewn along its wild shores. Shipwreck Lodge lies a scant mile from the Atlantic Ocean. Go climb a dune or hunt for whale bones and seal colonies on the beach.
Serra Cafema
The Kunene River forms an oasis and the newly thatched lodges of Serra Cafema stands on stilts above the riverbank. One of the most remote camps in Southern Africa and a good place to meet the Himba.
Omaanda, Windhoek
Ten traditional round thatched huts in 9,000 hectares of a private animal conservancy and run by the French hotelier Arnaud Zannier.
Sonop Tented Camp
In the southern Namib Desert…
Habitas
A dramatic hillside camp with contemporary open-to-the-elements lodges is set within a 35,000 hectare wilderness.
Other reasons Namibia is very hot in 2019?
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Take in the desert from a hot air balloon over Sossusvlei
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And fly over the Skeleton coast
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Sand board the desert and make your inner child very happy.
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Get up close and personal with the desert wilderness and Hike in the Fish River Canyon or Damaraland.
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Take game viewing to a whole new photographic level in Etosha.
The best time to visit Namibia?
The Namib is one of the world’s driest deserts and this means that rain will possibly not be a problem.
Between December and March some days will be humid with localised rain and afternoon thunderstorms in the centre and east of the country.
April and May are dry with a touch of freshness to the air. It is green and the atmosphere is clear and free from dust.
From June to August the nights become cold, in the desert the temperature may drop very low. Game will gravitate towards waterholes in the north of the country.
In September it warms up again and the dust increases into October.
November can vacillate between hot, dry weather and rain clouds. The first rains of the season may fall.
and/or