Namib Desert & Sossusvlei Holidays

The Sossusvlei region of Namibia is the perfect place to do balloon safaris. Take a 10-minute drive to the launch pad, where you can enjoy the spectacle of the balloon inflating and taking shape – a very magical event just before sunrise. After a briefing with your pilots, take to the air.

It’s an hour in the sky travelling wherever the wind takes you over oceans of sand and dramatic mountains. You will typically cover an average of 10 kilometres although some days as much as 30 kilometres depending on the strength of the wind. Meanwhile the crew sets up a beautiful champagne breakfast for when you land, including homemade breads, cheeses, smoked fish, salami pancakes, cereals and yogurts.

Scenic flights are the best way to appreciate the immense size and beauty of Sossusvlei and the Namib Desert. Take off in a private plane or helicopter to soar over this UNESCO-listed landscape; you’ll get a birds-eye view of the desert below, an ocean of rippling sand that stretches as far as the eye can see.

The colours are incredible, especially in the morning and late afternoon when the sun paints the sand different shades, from pale yellow and warm honey to vibrant turmeric and blood orange. It’s a feast for photographers.

The route will usually take you over ancient Sesriem Canyon, which looks like a deep, snaking gash in the desert’s surface, then west to the dune corridor and Sossusvlei. This former dry riverbed is home to Namib’s most impressive dunes and you’ll get to circle some of the tallest, including Big Daddy, Elim and Dune 45. You’ll also notice Deadvlei, a clay pan where dozens of dead camelthorn trees sit stranded, preserved by the arid atmosphere. The landscape is otherworldly – it feels like you’re in a spaceship passing over an alien planet.

Your pilot will provide commentary, pointing out the landmarks below. Look out for famous fairy circles and herds of game as you fly. Trips can be extended to the Skeleton Coast, where the desert meets the crashing Atlantic – some of the most dramatic landscapes you can imagine. Below, you might spot bird and seal colonies, as well as diamond mining camps and shipwrecks as you circle back to the desert.

Sossusvlei lies deep in the Namib Desert and is home to Namibia’s most iconic landmark: Deadvlei. Everyone wants to capture that perfect photo of Deadvlei’s black, skeletal camelthorn trees stuck in a carpet of white clay, backed by tangerine-coloured dunes and a blue sky. The Namib is the world’s oldest desert and recognised by UNESCO for its shifting sand sea, which is unique because fog from the Atlantic provides moisture for plants and animals to thrive. Look out for desert-adapted animals as well as Namibia’s national animal, the elegant oryx.

Just driving into the Namib Desert is a surreal experience. You’re surrounded by rippling sands that stretch from Angola all the way down to South Africa. 

Stay in a lodge near Sesriem Gate so that you can head into the park before the sun comes up. Although you could drive yourself, taking a tour means you can travel with a local guide, who’ll take you to the best spots in Sossusvlei. This former riverbed – Sossusvlei means 'where the river ends' in the indigenous San language – features some of the tallest sand dunes on the planet. These include the 340-metre-tall Big Daddy, Dune 45 and Elim.

As the sun rises, watch shadows flicker over these towering dunes, the light painting them shades of orange, red, turmeric and gold. If you’re feeling active, scale one of the dunes for aerial desert views; at that time of day the sand is cool enough to trek up to the top, it’s quite a workout. If hiking isn’t your thing, take a dawn hot air balloon flight over Sossusvlei instead. The vast scale of the desert and its endless sands will render you speechless.

Sossusvlei is known for its soaring sand dunes but there’s much more to discover on a nature drive. Head out with an experienced local guide from your lodge to explore the Namib Desert’s endless shifting sands. It might look barren but the desert is actually home to all kinds of wildlife that’s adapted to survive in this unforgiving environment. The landscapes are great for photography, ranging from orange-red sands to moon-like gravel plains and scorched yellow grass.

Morning nature drives will normally start at dawn, allowing you to watch the sunrise. Afternoon drives are the perfect way to end the day with drinks, watching the sunset over the desert.

During the drives, your guide will help you spot game like springbok, oryx and zebra, as well as hyenas and perhaps rarer creatures like the Karoo bustard and Grant’s golden mole. The dunes are an ecosystem all of their own, teeming with insects and reptiles you wouldn’t normally spot without an expert eye. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see a cute gecko or chameleon.

The desert vegetation includes bony camelthorn trees, like the ones you’ll see in famous Deadvlei, succulents and bushes bearing yellow Nara melons. Near the coast, there are huge lichen fields that bloom in the rainy season and with help from Atlantic Ocean fog. Your guide will be on the lookout for the iconic welwitschia, which is known as the living fossil plant because it can live for thousands of years.

Kanaan Desert Retreat is the perfect place to take a photographic safari. Set in a protected reserve in the Namib Desert, they are blessed with three different ecosystems: vast open grasslands, red-hued sand dunes and the Tiras Mountains. Whether you are a beginner or professional photographer, it's a perfect destination for landscape photography.

The Namib Desert is a paradise for photographers so it's no surprise they have had camera crews from the BBC, Animal Planet and National Geographic here to film and photograph the area’s scenery and wildlife.

The tours are led by Francois, a professional photographer and co-manager of Kanaan Desert Retreat. He will start by asking what kind of photos you want to capture so he can tailor the experience to your needs. The trip includes two three-hour drives, usually an early-morning drive and another at sunset, ending with a star photography session. You can get brilliant images of the Milky Way and twinkling constellations in the Namib Desert.

Guests have taken incredible pictures on the photographic safaris, particularly of the sunsets and sunrises. You can frame petrified trees in the foreground against a backdrop of the desert and mountains. Although the landscapes take centre-stage, you may occasionally encounter wildlife. Everyone from beginners to professional photographers are catered for and it's recommended to bring a wide-angle lens and a tripod to get the best shots.