The Namib Naukluft park in the west of Namibia covers around 50,000 square kilometres and protects the Namib desert – one of the oldest deserts in the world.

While the main attraction of the Etosha national park is the wildlife it is home to, the main attraction of the Namib Naukluft national park is the beautiful scenery. The landscape varies considerably within the park, from the towering sand dunes around Sossusvlei and Sesriem, to gravel plains, and the “moon landscape” hills and valleys.

Visiting the park requires a permit, available from MET offices.

In the northern part of the park is Welwitschia drive, a route through parts of the park which takes several hours to go round. Unlike Etosha, you are free to stop and get out of your vehicle as you go round the park.

The moon landscape is an area you will pass through as you drive along Welwitschia drive. Sometimes referred to as the moonscape, it is an area whose landscape was formed by the valleys of the swakop river
The “moon landscape” area of the Namib Naukluft national park

The Welwitschia drive route takes its name from the Welwitschia mirabilis plant, and at one of the recommended stopping points you can see one of the largest known examples of this plant, which is estimated to be over 1500 years old.

A welwitschia mirabilis
The Welwitschia mirabilis is a plant that is highly adapted to life in the harsh conditions of the Namib desert. It looks at a first glance to be a mass of leaves emanating from a short stump, but in actuality the plant only has two leaves which are extremely long and form a tangled mass. They have deep roots as well as shallow ones and the root structure is designed to extract any available water from the soil. It is believed that the leaves help condense the fog that occurs in the desert to help gain more moisture.

The Welwitschia plants are dioeceous – i.e. there are separate male and female plants. The female plants can be identified by the pin-cone like seed carriers.