There’s a primordial splendour about the Namibian landscape that speaks to every human’s need to enjoy solitude and serenity. A soulful and spiritual place of immense spaces merging into distant horizons, a place where the jaded city dweller can unwind and relax.

It’s a place for photographers, artists and poets to draw inspiration, for lovers to discover - or rediscover - each other and for nature to regain its rightful place at the centre of the landscape. It’s a place of otherworldly scenes, colonial-era houses being swallowed up by the shifting sand, vast sand dunes above the aquamarine waters of the Atlantic Ocean, a place where the tensions of the city give way to a pervading peace.

WINDHOEK

It was probably about 160 years ago that the first Orlam Nama, led by Kaptein Jonker Afrikaner, settled at !Ae-gams - where water bubbled from the ground at a temperature of more than 70 degrees Celsius. Not far from there the German Colonial Commander Curt von Francois built the Alte Feste fort in 1890 establishing the modem city of Windhoek. The capital of Namibia, Windhoek is an attractive city in the bowl of the Khomas Hochland which merges the old influences of German colonial times with the progressive modem era. In Windhoek, yesteryear merges with yesterday and today, and Africa mixes with Europe in a way which is full of contrasts, not always without tension, but always stimulating.

WALVIS BAY AND SANDWICH HARBOUR

Some 120 000 aquatic birds reside in the Walvis Bay lagoon and these are joined by around 200 000 migratory birds each year, enough to make the most hardened birder hyperventilate. For a truly remarkable experience take the 48-kilometre drive along the beach to the south to Sandwich Harbour where a fresh water lagoon is fed by water seeping out from beneath the immense desert dunes that would otherwise sweep directly into the sea. For those unmoved by the bountiful birding there’s sand boarding on the dunes, horse riding, desert quad-biking, dune paragliding, boat trips and many more activities and indulgences.

SOSSUSVLEI AND SESRIEM

The highest sand dunes in the world are spectacular enough to warrant a visit, and Sossusvlei’s star-shaped, 300 metre-high dunes are astonishing, particularly when the vlei at its centre fills with water. Take a drive to Sossusvlei early in the morning so that you can see the rising sun turn the colour of the dunes from deep purple and red to mustard as the light and rays of the sun intensify. Climb the mighty dunes at Sossusvlei and gaze out across a sea of sand before sliding swiftly down its steep sides. Later take a stroll through the Sesriem canyon at the entrance to Sossusvlei and enjoy the quiet serenity of this narrow, deep gouge in the earth’s surface.

BRUKKAROS CRATER

Travel north from Keetmanshoop and across the shimmering plains to the west you will see the great bulk of the Brukkaros Mountain dominating the distant horizon Brukkaros is galloping across the wide open desert or standing quietly in the midst of the vast and forbidding landscape of the Namib Desert is something that will live with any horse lover for a lifetime.

LUDERITZ

It’s a grave disservice to call Luderitz a slice of colonial history-like the diamonds that drew so many adventurers to this area, its charm has many more facets than just its German architecture. Trapped between the desert and the sea its character changes with the daily tides, intermittent fog and its spotless beaches invite you to linger and watch the boisterous seals and penguins at play. Nearby is the ghost town of Kolmanskop, a haunting place of imposing but long-deserted colonial-era houses slowly being swamped by the shifting sand dunes of the Namib.

FISH RIVER CANYON AND | AI | AIS

Hailed as one of the best hiking trails in Southern Africa, “The Fish” beckons outdoor enthusiasts drawn to its stark beauty and surreal landscape, who tackle its spectacular 85- kilometre route each year. Explorers are drawn to its shear, soaring walls that make it the largest canyon in the southern hemisphere and twitchers revel in the variety of unique desert birds. At the end of the trail the renowned hot springs ease the sore muscles caused by the exertions of the trail through the Canyon.

WARMBAD

Warmbad is inhabited primarily by the Nama people and is the town where the Bondelswarts leader Jan Christiaan Abraham was shot and killed by the German district officer when resisting arrest in 1903. The town still contains remnants of the German Fort with its single tower enclosed by a stone wall which was completed around 1895 and other colonial-era buildings. The hot water springs also provide respite for the weary traveller.

THE ORANGE RIVER

The Orange River, which forms Namibia's southern border to South Africa, originates in the Drakensberg mountains and covers a distance of 1800 kilometres through South Africa. The river connects with the Atlantic Ocean at Oranjemund. Alexander Bay on its long journey, the Orange offers a variety of vistas. The stretch from the Augrabies Falls to the river mouth is very scenic and in places the river is crowded by rugged mountain and dune fields.