By Roxanne Reid
I fell in love when I first saw a photograph of the endless vista that is the NamibRand Nature Reserve in southern Namibia, and I’ve wanted to experience it ever since. Now that I have, I recommend that you put it on your life list if you’re the sort of person who gets joy from beauty and wilderness.
I fell in love when I first saw a photograph of the endless vista that is the NamibRand Nature Reserve in southern Namibia, and I’ve wanted to experience it ever since. Now that I have, I recommend that you put it on your life list if you’re the sort of person who gets joy from beauty and wilderness.
Photographs of the NamibRand show red sand dunes, grey-mauve mountains and golden grass plains. Being surrounded by them in real life certainly made me catch my breath, but even more magnificent and unexpected was the stirring in my soul, the sense of peace, the conviction that I’d felt the heartbeat of Africa.
Spectacular. Serene. Spiritual. These are words to describe the NamibRand. At more than 200 000 hectares, it’s one of the largest private nature reserves in southern Africa and shares a 100km border with the Namib Naukluft National Park. Since the mid-1980s land that was once livestock farms has been left to grow wild again after fences, old buildings, reservoirs and alien vegetation were removed.
Despite some corrugations in the gravel road, our drive through the Tirasberg range (along the D707 and C27) to get to the NamibRand was hauntingly beautiful as only desert mountain landscapes can be. From the turn-off to the nature reserve, our path became lined with green valleys, red dunes and layers of mountains behind them, mauve and then grey in the distance. (Technically, they’re inselbergs, or isolated mountains rising abruptly from a plain. And that’s perhaps part of their beauty; you can see the whole of them because there’s little to interrupt your view.)
Despite some corrugations in the gravel road, our drive through the Tirasberg range (along the D707 and C27) to get to the NamibRand was hauntingly beautiful as only desert mountain landscapes can be. From the turn-off to the nature reserve, our path became lined with green valleys, red dunes and layers of mountains behind them, mauve and then grey in the distance. (Technically, they’re inselbergs, or isolated mountains rising abruptly from a plain. And that’s perhaps part of their beauty; you can see the whole of them because there’s little to interrupt your view.)
Orion campsite
Scaly feathered finches, just one of about 150 bird species in this reserve, welcomed us to our campsite at the NamibRand Family Hideout. Our site was called Orion, and we had private ablutions and a dish-wash area. It was one of only two camp sites and they were about a kilometre apart and not within sight of each other so it was like having the entire world to ourselves. We weren’t too keen on the flies that latched on to us when we arrived hot and sweaty, but by dusk they were gone and the world was perfect.
Scaly feathered finches, just one of about 150 bird species in this reserve, welcomed us to our campsite at the NamibRand Family Hideout. Our site was called Orion, and we had private ablutions and a dish-wash area. It was one of only two camp sites and they were about a kilometre apart and not within sight of each other so it was like having the entire world to ourselves. We weren’t too keen on the flies that latched on to us when we arrived hot and sweaty, but by dusk they were gone and the world was perfect.
After a gentle pink-tinged sky at sunset, we spent the evening enjoying the wonder of the night skies with their multitude of stars. The NamibRand was declared a Dark Sky Reserve in 2012 and the lack of light pollution here makes for magnificent star gazing. We tried to capture the beauty with the camera, but it’s harder than you think, lighting and its sheer vastness being the major challenges.
Given that this is the desert, it wasn’t surprising that it got cold overnight. But as soon as the sun came up the temperature rose quickly and it was already hot by 8am, even in early winter.
4x4 route
After breakfast we ventured out along the 4x4 route starting at a dune behind our campsite. We’d expected a drive of dune landscapes but very little game. We were wrong. The track swept down on to Oryx Plain where lots of gemsbok were grazing, two of them having a bit of a horn-tossing contest. On Bat-eared Fox Plain we were unlucky, too late to find any of these sweet little animals in search of a breakfast of termites, dung beetles, scorpions or spiders.
4x4 route
After breakfast we ventured out along the 4x4 route starting at a dune behind our campsite. We’d expected a drive of dune landscapes but very little game. We were wrong. The track swept down on to Oryx Plain where lots of gemsbok were grazing, two of them having a bit of a horn-tossing contest. On Bat-eared Fox Plain we were unlucky, too late to find any of these sweet little animals in search of a breakfast of termites, dung beetles, scorpions or spiders.
At Horseshoe Water Scenic View we found a waterhole surrounded by zebra and gemsbok. Red hartebeest looked at home among the red sand and there were lots of springbok, some of them impressing with their high-leaping pronking, others youngsters just starting to grow their horns. Other antelope on the reserve include kudu, klipspringer and steenbok, with predators like leopard, cheetah, spotted and brown hyena keeping their numbers in check.
The 4x4 trail ended with a steep dune that our Ford Ranger climbed with ease, and the last stretch back to camp gave us a wonderful sighting of five giraffe walking across a plain with the red dunes behind them and the mountains beyond, just like a watercolour painting.
The 4x4 route would probably take about 40 minutes if you didn’t stop to ogle the view, enjoy the wildlife or take photos, but we made the most of it and it took us three hours.
The 4x4 route would probably take about 40 minutes if you didn’t stop to ogle the view, enjoy the wildlife or take photos, but we made the most of it and it took us three hours.
After just two short days, NamibRand was my new favourite place, the scenery powerfully beautiful. It had a Kalahari feel with its red dunes and camel thorn trees, but in the background there was always that special touch in the view of mountains that took our breath away.
Other things to do
Apart from game viewing, star-gazing and the 4x4 route, other things to do here include dune-boarding, bird watching, wildlife photography and hot air ballooning (which you should arrange beforehand). If you don’t have a 4x4 you can go for a dune drive with a guide in the Family Hideout’s vehicle. Someone will come to check you’re ok at some point during your first afternoon at camp, so just talk to him and he’ll make a plan for you. Alternatively, you can just chill at your campsite, drink in the views and appreciate how lucky you are to be here.
Apart from game viewing, star-gazing and the 4x4 route, other things to do here include dune-boarding, bird watching, wildlife photography and hot air ballooning (which you should arrange beforehand). If you don’t have a 4x4 you can go for a dune drive with a guide in the Family Hideout’s vehicle. Someone will come to check you’re ok at some point during your first afternoon at camp, so just talk to him and he’ll make a plan for you. Alternatively, you can just chill at your campsite, drink in the views and appreciate how lucky you are to be here.
Where to stay
We stayed at the NamibRand’s Family Hideout which offers two campsites and a self-catering cottage. For us a private campsite was a perfect way to experience the area on a budget.
A luxury alternative is to stay at one of the Wolwedans lodges. Or for a really special adventure, book a three-day, two-night walking trail with Toktokkie Trails to get close to the environment on foot and discover some of the small creatures that live here.
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We stayed at the NamibRand’s Family Hideout which offers two campsites and a self-catering cottage. For us a private campsite was a perfect way to experience the area on a budget.
A luxury alternative is to stay at one of the Wolwedans lodges. Or for a really special adventure, book a three-day, two-night walking trail with Toktokkie Trails to get close to the environment on foot and discover some of the small creatures that live here.
Like it? Pin this image!
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