Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Namibia

10. Skeleton Coast

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The Skeleton Coast is the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia. Dense fog, strong storms, causing many ships in the past aground along the Skeleton Coast. Desolate coastline has become known as the largest ship graveyard in the world. The coast north of Terrace Bay, which is dominated by high sand dunes, is the most attractive stretch of the Skeleton Coast. Skeleton Bay is now known as a great location for surfing.

9. Twyfelfontein

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Twyfelfontein is a site of ancient rock engravings in the Kunene Region of north-western Namibia. Most of the carvings were created over 6,000 years ago by ancient Bushmen. The people ethnic used it as a place of worship and a site to conduct shamanist rituals. The carvings were made by cutting through the hard surface layer of sandstone and represent animals such as rhinoceroses, elephants, ostriches and giraffes as well as depictions of human and animal footprints. UNESCO approved Twyfelfontein as Namibia's first World Heritage Site in 2007.

8. Kolmanskop

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Kolmanskop is a ghost town in the Namib desert in southern Namibia, 10 kilometres inland from the port town of Lüderitz. Lots of German settled in this area after a diamond was found here in 1908. Driven by the enormous wealth of the first diamond miners, the residents built the village in the architectural style of a German town, with amenities and institutions including a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, skittle-alley, theatre and sport-hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray-station in the southern hemisphere, as well as the first tram in Africa. The town declined after World War I, and was ultimately abandoned in 1954. Today, Kolmanskop is popular with photographers for its settings of the desert sands' reclaiming this once-thriving town. Note, tourists need a permit to enter the town.

7. Caprivi Strip

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Caprivi, sometimes called the Caprivi Strip is a narrow strip of Namibia eastwards from the Kavango region, between Botswana to the south, and Angola and Zambia to the north. Caprivi is bordered by the Okavango, Kwando, Chobe and Zambezi rivers. It is the wettest region in Namibia with its high rainfall, and is rich in wildlife, including a large population of elephants. The wildlife is being protected in four reserves. However, there are no fences so the animals can roam freely across the borders of neighboring countries.

6. Spitzkoppe

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The Spitzkoppe is a group of bald granite peaks or bornhardts located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert of Namibia. The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains. The highest peak is about 700 m above the floor of the desert below. A minor peak – the Little Spitzkoppe – lies nearby at an elevation of 1,584 m. The granite massif, was created by the collapse of a gigantic volcano more than 100 million years ago and the subsequent erosion exposed the volcanic rock. Many examples of Bushmen artwork can be seen painted on the rock in the Spitzkoppe area.

5. Cape Cross

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Cape Cross is a small headland in the South Atlantic in Skeleton Coast, western Namibia. Cape Cross is home to one of the largest colonies of Cape Fur Seals in the world. It is a protected area owned by the government of Namibia under the name Cape Cross Seal Reserve. During the November / December breeding season as many as 150,000 seals gather at Cape Cross. The sight of more than 100,000 seals basking on the beach and frolicking in the surf is impressive to behold, though you’re going to have to contend with the overwhelming odoriferousness of piles and piles of stinky seal poo. Recommended, bring a handkerchief or bandana to cover your nose.

4. Swakopmund

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Swakopmund is the country's biggest coastal town and a mecca for Namibians on holiday. Established by German colonists in 1892. To this day, the city's German origins are quite pronounced in beautiful old German Colonial buildings throughout the city, making an even starker contrast for this town sitting at the edge of the Namib Desert. The dunes nearby provides several activities such as sandboarding, horse riding and quad biking, while the Swakopmund beach, providing plenty of surf and sand.

3. Fish River Canyon

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Fish River Canyon in southern Namibia is probably just one level below Grand Canyon in Arizona in its glory. The canyon has a giant gorge, a total of about 160km (100 miles) long, up to 27 km wide and in places almost 550 meters. The Fish River is the longest interior river in Namibia. It cuts deep into the plateau which is today dry, stony and sparsely covered with hardy drought-resistant plants. At the lower end of the Fish River Canyon, the hot springs resort of Ai-Ais is situated.

2. Sossusvlei

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Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert. Tsauchab River flows through the desert, and the rare flood waters owned by the vegetation that survives in the clay. During sunrise and sunset, the color of the sand dunes, constantly changing, and provides an opportunity for photographers who visit. Fierce desert winds that constantly change shape and texture of the sand dunes, giving an ever-changing landscape of the desert. Sossusvlei is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia.

1. Etosha National Park

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Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia. The park surrounds by the vast Etosha pan – an immense, flat, saline desert that, for a few days each year, is converted by the rains into a shallow lagoon teeming with flamingos and pelicans. The park is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and endangered species such as the black rhinoceros.