Namib-Naukluft National Park

The Namib-Naukluft National Park is rich in biodiversity, size and attractions.
It is not only one of the oldest deserts in the world, but is Namibia's most versatile area of conservation home to magnificent sand dunes, the gravel plains, and the isolated Erongo Mountains.



Totaling 50.000 sq. km. of protected desert wilderness, its main feature, Sossusvlei, attracts visitors from around the world.
The word "Namib", Nama in origin meaning the "land of our ancestors", contradicts our general perceptions of a desert as a dry, unihabited place with extreme temperatures.

 

In fact, the Namib was once inhabited by peoples and continues to be so with animals today.
Parts of the Namib can even be cultivated where soil and water are found.
The word "Naukluft" owes its name to the seasonal Tsondab River that, over thousands of years, had eroded and cut a gorge through the Naukluft range during the more humid times in its history.

First named by Afikans farmers as Nou Kloof (Narrow Gorge), it later took its present name Naukluft during Germany's reign.