The 55-million-year-old Namib Desert is believed to be one of the oldest deserts on Earth, with arid conditions persisting for 55–80 million years. In its driest core zones, annual rainfall sits between 2–5 mm, making it one of Africa’s most extreme environments.
What makes the Namib unique is its interaction with the Atlantic Ocean. The cold Benguela Current creates morning fog that drifts inland for dozens of kilometres. This fog is the lifeline for much of the region’s wildlife, including beetles that harvest water droplets on their bodies, oryx and desert-adapted elephants, and rare lichen fields.
For travellers, the Namib is a masterpiece of natural drama, especially the Sossusvlei, with its towering apricot-coloured dunes and dead camel thorn trees, and the Skeleton Coast with rusted shipwrecks in a fog-filled wasteland. For those who love photography, few deserts on Earth provide such unforgettable colours and textures.