Namibia impresses even old Africa hands with its stark, one-of-a-kind grandeur and its unique wildlife. After arriving in the capital, Windhoek, we immediately transfer to our private aircraft and fly north for an hour and a half, catching sight of Etosha National Park’s gleaming white salt pans and landing at The Mushara Outpost’s private airstrip. For the next two days we’ll go on private 4-wheel-drive game-viewing safaris in the park, coming into peaceful contact with its elephant, antelope, zebra, gnu, giraffe, leopard, lion, and cheetah (and perhaps even elusive rhino), watching them at their daily work and as they congregate at waterholes in the evening.

After a morning game drive, we fly northwest toward the Kunene River, a vital swash of green squeezed by harsh mountains as it meanders toward the Atlantic. We land in the sublimely faraway Hartmann’s Valley and make a short drive to our camp — the ultraremote, marvelously designed Serra Cafema — on the Kunene (in time for a sunset river cruise, if we’re in the mood). The next day, we’ll set out in our 4-wheel-drive vehicles for an exploration of the Hartmann’s dunes, driving steeply down into mysterious valleys, and, if their nomadic pastoralist wanderings have brought them near, paying a visit to the ochre-daubed Himba people who inhabit these parts.

After an active morning in the Hartmann, we fly spectacularly south, over rugged mountains delicately draped with light, creamy dunes, to the famed Skeleton Coast, then turn inland along a watercourse, flying over narrow gorges to our landing at the village of Purros, where we’re driven to the Okahirongo Elephant Lodge, an oasis of comfort and quiet in the foothills of impressively austere mountains.

From our base at Okahirongo, we’ll venture out in search of the rare desert elephant, sovereign of these vast landscapes. Then we’re off by air, south to Swakopmund, flying over ancient volcanoes and lonely mesas, and after re-fueling at the old German-style seaside resort, we make an elegant, low-level flight back over the Skeleton Coast, marveling at the massive Namib dunes plunging directly into the ocean, catching sight of seal colonies, and looking out for the evocative wreck of the Eduard Bohlen. We then wing inland for a flight across the entire Namib, an ocean of dunes gloriously highlighted by late afternoon light, landing at one of the largest private nature reserves in southern Africa, the NamibRand, not far from Sossusvlei. We’ll drive up a particularly robust dune to Wolwedans Dunes Lodge — a chalet graced with 360° views of what seems to be all of creation — for two days of 4-wheel-drive and on-foot exploration of what many consider the most scenic corner of the rampantly scenic Namib, immersing ourselves in its reds and oranges and rare explosions of brave greenery, all dominated by dark looming mountains in the distance, on the lookout for oryx and other desert denizens. And as a symphonic finale, we fly in golden sunrise over Sossusvlei’s dunes, earth’s largest, before heading back to Windhoek, out of breath with beauty.

Day 1: Arrive Windhoek, Namibia, and fly to Etosha National Park, The Mushara Outpost luxury camp • 2: Etosha National Park safari, The Mushara Outpost • 3: fly to Serra Cafema • 4: explore Kunene area, Serra Cafema • 5: fly to Kaokoland, Okahirongo Elephant Lodge • 6: explore Kaokoland, Okahirongo Elephant Lodge • 7: fly to Swakopmund, sunset flight over Namib Desert, Wolwedans Dunes Lodge • 8: sunrise flight over dunes, explore Sossusvlei, fly to Windhoek, Hotel Heinitzburg • 9: transfer to airport for flights home.

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