10 Interesting Namib Desert Facts.

As far as the eye can reach, perfectly constructed sand dunes spread inland and press up against an empty length of coast. Skeletons from shipwrecks a kilometer from the water are eaten by sand. In an area that is nearly entirely devoid of water, wildlife flourishes. The Namib Desert is a mysterious location that does a good job of hiding its mysteries, in addition to being one of the most beautiful deserts in the world.

1. The oldest desert in the world

Despite not being the biggest desert in the world, the Namib is most likely the oldest. For instance, it is far older than the Sahara Desert. The Sahara, which is home to the African megafauna that makes us all want to go on safari, was a mixture of lush savannah grasslands and forests just 12,000 years ago.

The Namib Desert, on the other hand, has been dry for at least 55 million years, and perhaps as long as 80. There are areas of the Namib that are as dry as the Atacama Desert in South America. Only 2 mm (0.08 in) of rain falls on average in some areas each year.

 

2. An Odd Weather Pattern

Travelers are always caught by it. It can be extremely unnerving, even unearthly, to experience the rush of chilly air and rolling mists as you travel from Namibia’s interior to the sand-dune shore. Standing high on a sand dune and looking out to sea through the fog and feeling unexpectedly cold is an odd feeling. There are about 180 days of fog in the Namib Desert per year. This is caused by hot air from the parched interior colliding with cool air from the offshore Benguela Current.

 

3. The Coast of Skeleton

The number of ships that were destroyed along Namibia’s dry coastline is unknown. Many of them have vanished due to a combination of the water and the ever-moving sand dunes. The rest remind us of the elemental power that governs all things along this shore. The sand dunes are so strong that they have regained land from the sea by their unrelenting march.

Less than a century later, several ships that were formerly swept by waves are now located nearly a mile inland. Consider the Eduard Bohlen, which is still stuck 1km/0.6mi from the sea after sinking off Walvis Bay in 1909. Others are near shore, shielded by rocky outcrops, such as the Otavi, a cargo ship that ran aground further south in 1945.

4. A Land That Was Once Prohibited

Not so long ago, most of the desert was hidden from view by more than just the swirling fog. The Sperrgebiet area was closed until 2009. It was a clandestine location with dangerous sand seas, abandoned diamond mines, and a variety of rumors. Even though Tsau // Khaeb National Park is now a 22,000km²/8,494mi² national park, it is still only accessible to the daring. But its mysteries are emerging, such as the finding of eerie abandoned mining settlements that the dunes once engulfed.

Furthermore, looks might be deceiving. The park has been identified as one of 36 exceptional worldwide hot areas of rare biodiversity, despite its seemingly infinite sand vistas. From one of Africa’s few wild horse populations to the endangered desert rain frog, it has it all.

 

5. Lions adapted to the desert

Lions were never able to survive in the Sahara Desert, even when there were over a million of them in Africa. Despite this, there are a few desert lions living in and around the edges of the Namib Desert. In the northern desert’s Kunene region, the lions manage to survive on the beaches, sand dunes, and desolate mountains. Despite coming dangerously close to extinction in the 1980s, the Namib lion population has recovered remarkably. It is thought that between 57 and 60 lions remain now.

6. Elephants of Damaraland

Elephants inhabit the Namib Desert, although few first-time tourists to Namibia are aware of this. Fewer still can explain how that could occur. It is quite amazing that the largest land mammal in the world can endure in one of the driest environments on Earth.

Compared to their savannah counterparts, these desert-adapted giants are smaller and have wider feet, which serve as the animal kingdom’s equivalent of soft-sand 4WD tires. It is still vulnerable after poachers almost wiped it off in the 1990s. Although exact numbers are difficult to determine, it is estimated that there are between 600 and 100 desert elephants left.

7. Rhinos in Black

According to the Save the Rhino Trust, the greatest population of free-ranging black rhinos in Africa may be found in Damaraland. This is noteworthy because Damaraland is a desolate area of gravel plains, sand dunes, and mountains without trees. Although poaching is still an issue, the population is now surviving. As part of their conservation-meets-tourism initiatives, a few upscale Damaraland resorts provide the opportunity to go rhino tracking.

 

8. Plants of Welwitschia

The Namib Desert offers unique means of survival for more than just animals. The very ugly welwitschias can live … for up to 2,000 years by capturing and holding onto water in their pores during the infrequent rainy seasons. The majority of the flora you’ll encounter are only a millennium old. In Dorob National Park, where the Khan and Swakop Rivers meet in the desert east of Swakopmund, welwitschias are very prevalent.

9. Magnificent Sand Dunes

Most tourists only need to get a close-up view at the Namib Desert’s sand dunes to realize how enormous they are. However, keep in mind that some of the dunes here are almost 32 km/20 mi long and 300 m/984 ft high! The Badain Jaran Desert in China is home to the only longer sand dunes known to exist on Earth.

But compared to the Namib Desert’s total area of 80,000km²/30,888mi², the dunes are little grains of sand. From north (Angola) to south (South Africa), the Namib spans more than 2,000 km/1,200 mi, and it hardly ever goes farther interior than 200 km/120 mi from the coast.

10. Africa by Toto

The Namib Desert has long drawn eccentrics and people who want to make a lasting impression long after they have left, in addition to explorers and adventurers. Consider Max Siedentopf, a German-Namibia artist who installed an artwork at a hidden Namib area in 2019. This piece of art consists of six solar-powered speakers connected to a sun-powered MP3 player. Toto’s 1982 hit song “Africa” will play from the unidentified place for as long as it functions. Tell us if you locate it. And please switch it off.