10 reasons to visit Namibia now it’s off the red list

Southern African countries are back on the menu – here’s why you should prioritise Namibia’s phenomenal landscapes, writes Melissa Twigg

Kalahari Red Dunes (Expert Africa)

Namibia’s cinematic landscapes are really all you need. In a country as absurdly beautiful as this one, you can pitch a tent on the roof of your jeep and still wake up entranced. So it feels almost gluttonous to discover that Namibia is also home to some of the best lodges in the continent – beautifully decorated and creatively designed, they’re perched on remote clifftops or next to ochre-coloured sand dunes. Unless you can afford the internal flights, exploring the country from behind a 4x4 is a good option, and long days spent looking at the Martian-like rock formations on the horizon are no hardship. Here are the top 10 most spectacular sights – in no particular order.

Sossusvlei

Big Daddy is the Eiffel Tower of Namibia. This vast, burnt-orange sand dune plunges into petrified white earth dotted with acacia-tree carcasses – and standing on it feels as if you’ve been dropped into a boiling hot surrealist painting. Found in the Sossusvlei National Park, Big Daddy is one of hundreds of sand dunes that litter the landscape. The light is as beautiful at sunrise, when the air is still cool and the sand looks almost mauve, as it is at night when the star-spangled sky is mesmerising – with no light pollution or air traffic, Sossusvlei is one of the best places on earth to see the Milky Way.