Safari to Namibrand

the peaceful and high quality extension to Sossusvlei

At 2100 square kilometres, Namibrand is an enormous private nature reserve in the southwest of Namibia, one of the finest in the country, which is renowned for its epic desert landscapes and peaceful high quality safari experience.

Lying immediately to the south of the better known and much busier Sossusvlei area, on the eastern flank of the great Namib dune sea, Namibrand is an area of truly remarkable desert landscapes, certainly amongst some of the very finest scenery in the country, which really is saying something.

One of the best things about Namibrand is that it actually includes some decent sized sections of the red-sand dunefields that characterise the Namib. This is quite unusual because the vast majority of these dunes are contained within the national park and are not generally accessible.

Inland from the dunes, impressive granite inselbergs stand clear of undulating gravel plains. In wetter seasons these plains can turn into vast prairies of yellow grasses, whilst in more arid periods the scenery is a lot more starkly beautiful.

Namibrand has never really been considered a conventional safari location because the wildlife has been too sparse, but this is starting to change.

When it was formed in 1995 there were fewer than 1000 springboks, now they have reached the maximum carrying capacity of 11,000. Other species include oryx, ostriches, springboks, kudus, Birchell’s zebras, Hartmann’s mountain zebras, giraffes, steenboks, red hartebeests and chacma baboons.

Elusive predators include leopards, spotted hyenas, brown hyenas, black-backed jackals, aardwolves, bat-eared foxes, Cape foxes, African wildcats, caracals and genets. The prestigious Cheetah Conservation Fund has also reintroduced dozens of these big cats here, although they remain very elusive, they keep running off onto neighbouring farms and getting shot.

The reserve also runs a protection project for endangered lappet-faced vultures.

So whilst finding all these various animals may prove something of a challenge, it’s quite something to know that they are all here and that such wonderful progress is being made by this pioneering conservation project.

Instead the reserve offers an unusually pure wilderness experience, with extremely low vehicle traffic and a range of wonderful leisurely activities which focus on the grandeur of the environment and the subtlety of the desert flora and fauna.

Guest accommodation is in a handful of really high quality lodges, offering a range of gentle, well-guided safari activities.

The Namibrand area tends to be included in relatively few trips, since most people want to include the neighbouring Sossusvlei area and don’t have the time to combine the two. But it’s certainly worth doing if you can.

The usual stay duration is 2-3 nights if you are combining with a lodge in Sossusvlei, 3-4 nights if you are using this as your single base in the greater area.

Seasonality

The climate in Namibrand is relatively stable and the area can be visited year round, although the most popular period is the long Apr-Dec dry season.

Getting there

There are three main ways to get around Namibia and visit Namibrand …

Self-drive

The first option is to self-drive, which is reasonably safe and easy to do. The upside is that it is by far the lowest cost way to get around. The downside is that, for safety reasons, you are obliged to stick to a relatively limited network of main roads locations.

Around half of the visitors to the Namibrand area arrive by self-drive. The reserve lies just south of the very popular Sossusvlei area. Vehicles are parked at the main farmstead in the central valley, from where you are collected by a safari guide and taken on to your lodge.

Flying safari

The second option is to travel around by light aircraft. This is both a great deal easier and enables you to access some wonderfully remote locations. The downside is that it’s much more expensive, as much as three times the price of self-drive.

The other half of guests into Namibrand arrive by light aircraft, landing at the airstrip in the valley, close to the central farmstead.

Guided overland expedition

The third option is guided overland expedition, which enables you to really explore the truly wild and wonderful parts of the country. The downsides are that this can be quite an arduous way to travel and can become quite costly.

Namibrand is virtually never included in this kind of trip, the overland guides prefer to head out to more remote areas, where they can be free to conduct their safari as they please.

Combinations

Many of the very best trips to Namibia combine two or three of these ways of travelling around.

Where to stay

There are several lodges in this area, all relatively upmarket.

The main presence are the lodges owned by the people who first formed the reserve, namely Wolwedans Dunes Lodge, Wolwedans Dune Camp, Wolwedans Boulders Camp, and Wolwedans Private Camp.

Two other safari companies each have a lodge here, namely AndBeyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge and Kwessi Dunes Lodge.

It is important to note that the four Wolwedans lodges do not offer trips up to Sossusvlei, which means that you will likely need to also stay in a lodge in that area for at least one night.

The other two lodges do offer trips to Sossusvlei, but we still sometimes recommend staying at a lodge in that area too in order that you can get into the famous dunes early in the morning.

easily accessed by road or air