Ash Bharadwaj, in his debut book Why We Travel, describes true awe as a rare and ineffable experience. He quotes Professor Dacher Keltner, who has been studying awe for decades. The professor describes awe as “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast, that transcends your current understanding of the world”. I understood what awe is while exploring the myriad landscapes of Namibia.
First encounters
We first travelled to Namibia in September 2022 for a 12-day trip. I was not even aware that Namibia could be a travel destination. It was my wife (who is an Africa fanatic) who chose Namibia as a holiday destination. While researching it, I realised Namibia is an extremely coveted travel destination amongst Europeans and Americans. While in Namibia, I was mesmerised. We simply loved our experience but felt 12 days was too short.
Ever since coming back from our first trip, I started planning another trip in my mind. It is always debatable whether one should go back to a place one has fallen in love with. Both of us were hesitant. What if it was not perfect this time? But for me, the call of the incredible play of shadows during sunrise and sunset on the Namib Desert was irresistible.
So, we went back in October 2025. This time it was for 17 days. Planning was aided by weeks of meticulous research through AI and supplemented by our own knowledge of the country from the previous trip.
Vastness and silence
Namibia is about one-third the size of India and one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. The population is 30 lakh (three million). The density of population in Calcutta is more than 6,000 times that of Namibia, according to Grok. We hardly came across cars or people for miles on end when we drove 3,800km across the country. Often, the stillness feels eerie. Namibia is also one of the driest countries in the world, even though the entire western part of the country is a coastline bordering the Atlantic, famously known as the Skeleton Coast.
The diversity of landscapes is the most striking feature of this magnificent country. Apart from the landscape, there is diversity in the way of life amongst the 11 major tribes that inhabit the country. Namibia has 30 languages, of which 12 are most spoken. These facts make Namibia one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse countries in Africa. So, like India, if there are two people from different parts and tribes of Namibia, they may not understand each other’s language. The common languages are Afrikaans and English. Afrikaans is now spoken mainly in South Africa and Namibia. It originated primarily from Dutch, brought by settlers of the Dutch East India Company to the Cape in present-day South Africa.
Colonial past and independence
Namibia existed as South West Africa prior to its independence in 1990. Present-day Namibia is a product of colonial land-grab efforts by the Germans dating back to the 1880s. It all started with a German tobacco merchant, Adolf Lüderitz, who, along with his business associate, negotiated with a local tribal chief to acquire a piece of land along the Atlantic coastline. They chose a natural harbour that provided safe anchorage amid the otherwise treacherous Atlantic coastline of south-western Africa. The place is now named Lüderitz, after the merchant who began the process of land acquisition for the German colony.
Germany ruled most of what is now Namibia from 1884 until the First World War. In 1915, South African troops fighting on the British side defeated the German forces and took control of South West Africa. Under South African rule, the architecture of apartheid was extended to Namibia, and legally enforced racial segregation lasted until the country finally gained independence in 1990.
During our road trip, we realised how different the people and culture of Namibia are from those of their European colonisers, who ultimately drew the borders of the nation we know today. In that sense, Namibia is not unique; versions of this story echo across many countries that experienced European colonial rule. While talking to different people, we became more aware of the pressures of modernity and the need to develop a homogeneous identity in a country like Namibia. Namibia has very distinct tribes, and their cultures and languages are diverse. Can all identities be compressed into a single mould through conquest, as in the past, and modernity?
The known unknown
For most of us, Namibia is an unheard-of tourist destination. A close friend made sure that I did not mean I was going to Nairobi when I mentioned we were travelling to Namibia. Being an unknown destination has advantages. I genuinely feel ambivalent about the increase in the number of tourists in Namibia. It is one of the final frontiers of wilderness on our planet, much like Ladakh was many decades ago. The magic here lies in the desolate landscapes, the stark emptiness and the wondrous night sky that can only be experienced in places untouched by excessive light. Will the magic persist if more people descend on it?
Indian tourists require a visa to travel to Namibia. The capital city, Windhoek, is where all international flights land. The most practical mode of travel for tourists is a four-wheel-drive vehicle. In many parts of Namibia, there is no network, and Google Maps does not work. Therefore, self-driving for those unfamiliar with the terrain is not advisable.
The main tourist season is from July to October. It is best to avoid the four weeks from the end of June because this coincides with South African school holidays and prices are higher. The rainy season (November to April) is best avoided because road conditions deteriorate and animal sightings become rarer, as animals do not need to travel far to seek water. We travelled in October, and it was excellent. The crowds had left, and it was still dry and comfortably cold.
Okonjima Nature Reserve
We flew Ethiopian Airlines and landed at Hosea Kutako International Airport, Windhoek, on a sunny day and drove 250km to Okonjima Nature Reserve. It is located roughly midway between Windhoek and Etosha, the main safari destination in Namibia. The landscape of Okonjima is described as bushveld, an Afrikaans word implying a savannah landscape made up of scattered small trees and thorny shrubs set amid tall grasses.
The reserve is home to the AfriCat Foundation, which funds long-term research on leopards, brown hyenas and other endangered species while slowly restoring an ex-cattle farm to its original wild character. The fun lies in night game drives and tracking pangolin and leopard during morning safaris. We were lucky to see two adult leopards together, which is unusual as they are solitary animals. It so happened that the leopards we saw were a male and a female who were mating. The Okonjima Plains Camp, where we stayed, and the surrounding grounds were beautiful — elegant without being ostentatious — and set around a waterhole where animals came to drink.
Etosha National Park
Our next stop was Etosha National Park, about 250km away across mostly gravel roads. Etosha National Park is Namibia’s flagship reserve. The name Etosha comes from the Oshindonga word meaning “the great white place”. It is a reference to the vast salt pan that dominates the park. Oshindonga is the most widely spoken language in Namibia. Etosha National Park covers approximately 22,270sq km. It is much larger than the Serengeti National Park (approximately 14,750sq km) and the Masai Mara (approximately 1,510sq km). About a quarter of the area is occupied by the vast Etosha Salt Pan, which defines the park’s unique ecology and visual character.
Lioness on the hunt in Etosha National Park. Picture: J.R. Ram
The Etosha Pan is immense — about 130km long and up to 50km wide — comfortably the largest salt pan in Africa. Once a great inland lake, it was gradually abandoned by the rivers that fed it as climatic shifts redirected them towards the Atlantic. Today, the pan is a shimmering expanse of white. It lies completely bare and luminous in sunshine, and golden hues drench it during sunset. My most memorable shot was that of a solitary cheetah sitting on the edge of the salt pan during sunset. I experienced awe.
Etosha is very different from the lush savannahs of the Masai Mara, Serengeti or Kruger. Safaris here unfold against an otherworldly backdrop. It is much drier, with sparse vegetation. We were extraordinarily fortunate with game viewing. We saw lions stalking wildebeest across the vast, open, desert-like landscape; cheetahs; black rhinos; and hyenas, including a pack with cubs playing in water and hunting together. What makes Etosha stand out compared to other more commonly visited national parks in Africa is not only its landscape but also its waterholes.
Etosha’s waterholes are its quiet theatre. Etosha is a very large park, and there are five government-run lodges within it. We stayed in two — Namutoni in the east and Okaukuejo in the west — each revealing a different facet of Etosha’s vastness. At Okaukuejo Resort, our chalet overlooked one such waterhole, allowing us to watch wildlife drift in at all hours. As night fell, rhinos squared off in silent dominance displays, elephants approached majestically, and hyenas attempted — often unsuccessfully — to sneak a drink. It was wondrous to experience such varied animal behaviour from so close. These lodges, while simple, have an unmatched advantage: permanent, illuminated waterholes that turn wildlife viewing into an unending vigil. There are excellent and more plush lodges outside the park gates, but they do not have waterholes within their properties.
Kaokoland: The raw edge of Namibia
The next part of our road trip from Etosha took us further north-west towards the Angolan border. The landscape felt progressively harsher and more elemental. It is in these parts that Namibia reveals itself in its rawest form. It reminded us why Namibia is sometimes called “a country which God forsook”.
Our plan was to reach one of the remotest parts of Namibia, known as Kaokoland. On our way, we realised it was a fallacy to calculate distance in kilometres. The roads are essentially dirt tracks over undulating terrain. The tracks merge into riverbeds, mobile phone signals and settlements disappear, and human presence feels accidental. We broke the journey at Opuwo Country Lodge, perched above the dusty frontier town of Opuwo, which serves as a gateway to Kaokoland.
The town offered a fleeting glimpse into the lives of the Himba and Herero people, the two semi-nomadic tribes of Namibia. The Himba are probably the most photographed tribe in the country. They are easily distinguishable by their appearance and dress. Himba women are known for coating their skin and hair with otjize, a mixture of butterfat and ochre that protects against the sun and insects. Their villages are small, temporary and closely tied to seasonal movement, reflecting a way of life adapted to scarcity. We wondered what makes them choose such a difficult and harsh way of life instead of a relatively more comfortable existence, which the government is trying to encourage.
Desert elephants and absolute isolation
Our destination in Kaokoland was Okahirongo Elephant Lodge. It is dramatically positioned on a ridge overlooking the endless wilderness of the Hoarusib River Valley. This is the domain of desert-adapted elephants and desert lions. Tracking them involved driving directly along dry riverbeds, tyres crunching over sand and stone, eyes scanning for footprints, broken branches or the faintest movement ahead.
We found the elephants but not the lions. Desert elephants tend to be taller, slimmer and longer-legged, an adaptation that allows them to travel long distances efficiently over gravel plains, sand and rocky terrain. Their feet are broader, helping them walk on soft sand and dry riverbeds. Their behaviour is shaped by the scarcity of food. What distinguishes this region from Africa’s more famous parks is its sense of profound isolation and silence. There were no other safari vehicles on the horizon. The contrast between travelling from Calcutta during Durga Puja to a land where there was hardly any sign of humanity was stark.
The Skeleton Coast
From Okahirongo Elephant Lodge, we went to a viewpoint in Kaokoland to see the Skeleton Coast from a distance. No words could have prepared us for the sight. We felt as though we had landed on another planet. There were layers upon layers of rust-coloured hills dissolving into a pale, infinite horizon across wilderness and desolation.
I personally feel that the magic of Namibia lies in its unparalleled landscapes, and this view of the Skeleton Coast perhaps tops the list. On our previous trip, we did not visit this part of Namibia as it is extremely remote, adds to travel time and increases costs. However, we felt it was truly worth it.
Seals, shipwrecks and the Namib Desert
From Kaokoland in the north-west, we travelled southward towards Damaraland and then further south-west along the famed Skeleton Coast and its famous seal colony. The Skeleton Coast derives its name from the remains of whales, seals and shipwrecks of vessels that once misjudged this unforgiving shoreline. Portuguese sailors called it “the gates of hell”.
We revisited the Cape Cross Seal Reserve. It is unfiltered nature. One can smell the colony long before seeing it. The foul odour of dead fish hunted by seals greets you. To witness tens of thousands of seals crowding the shoreline is a unique experience.
As we continued south, the palette of the landscape began to change. The sand slowly deepened in colour, taking on shades of red as we entered Namib-Naukluft National Park, home to the Namib Desert — the oldest desert in the world.
The Namib: Light, colour and eternity
The Namib, from which the young country takes its name, has existed for at least 55 million years. For millions of years, its towering dunes have advanced towards the Atlantic, shaped by wind, their edges dissolving into the cold, churning sea. One can hire modified four-wheel-drive vehicles for dune bashing. The sight of giant dunes bordering the coastline is worth the trip.
We travelled further south from Cape Cross for a one-night stay in the quaint town of Swakopmund before reaching Namib-Naukluft National Park. It is important to stay inside the park, though there are very few lodges within the gates. The advantage is that one can spend longer hours inside the park and experience sunrise and sunset with greater ease.
The wonder of the Namib Desert lies in its range of colour. That a single desert could appear red, pink, orange, brown and grey under different light conditions was something I had never imagined. Over two days, we experienced the Namib at different times of day. The geometric shapes of the dunes and the play of light and shadow upon them have a hypnotic effect. I had planned to return to Namibia primarily to experience the Namib again, and it did not disappoint.
There are many specific attractions in the region, including the country’s most photographed scene at Deadvlei — a stark white clay pan with 900-year-old camelthorn trees set against orange dunes and a blue sky. But the beauty of the Namib does not lie in any single site. It lies in its immensity, silence and ethereal play of light and shadow, with Atlantic fog rolling inland during sunrise and sunset, creating a technicolour painting across the dunes.
While travelling in Namibia, we felt that many resorts and lodges do not serve local cuisine, which is a pity. We would have loved to sample local food, as is possible in many other African countries. One of our most memorable local African meal was the Shanty Town experience in Zimbabwe.
Our travel agent, Blue Crane Safaris, and our guide Marcus made our 3,800km road trip an experience to remember for a lifetime. As our journey came to an end, I kept returning to that original idea of awe. In a world increasingly shaped by constant stimulation, crowds and noise, Namibia offers something radically different. It strips life down to its bare essentials: Space, light, silence and raw nature.
There are many places on our planet that inspire wonder. Fewer still induce awe. Namibia recalibrated our sense of scale. It reminded us how small we are and how vast the world remains. For those seeking not just travel but perspective, Namibia belongs firmly at the very top of the bucket list.
Dr Jai Ranjan Ram is a senior consultant psychiatrist and co-founder of Mental Health Foundation (www.mhfkolkata.com). Find him on Facebook @Jai R Ram and on Instagram@ jai_psychiatrist