Some highlights

• Sossusvlei’s big red dunes

• Dead vleis dead trees

• Photo safari in Dorob National Park where we look for the small animals of the desert such as the Namib Dune Gecko, Shovel-Snouted Lizard, sidewinder and Namaqua chameleon

• 4WD safari across the desert sand dunes to Sandwich Harbour. During this afternoon and evening, will we have nice landscape photo opportunities both on the dunes, “from above” and when the sea meets the desert

• Flamingos, pelicans and other birds in Walvis bay

• Amazing starry skies

• Cape Cross – fur seal colony

• Welwitschia Mirabilis – one of the world’s oldest plant species

• We are looking for desert elephants

• Fantastic rock paintings

• Spitzkoppe – Africas Matterhorn. High mountain peak and dramatic rock formations

• ONLY 6 participants on the trip but two photographic guides

• We are only 3 participants in each car. We travel in spacious four-wheel drive Toyota Hiace “Bakkies”

NAMIBIA…
…a place you thought couldn’t exist. Namibia, like no other, combines the spectacular with the endless and surreal. Vast, ancient and extremely sparsely populated, but here there is an incredible variety and combination of different environments and landscapes. Join us on a photographic adventure to this exciting country. Our trip will offer a wide range of spectacular photo opportunities, from landscape photography to animal photography (both large and small). The cities in Namibia are still characterized by German architecture and you can find wonderfully good apfel strudel in the city’s cafes.

Sossusvlei in the Namib-Naukluft National Park is our first stop on the trip. Some of the world’s highest sand dunes await us here. Beautifully ochre-coloured, they are wonderful subjects to photograph in the morning and evening light. The most famous dunes are Big Daddy, Big Mama and Dune 45. In Sossulvlei we also find Dead Vlei, the area was once an oasis with acacia trees but then the river changed its direction and the area dried out and the trees died. Today the trees stand as black relics. Sossusvlei offers fantastic landscape photography and in addition to the famous motifs, we will take you to lesser known places. To be able to be out and photograph in the early morning light and late evening light, we stay at one of the two lodges located inside the park. Hopefully the nights will also give us great opportunities for star photography.

From Sossusvlei we make our way through the Namib Desert west towards the coast, more precisely to Swakopmund. With the city as a starting point, we will explore both the surrounding desert but also the coast. We will go out into the Dorob National Park and look for the small animals of the desert. With a little luck, we will have the opportunity to photograph both small geckos, chameleons, snakes and some of the other exciting animals that live in the desert. The sand in Dorob differs in color from the one we experienced in Sossusvlei, here the desert is yellow. During our days here, we will have the opportunity to photograph both sand dunes and other exciting desert environments, e.g. we do an afternoon/evening “excursion” to Sandwich Harbour. We take a four-wheel drive vehicle over the desert sand dunes and there will be many photo opportunities both on the desert from “above” when we cross the dunes but also where the sea meets the desert. In Sandwich Harbor there is also a bird-rich wetland. We will also see one of the world’s oldest plant species, Welwitschia Mirabilis, some of the plants here are estimated to be more than 1500 years old. The coast south of Swakopmund is a fine birding area. We will make our way to Walvis Bay and spend time with flamingos and loads of other birds. Our days here will also give us opportunities to photograph some coastal and beach scenery.

We leave Swakopmund and head further north towards Cape Cross and the large fur seal colony found there. Here we are also invited to many meetings with birds. From Cape Cross we make our way into Damaraland and to Brandberg. Here the desert landscape changes to more mountainous and rocky, the landscape is dramatic. Here we hope that we have luck on our side, partly because the nights are clear so we can enjoy and photograph the fantastic starry sky seen here, partly because this is where we have the chance to see the desert-dwelling elephants. The desert elephants are not a separate species, but over the centuries they have adapted their way of life to the desert and the scarce resources found here. The elephants migrate from area to area depending on the season and rain. Here are also some of Namibia’s absolutely finest rock paintings, which we should of course see.

Our final destination on the trip is Spitzkoppe and the dramatic mountain scenery there. Here, wind and water have shaped fantastic formations in the mountains. Perhaps the most famous is the large stone arch, Spitzkoppe arch, which rises magnificently in the landscape. Here, with a special permit, we will also be allowed to enter the park earlier than the reserve’s normal opening hours to be able to photograph the sunrise.

Namibia is a large country, and sometimes there are long distances between the places we want to photograph, we travel in four-wheel drive Toyota cars with substantial cargo spaces.

During the trip, we will have different photographic workshops where we will, among other things, go through different techniques to prepare for different types of photography that will come during the trip. We also look at image composition and each other’s images, all to develop your particular photography.