Namibia - Event

The Namib-Naukluft Trail is a 120km circle through rugged, mountainous terrain. There are cliff faces to climb with the help of chains, gullies to scramble up and dry riverbeds to pick your way through.

With only baboons, zebra and antelope for company, if what you seek is wilderness, then the Namib-Naukluft is for you. Not for the faint-hearted or unfit, hikers must pack all their food and equipment and search for water supplies on the trail. At night visitors sleep in very basic shelters and keeping clean is best done by jumping into any pools that you might come across.

However, the rewards are immense: incredible mountaintop views, a complete escape from civilisation and a sense of becoming part of the landscape. Leopard tracks are often sighted on the paths and the half-eaten carcasses of zebra have been found.

Solitaire is the last outpost and gateway to these mountains. Booking a motel room in advance is advisable and a medical form to prove that you are up to the task is required. Hiking is confined to the winter because of extremely high summer temperatures, but this means it can get pretty nippy at night so be prepared.

For the less ambitious, the shorter 54km trail is an option, or check out the conditions on a day hike. If the idea seems like complete madness, then ignore the turning into the mountains and instead visit the biggest sand dunes in the world at Sossusvlei, a little further down the road.