If you love ancient history and rock art, then you will love the remote Damaraland region of Namibia so choose some of our best rates and deals in packages to wonderful accommodations in wild places packed with game viewing opportunities. If you love wildlife and rocky open spaces, then you will love Damaraland, a unique region close to Etosha National Park and the spectacular Skeleton Coast. Experience flat-topped mountain plateaus, winding river courses, acacia forests, and rolling savannah.
Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of what later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damaras. Today it’s part of the Kunene Region in the northwest of Namibia and is located between the Brandberg and the little village of Sesfontein. Damaraland is characterised by its rocky and rugged landscapes of rough, fascinating beauty.
Private concessions offer attractive safari accommodation and game viewing opportunities. Knowledgeable guides from surrounding local communities add quality to drives and walks. During the Namibian summer (November-March) it is very hot in Damaraland, with temperatures reaching 40°C. Numerous large dry river beds meander, which after heavy rainfall turn into torrential rivers within hours.
Discover an enormous 550 000-ha protected area in northwest Namibia where a sublime and unearthly basalt landscape emerged from giant magma eruptions about 125 million years ago. Set off on a fascinating self-drive journey to explore this Palmwag Concession, especially the craggy basalt terrain of the Etendeka Plateau also famous for its aloes and euphorbias, so primitive and unreal.
The Petrified Forest is a national monument of petrified tree trunks dating back 280 million years ago – discovered by two farmers in the 1940s – and actually a build-up of gigantic, fossilised tree trunks that were washed down a river millions of years ago during the end of an Ice Age on the continent.
Plan a Namibia tour and safari with Voyage2Africa, the African travel experts, and enjoy signature experiences to premier wildlife destinations south of the equator. We bring you thrilling adventures in the infinite spaces of the Damaraland rock art and geology, and in the various parks and reserves. We offer you the best of the best safari accommodation in and around this rugged terrain, in lavish lodges, splendid family resorts, eco villas and rustic wild campsites in nature. Take a look at some beautiful desert-based camps here for starters.
Best known for its rock art at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Twyfelfontein, Damaraland is a treasure trove of some 5 000 carvings and paintings created about 6 000 to 10 000 years ago by Stone Age people. Later the Khoi-Khoi hunter-gatherers who lived in the area depicted animals such as giraffes and lions, seals and flamingos. It is amazing that these engravings were probably made with quartz tools as many quartz chips were found here. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site meaning “doubtful fountain“ or “Fountain of Doubt”.
Head over to Brandberg Nature Reserve to view numerous revealing San rock paintings. In this harsh, hot and dry landscape, you can photograph exquisite rock formations and find evidence of ancient volcanoes. You simply must see the Organ Pipes, the Petrified Forest with its 250 million-year-old fossilised logs, Doros Crater and Burnt Mountain. The Brandenberg Mountain rises 2500 m and is Namibia’s highest mountain – it got its name from the burnt oranges and reds, yellows and bronze colours radiating from the mountain at sunset, as if on fire.
Visit Damaraland if only to seek the rare creatures so at home here – desert-adapted elephants, Black rhinos, mountain zebras and even lions. Explore an open landscape devoid of people – still, as it was when the original human inhabitants deserted the area many moons ago. Meet inspiring landowners who have today jumped on board the conservation wagon.
The flora and fauna of the region have adapted perfectly to the harsh weather conditions of high heat and persisting droughts. The elephants have evolved lengthened limbs and broader soles to be able to cope better with the extreme rock and sand desert and walk for kilometres in the dry river beds in search of water. Many endemic desert plants are found in Damaraland such as the poisonous but fascinating Euphorbia Virosa and the ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis.
Take your family on a thrilling holiday to a rugged and dry desert wilderness – Damaraland is the ultimate remote place in Namibia and provides adventure for families and friends in the northern reaches of the country near Etosha!
Choose exquisite desert-style camps and lodges close to incredible sightings yet protected from the elements. Kids will feel in awe at this epic environment and want to run free in this vast magic place so take them on all the offered outings. Many of the Damaraland camps offer game drives, guided walks and tracking of the desert-adapted rhinos, elephants and lions that survive in these parts.
Get out to find the ancient, fossilised trees, the rock art and etchings, Brandenberg Mountain and other relics from a rich cultural and historic past. Most Damaraland camps and lodges feature swimming too and kind staff are keen to make a difference in your kids’ holiday experience. Treat your family to this once-in-a-lifetime experience in the Namibia wilds of awesome Damaraland – a time to be active and to be quiet, a time to chat and a time to listen. Nature beckons.
