NAMIBIA: COLOURS OF THE DESERT

The degradation of carbonate scree and local lime creates theses fantastic colours in the Namib Desert.

The Sossusvlei sand dunes have a sandstone base that is due to the underlying pre-Cambrian mountain range. So unlike wandering dunes, these dunes may change shape, but their position stays the same.

Even though the Namib desert is a harsh landscape, some of the trees in the Namib desert have managed to survive for more than 500 years.

As you approach Sossusvlei, the rocky landscape of the Naukluft Mountains yields to the yellows and rusty reds of the sandy sea in the Namib-Rand Nature Reserve. While the desert is vast, people are only given access to a few dunes in the national park.

An oasis at Conception Bay near the Atlantic coast. The area is famed for diamonds, humpback whales.

The Namib Desert – Art, Structures, Colours by Jurgen Wettke (teneues.com), Euro 59.90