Like Etosha, Sossusvlei is a must-do for every visitor to Namibia. Lying down south in the Namib-Naukluft National Park, Sossusvlei is where the Tsauchab River came to an end. The prehistoric marsh (or vlei) dried up, leaving only a snow-white clay pan studded with ember-black camelthorn tree stumps and surrounded by oxidized red star dunes. A walk through Sossusvlei makes you realise just how different the world once was: this was a thriving green area. Nearby is Deadvlei, smaller but no less visually arresting. Energetic visitors should scale Dune 45 (140m), Big Daddy (325m) or Dune 7 (383m and the highest in the country).

Don’t be alarmed that the gates to Skeleton Coast National Park are emblazoned with huge skulls and crossbones: this stretch of the Atlantic is world-famous for over a thousand shipwrecks caught in the crosshairs of strong currents, deep fogs and cold water. But the land presents a quirky environment for patient safari goers. Underwater rivers suddenly become deltas that support birdlife, lions and the most sought-after of all: the secretive brown hyena. Enormous colonies of Cape fur seals breed in November. In addition, there are plenty of outstanding geological features like clay outcrops, deep river gorges, basalt cliffs and beaches coloured pink by powdered garnet.