There are many superlatives one could use for this place but overall its sheer drama from whatever angle impressed the most.

Situated somewhere between Omaruru and Swakopmund approximately 500km south of Etosha, Spitzkoppe is a range of granite rocks in the Namib desert which jut out from the flat landscape as if they are the “last man standing”. They are part of a national park where climbing, hiking and camping facilities are run by a local community organisation. The camping is pretty basic – no running water (BYO shower) and drop toilets (which were actually not too bad!). Nicky handled it exceptionally well……

The scenery however is quite spectacular and the evening and morning light on the massive rocks was magical. We camped at the base of a huge outcrop, totally dwarfed by its sheer size and felt we were the only people there – our nearest neighbour was almost a kilometre way. You neither saw nor heard them, the faint glow of a campfire the only telltale sign someone else was experiencing the magic of Spitzkoppe. The night sky was so bright with stars, you could almost read a book.

It was only after we got chatting with Engelhart, a poor roadside trader in semi precious stones, did we come to realise how inhospitable this area of Namibia really is. Although only a couple of hundred km from any major town, Spitzkoppe is in a very arid and harsh part of the Namib. Such is the shortage of water, there are times Engelhart’s wife walks 12 km to fetch it. He works in the nearby mountains searching for semi precious stones (which Namibia is famous for) to sell at his simple roadside stall. Englehart appeared educated. He spoke excellent English and clutched a worn and dog-eared reference book on precious stones to explain what he is selling. Nicky bought a necklace and more camelthorn for the evening’s campfire and we used some of our camper’s water tank to save the 12km trek to get water.

We spent two days at Spitzkoppe in over 35 degrees trying to keep cool. The early morning and late afternoons were the coolest parts of the day and also provided the most amazing light for photography. It was one of our favourite stops on our travels through Namibia. Here is a collection of images from this unique part of the world.

The next destination was to be probably the most spectacular of all, but Namibia had this habit of springing new and more awe inspiring places on our foursome. We started to head towards the Atlantic Ocean in the west, to Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and the amazing Sesreim area……to follow.