Namib Naukluft Park

What can I say, how can I start a post on one of the most spectacular places I have ever been to in my life? The Namib Naukluft Park should be a compulsory trip to anyone who is a nature lover and appreciates the beautiful sceneries of this little planet we live in.

To recharge one's batteries some people enjoy outlet shopping (!), others amusement parks (!!), some others enjoy radical sports (!!!), the list is endless.. As for myself, I really appreciate being close to nature. Preferably in the company of my family and in beautiful and unspoilt locations.

Living in this part of the world makes me completely spoiled for choice as I have rarely seen so many amazing landscapes before moving to South Africa in 2006. Actually the love affair started in a visit to Cape Town in 2000. The overwhelming beauty of that city was a first sample of what would become routine once we moved down here for Patrick's job with BA.

But back to Naukluft.. the reserve is home to the world's most beautiful and best known sand dunes. There is no exageration when I say that they are really as majestic as people have described them in travel guides and online forums. However, the mountains and plains are as spectacular and considered by astronomers as one of the two best star gazing spots in the world - the second being the Atacama desert in Chile.

Again, the sense of isolation and absolute silence are mind-blowing. Absolutely divine to say the least.

Below some pictures of paradise.