Namib Desert, Africa
The Namib Desert is a Southern African coastal desert. The word Namib is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "huge place". The Namib spans for more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) along the Atlantic coastlines of Angola, Namibia, and South Africa, spreading southward from the Carunjamba River in Angola, through Namibia, and to the Olifants River in Western Cape, South Africa.
The Namib Desert is a wonderful area to take your children since it is harsh, diversified, desolate, and gorgeous. It's just you and the planet in such a distant place. And there's enough to discover in these 1,200 miles of desert along Africa's South Atlantic coast, not just because of the vastness of the environment, but also because the dunes seldom show the same face twice. Wind, like waves on a beach, modifies the dunes' borders and erases tracks—the changing power is enough to cause whole dunes to move dozens of feet each year. A family competition to see who can jump the furthest down a dune face may be a thrilling event, but the traces of which are washed away the next day.
Except for a few tiny villages and indigenous pastoral communities such as the Ovahimba and Obatjimba Herero in the north and the Topnaar Nama in the center, the Namib is almost entirely unoccupied by people. Because of its age, the Namib may have more endemic species than any other desert on the planet. Arthropods and other tiny animals that live on little water make up the majority of desert species, however bigger animals thrive in the northern parts. The chilly ocean water along the coast sustains colonies of brown fur seals and shorebirds, which provide as prey for the Skeleton Coast's lions.
Further north, the Namib-Naukluft National Park, Africa's biggest wildlife reserve, is home to African bush elephants, mountain zebras, and other large species. Although the outer Namib is mostly devoid of flora, lichens and succulents may be found along the shore, and grasses, shrubs, and ephemeral plants flourish along the escarpment. Several tree species may also tolerate the severely dry conditions.
