Namibia is about 2.5 times the size of Germany, but with 2.4 million inhabitants one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Accordingly, the distance between two towns can be several hundred kilometers by car. Sounds boring at first, but since the landscape changes almost constantly and animals appear again and again – mainly giraffes, antelopes and bouquets – the drive is really fun. On the way to the coast we drive through the Namib-Naukluft National Park and cross Guiseb Canyon.
The towns themselves have much less to offer there, the bay in Walvis Bay, which is known for flamingos, has a huge, ugly container port in the background, which unfortunately destroys the mood a bit. Therefore we continue directly to Swakopmund, which has a little more to offer. In this place known for action sports, there is again a lot of German architecture in Art Nouveau style, a few nice cafes, restaurants and bakeries and a nice – but somewhat out of place – about 100m long pier on the otherwise beautiful beach promenade. We puff through once, stroll through town and even find a vegan pizzeria – which stupidly ran out of homemade vegan cheese… 
Before we leave Swakopmund finally behind us, we drive again into the Namib-Naukluft National Park along the so-called “Welwitschia Drive”. In addition to the still fascinating desert landscape, this is mainly about the Welwitschia plant that gives it its name. It manages to produce evergreen leaves despite the extreme drought, which fascinates researchers to this day, and incidentally it lives to be several hundred years old. The largest and oldest specimen we find at the end of the path, which is estimated at an incredible 1500 years of life.
After we have replenished our supplies, we continue to Spitzkoppe, the Matterhorn of southern Africa…