Namibia

Deep red hues of the dunes of the Namib Desert lit by the day's first rays, tectonic traumas and boulder strewn Damaraland contrast with the pastel shades of bare sandy vistas broken by distant mountains. The dryest of riverbeds flow only once a year. Namibia is a paradise for photographers and very different to much of the region.

The unforgiving Skeleton Coast rewards the visitor with the debris of past shipwrecks, its picturesque shifting dunes and the suprise as paths cross its sparsely distributed wildlife.

To the south, the mighty Fish River Canyon is carved deeply into the sandy landscape, otherwise broken only by the occasional rocky outcrop and a scattering of Quiver Trees.

Wildlife is not forgotten with excellent safari experiences to be found around Etosha and along the Caprivi Strip. The latter is something of a colonial anomaly running across the north of Botswana towards Victoria Falls.