The bright stars.

That was what amazed me the first time I landed in Namibia. The large stars and the smell of barbecue. 

As Windhoek is 1728 meters above sea level, the stars seems larger than in Norway, where I live.

The sky appears darker and the stars clearer, as the light pollution is less. The Namib Rand Nature reserve is one of the few Dark sky reserves in Africa, recognised by the International Dark Sky association.

The feature photo is taken by Matthew Hodgson and picked from https://darksky.org/places/namibrand-dark-sky-reserve/

The dark sky

Below you’ll see two photos of the night sky in Namibia and Norway, as a comparison. The photos are taken from: https://djlorenz.github.io/astronomy/lp2022/

Several actors is offering «star gazing tours» in Namibia. Another, more affordable solution, is to go camping in one of the less light-polluted places. Then you’ll have an unobstructed view of the stars and the clear sky. 

Camping

I’ve camped four places in Namibia, at the NWR camp in Sesriem, at Spitzkoppe, at Blutkuppe and accidentally, in the car close to Sossusvlei, when dark came upon us before reaching our camp. All were amazing experiences. Stargazing and barbecuing at night and waking up with the view of the soft morning sun over the red dunes or at the Spitzkoppe mountains is wonderful. The smell of a morning fire with coffee, or an evening barbecue with game meat or Boereworst, whilst watching the stars, is great. 

The time we had to stop the car near Sossusvlei, we woke up looking at a hot-air balloon rising above the mountain ridge and landing in the field right in front of us. We had not been too far from our destination, but could not see the road in the dark. Luckily we had stopped just in time, as just ahead of us a river had crossed the road and destroyed it. If we had driven there in the dark, it might have ended terribly. Sleeping in the car seat was not comfortable, but we made it. And the morning view, along with some food and drinks in the cooler box and some musical tones from my husbands mandolin, in «the middle of nowhere» while the sun was rising, is something I’ll never forget

Equipment

When camping, I prefer a small tent to protect me from eventual snakes, but my local friends just put their sleeping bag out in the soft sand or on top of a tarpaulin, where they have raised the corners and edges with some sticks to prevent snakes from reaching them. Even though Namibia do have dangerous snakes, i did not see any in wild nature the two years I was there, but it is best to be cautious.

If you do not want to rent a full package of camping equipment from the car company, you can get most equipment you need in he Cymot shop in Windhoek centre. There you’ll find tents, sleeping bag, gas burners, chairs and 12V freezers to make your camping trip comfortable. They also sell jerrycans, which can be useful, as you may run out of petrol, when driving in less remote areas of Namibia. It is wise to have some in spare. As it seldom rains, I prefer a tent with removable top layer, so that its only a thin moskito net between myself and the stars.

Some of the camping spots, like the NWR, have facilities like a pool and abolition facilities, while some just serve your basic needs.

Sitting outside in Namibia, under the starry night is anyway a great experience.