Our Family Adventure Begins: Namibia 2026 Central and Southern Highlights Trip

Blogger planning trip,
Olive Grove Guesthouse,
Windhoek, namibia 2026

If there is one country that keeps drawing us back, it is undoubtedly Namibia. By now, we have visited often enough to call it our favourite destination in Africa.

On our previous journey, we travelled with close friends on a quite extreeme expedition (Namibia 2024). This time, however, we have persuaded my brother and sister-in-law to join us for their very first visit to this remarkable country. Sharing highlights from a place that has given us so many unforgettable memories is perhaps even more rewarding than discovering somewhere new ourselves.

As always, I have thoroughly enjoyed planning every aspect of the trip. After many self-drive adventures across Southern Africa, researching routes, comparing lodges and piecing together the perfect itinerary has become part of the experience itself.

Highlights ininerary

For this journey, we have chosen to focus on the highlights of central and southern Namibia, revisiting several of our favourite places while allowing enough time to truly enjoy them. Instead of rushing from one attraction to the next, we have planned two or three nights at almost every destination—a style of travelling we have come to appreciate after our earlier visits.

Our route combines dramatic desert landscapes, towering red dunes, one of the world's largest canyons, spectacular mountain passes, the Skeleton Coast and the extraordinary granite formations of the Erongo Mountains, home to hundreds of ancient San rock art sites, fascinating wildlife and wonderful hiking trails.

Unlike many first-time visitors, we have decided to skip Etosha National Park and northern Namibia altogether. Those regions certainly deserve a journey of their own, but for this trip we prefer slower travel, spending quality time in each destination rather than covering as many kilometres as possible.

This is the itinerary for the first three weeks of what promises to be another unforgettable Namibian adventure.

On the way to Sandwich Harbour
Namibia 2025

The itinerary includes:

• Windhoek
• The Kalahari Desert
• Fish River Canyon
• Tsau Khaeb National Park and Lüderitz
• NamibRand Nature Reserve
• Sossusvlei region
• Swakopmund and Sandwich Harbour
• The Erongo Mountains
• Okonjima Nature Reserve

In the following five posts, I will descripe the 2026 itinerary in more detals

1. Windhoek and the Kalahari Desert (Part 1)
2. Fish River Canyon and Tsau Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park (Part 2)
3. NamibRand Nature Reserve, One of the Most Beautiful Places on Earth (Part 3)
4. Across the Desert to the Atlantic Coast (Part 4)
5. Erongo Mountains and Okonjima Nature Reserve (Part 5)