Embark on a Namibia Photo Tour in 2025

If you’re looking for a few unusual items to tick off your photography bucket list next year, you’ll be hard-pressed to beat our Namibia photo tour. In this incredibly photogenic region of southern Africa, you’ll find the world’s biggest graveyard for seafaring souls, the oldest desert known to man and the largest sand dunes on the planet. And that’s before we get started on the world class wildlife!

No one knows exactly how many ships have come to grief along Namibia’s aptly named Skeleton Coast, but with an estimated 1000 wrecks littering the area, it comes as no surprise that Portuguese explorers coined these troubled waters, ‘The Gates Of Hell’. The great expanses of the Namib Desert have been dry for at least 55 million years, and possibly as many as 80 million. It may not be the world’s largest desert, but it is almost certainly the oldest. And with great age, comes a rich canvas for your lens. Out of this enormous sandbox, rise massive dunes like fiery mountains, the rusty-red coloration a result of iron oxide in the sand. #7 dune in the northern Namib Desert reaches 383m high providing a unique perspective for the avid shutter-bug. The dunes of Swakopmund on the coast are equally impressive.

The cream on the photography cake though, is Etosha National Park, one of Africa’s largest game reserves. With over 100 different mammal species, a similar number of reptiles and more than 340 species of bird, the conservation area provides an abundance of wildlife that is relatively easy to find.

Conversely, Namibia has one of the lowest population densities in the world, making people much harder to come by. For the keen photographer, the relatively quiet surroundings are a blessing in disguise.

Credits: Emil von Maltitz

Big Cats and Burning Mountains

The diversity of landscapes and wildlife that a photography tour of Namibia offers, is nothing short of stunning. Etosha National Park teems with the best of Africa’s wildlife. Expect to encounter large herds of elephants, big cats, giraffes, kudu, zebra and ostrich. And if you’re lucky you may even sight the elusive cheetah.

Along the Kunene River, where the impressive Epupa and Ruacana Falls cascade, large populations of hippo and crocodile play. Ruacana is Namibia’s largest waterfall with a height of 120m and width of 700m. Quite a sight in full flow.

On a clear day you can see for miles from the heights of Namibia’s tallest peak, the Brandberg Mountain, reaching 2573 meters above sea level. The Damara call this Daures, or Burning Mountain, so named for its glowing color, while the Herero call it Omukuruvaro, which translates to ‘mountain of the Gods’.

Set against the changing colors of the sky, the silhouette of the mountain’s peaks and valleys present a golden opportunity to create next-level images. Striking rock formations, endemic species of desert-adapted flora and fauna, clear starry nights, and ancient rock art, provide every angle you can think of. And some you can’t even imagine.

Credits: Emil von Maltitz

The Land That God Made in Anger

Heading west to the fog-riddled Skeleton Coast, you may even hear ghosts of the Atlantic, whispering tales of intrepid adventure that didn’t end well. While the Portuguese had their own hellish take on it, the San bushmen called this unforgiving coastline, the ‘Land that God made in anger’. The many shipwrecks that puncture the sand like a graveyard of bones, not only provide a unique photographic canvas, but also teach a thing or two about the history of exploration through the ages.

Most famously, the Eduard Bohlen ran aground on the Skeleton Coast, of what was then German South Africa, (now Namibia), on 5 September 1909. Like many before and after, the cargo ship was a hapless victim of the thick fog that rises from the Benguela current. The wreck now lies partially buried in sand several hundred meters from the shoreline, such is the power of the constantly shifting dunes.

It’s a photographic mecca, but just one of many highlights on our Namibia photo safari, that will leave you spoilt for choice. In a world of stark contrast, it may be difficult to decide what stood out most for you.

So How Does it Work, Who Will Teach You and What Will You Learn?

If you join our Namibia photo safari in 2025, you will travel in a very small group of no more than 6 photographers, with expertise provided by no less than two experienced workshop leaders.
South African Emil van Maltritz is an internationally recognised landscape photographer who specializes in photo editing and post-production skills. Just the right man to help you transform your really good shots into stunning works of art.

Fellow tour leader Nick van de Wiel, hails from the Netherlands and brings extensive experience as a photographic safari guide to our trip. As a winner of the prestigious Nature’s Best Photography Africa award, Nick excels as both a landscape photographer and accomplished teacher.

You can expect to learn about both the creative and technical aspects of photography. Depending on the interests of the group, workshops can cover creative composition, the skill behind panoramic images and astrophotography, time-lapse techniques, painting with light, or post-production and editing.

Explore What Makes Our Photo Tours Truly Unique

Credits: Emil von Maltitz

The Final Word

We’ll leave the final word to one of our recent Penda travelers who raved about his Namibia photo tour.

“I had been to Namibia once before in 2004 and wanted to return again because the country offered such a wonderful blend of wildlife and landscape. Namibia has the best of everything as far as I’m concerned. It offers great viewing of landscape, seascape and wildlife. The balance is perfect, the people are wonderful and the country feels very safe.The highlight of the trip for me was traveling across such a diverse landscape and the variety of places we stayed in, from luxury game lodges to tented camps.”

So what are you waiting for? Find out more about our Namibia photo tour in 2025.