Namib-Naukluft National Park

Namib-Naukluft National Park, in Namibia, protects part of the Namib Desert together with the Naukluft mountain range and a stretch of coastal lagoons, running roughly 600 kilometers north to south along the country's Atlantic coast. Covering about 49,768 square kilometers, it traces its origin to a 1907 German colonial game reserve and reached its present boundaries through expansions in 1979 and 1986. Its best known feature is Sossusvlei, a clay pan ringed by some of the tallest sand dunes on Earth, rising more than 300 meters and colored a burnt orange by iron oxidation that intensifies with dune age, alongside Sesriem canyon, carved by the Tsauchab River, and the coastal lagoon at Sandwich Harbour. Despite its hyper-arid climate the park supports a surprising range of wildlife adapted to extreme conditions, including gemsbok, springbok, leopards, hyenas and caracals, and it hosts the Gobabeb desert research station.