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My day trip experience seeing the Welwitschia Mirabilis plants outside of Swakopmund, Namibia

welwitschia plant outside of swakopmund namibia1

Contents

  • I’m not so into extreme sports…
  • Getting to Dorob National Park and the Welwitschia plants outside of Swakopmund
  • What I did to see the Welwitschia Mirabilis plants
  • Some other perks
  • I hope you go visit the Welwitschia plants outside of Swakopmund!

I’m not so into extreme sports…

Instead of skydiving or doing a quad bike tour in the sand dunes outside of Swakopmund, I opted for the very low key option of looking at plants.

See Also: Visiting Swakopmund and Walvis Bay

But these aren’t just any plants! These are the Welwitschia Mirabilis plants! They haven’t changed so much since the Jurassic period and live off of fog and dew…sometimes for up to 1,500 years.

So I figured seeing the Welwitschia plants outside of Swakopmund would make for a fun expedition. The plants are in the gorgeous, lunar landscape in Dorob National Park as well.

lunar landscape namibia1
The Lunar Landscape just outside of Swakopmund

 

Getting to Dorob National Park and the Welwitschia plants outside of Swakopmund

The Welwitschia plants are about 50km outside of Swakopmund. Go early in the morning to avoid the heat and scorching sun!

You can easily drive yourself to the park to see the Welwitschia plants outside of Swakopmund if you have access to a car. After a certain point there aren’t paved roads anymore. You would definitely need an all wheel drive car!

dorob national park outside of Swakopmund

I met people who visited the area on motorcycles, too.

I was a broke backpacker in Namibia so I had to take a tour. I wasn’t about to go off roading alone in the middle of a desert. Maybe next time.

What I did to see the Welwitschia Mirabilis plants

I went on a tour with Charly’s Desert Tours.

You can read all about the specifics of the tour or even book one yourself here.

dorob national park namibia1
It was so fun to explore the desert!

My tour to see the Welwitschia plants outside of Swakopmund cost 650 Namibian dollars, which was a little high for me.  Oh well…there wasn’t much else I could do!

Check out my Namibia travel page for other posts about Namibia!

welwitschia plants in namibia"

The price is comparable to the price of a local quad bike tour of the dunes so I felt like it was worth it.

dorob national park namibia lunar landscape
The lunar landscape
the lunar landscape of dorob national park
DORK ALERT

Some other perks

I did enjoy the afternoon and it was special to talk to our guide who taught me about the Nama language that is awesome and has several types of clicks in it.

He also just did an overall great job teaching about the desert landscape and animals.

welwitschia plants outside of swakopmund3
It’s gonna eat me!!

We saw the marks of a snake and he wanted to track it for us but hell no none of that for me…I did this tour because I don’t like adrenaline-inducing activities!

You also visit a hill of special rocks that have lots of iron ore in them (if I remember correctly). When you hit the rocks they ring like musical instruments! That was fun.

dorob national park namibia2
Can you see the veins of ore?

I hope you go visit the Welwitschia plants outside of Swakopmund!

It is a fun way to learn about the Namib desert and experience the local wildlife. The plants look like they are from a monster movie. It’s amazing to see how they can survive for so long in such a harsh environment.

Also, don’t forget a little extra money to tip the guide. I think it’s customary to do that there!

 

 

Related posts:

  1. Independent Travel in Southern Africa : You can do it! Here’s my trip overview:
  2. Is Backpacking in Africa Expensive? Here’s my Africa travel budget!
  3. My Money Changing Nightmare in Southern Africa
  4. My Detailed Guide to Traveling to Sossusvlei Independently and on a Budget
Previous Article Traveling to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay in Namibia
Next Article My Detailed Guide to Traveling to Sossusvlei Independently and on a Budget

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Hello and thanks for visiting! I’m Babeesh, a Michigander who loves solo and adventure travel. I spent several years living abroad in France and Norway and now I'm back in freezing cold Michigan. I’m obsessed with eating raclettes and I have had the honor of visiting over 100 countries. Want to learn more? Check out my about me page!

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