(Wilderness Area) Namib desert (“vast place”)

The Namib is a coastal desert in southern Africa. Its southern portion approaches the neighboring Kalahari Desert. Having endured arid or semi-arid conditions for roughly 55–80 million years, the Namib may be the oldest desert in the world and contains some of the world’s driest regions.

The desert geology consists of sand seas near the coast, while gravel plains and scattered mountain outcrops occur further inland. The days are hot and dry while nights are freezing. A fog belt that envelops the desert, which has proved a major hazard to ships—more than a thousand wrecks littering the Skeleton Coast.

The Namib is almost completely uninhabited by humans except for several small settlements of indigenous groups.