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The Namib Desert, Namibia
The oldest desert on earth. One of the most inhospitable places imaginable.
- At 55 million years old, the Namib Desert is the oldest desert on Earth.
- Homo sapiens have only been on Earth for 200,000 years and the Sahara is only 6000 years old.
- With just 8mm of rain a year, Pelican Point, on our route, is one of the driest places on earth. The UK had an average of 1086mm in 2013.
- Namibia itself is over three times the size of the UK, yet has a population 30 times smaller than ours – just two million.
- 91Èȱ¬ to some of the tallest sand dunes on Earth at over 1,000 feet high and 20 miles long.
- Despite its dryness, some areas of the desert experience up to 120 days of fog every year.
- Incredibly the desert is home to almost 3,500 species of plant, some believed to be over 1000 yrs old.
- Namibia is home to the Himba people. As few as 20,000 of them live on the edge of human existence.
- Namibia is one of the youngest Commonwealth nations - joining in 1990.
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Anita Rani climbs one of the world’s largest sand dunes
At 55 million years old, the Namib desert is the oldest in the world.
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The sun setting over Namibia's treacherous Skeleton Coast
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Anita Rani in the Namib Desert
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A mother and baby of the Himba people