Kaokoveld

The Kaokoveld is the far north-west of Namibia, the Kunene Region between the Skeleton Coast and the Kunene River, a mountain desert with no fences, where the desert-adapted elephant, black rhino and lion move through the dry riverbeds of the Hoanib and Hoarusib. It is Himba country, and the communal conservancies that cover it are one of the great community conservation stories on the continent. It is 4x4 and fly-in territory, with a scatter of remote camps, Epupa Falls on the Kunene, and the Marienfluss valley at the top. Winter is the season; the heat and the roads make summer hard.