A river that never reaches the sea instead spills across the Kalahari, braiding into a maze of channels, lily lagoons and palm islands thick with wildlife.

Elephants by the hundreds come to drink where the river meets the Kalahari sands. Cruise at sunset and the herd will stroll straight past your boat.

Dunes the colour of embers rise hundreds of metres. At sunrise the sand blazes red, and the dead trees of Deadvlei stand like a painting.

A seaside town where desert and Atlantic collide. Wide dunes, foggy mornings and an old-world German feel make it a quirky pause on the Skeleton Coast.

The home of the walking safari and a leopard-rich valley. A river loops through the park, and its lagoons draw crowds of hippos and elephants.

Canoe a wide river with elephants wading beside you, then sip a sundowner as hippos huff in the shallows. A quiet, wild stretch of the great Zambezi.

Mokoro glide

Pole silently through reeds in a dugout canoe at eye level with the water.

Island walking safari

Follow your guide on foot across palm islands, tracking elephant and buffalo.

Scenic flight

Look down on the delta's pattern of channels and herds from a small plane.