Namibia

Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries on Earth, and it looks like it. The Namib Desert, which gave the country its name, is the oldest desert in the world - it has been arid for at least 55 million years. The sand dunes at Sossusvlei rise over 300 meters, their red and orange flanks among the tallest on the planet. The Skeleton Coast is a fog-shrouded graveyard of shipwrecks where the Namib meets the Atlantic in waves of cold Benguela current. Etosha National Park is a vast salt pan surrounded by waterholes where elephants, lions, rhinos, and giraffes gather in surreal concentrations. The night skies, unmarred by light pollution, are among the finest on Earth.

The country that emerged from South African occupation in 1990 (making it one of the youngest nations in Africa) has built a reputation for stability, conservation, and doing more with less. Namibia was the first African country to incorporate environmental protection into its constitution, and its community conservancy program has become a global model. Desert-adapted elephants wander the dry riverbeds of Damaraland. The world's largest population of free-roaming cheetahs hunts on the central plateau. And Windhoek, the small, tidy capital, retains traces of its German colonial past in its architecture, beer, and bakeries.