Moon Valley and the Welwitschia Drive
Moon Valley and the Welwitschia Drive form a half day circuit inland of Swakopmund through the Namib section of Namib-Naukluft National Park, taking in an eroded valley of bare rounded hills and a plain holding welwitschia plants over a thousand years old. A permit is required and must be obtained beforehand, since there is no gate to pay at.
The Permit Nobody Expects
This catches out more visitors than anything else about the circuit, so it comes first.
The Welwitschia Drive and the Moon Valley area sit inside the Namib section of Namib-Naukluft National Park, and a permit is required. Unlike Sesriem or Etosha, there is no barrier where you pay on arrival.
Permits are obtained in advance from Ministry of Environment offices in Swakopmund or Windhoek. Booked tours from Swakopmund handle the paperwork, which is one reason a good many visitors take a guided half day rather than driving it themselves.
Turning up without one means either turning around or driving the route in breach of the rules, and enforcement here is real. Sort it the day before.
Moon Valley
Moon Valley, also called the Moonscape, is an eroded section of the Swakop River valley about 30 kilometres inland from Swakopmund.
What you look at is a vast expanse of bare, rounded, grey hills stretching away in every direction with no vegetation and no soil, cut through by dry watercourses. The comparison to a lunar surface is the obvious one and it is why the name stuck.
The rock is ancient, granite and schist worked over an extremely long period, and the shapes come from water rather than wind. The Swakop and its tributaries cut down through the rock over millions of years, and the softer material weathered into the rounded forms you now see.
It is a viewpoint rather than a walk. Several pull offs along the route give the panorama, and the standard visit is to stop, look and photograph rather than to hike into it.
The valley works best in early morning or late afternoon, when low sun throws the hills into relief. At midday the whole thing flattens into uniform grey and the photographs disappoint.
Take the circuit in the late afternoon rather than the morning if you have the choice. Moon Valley needs low sun to have any depth at all, and the welwitschia plain is more comfortable once the heat has gone out of the day. Finishing at the plain around sunset also gives you the drive back into Swakopmund as the fog rolls in, which is worth seeing.
The Welwitschia Plain
The plain sits about 50 kilometres east of Swakopmund, east of where the Khan and Swakop rivers meet, and it is where the country’s most famous plant grows in concentration.
Welwitschia mirabilis produces exactly two leaves in its lifetime and never replaces them. Those leaves keep growing at roughly 8 to 15 centimetres a year, splitting and fraying at the ends, which is why a mature plant looks like a heap of torn leather straps rather than something with two of anything.
Estimated lifespans run from 500 to 1,000 years commonly, with the oldest specimens put past 1,500. A plant living a thousand years produces something in the order of 150 metres of leaf tissue from those original two.
They survive on fog rather than rain. This country averages under 100 millimetres a year and in some years receives none, and most specimens grow within 80 kilometres of the coast inside the fog belt, absorbing moisture through the leaves.
The leaves also shade the soil beneath, keeping it cool and moist where the surface can reach 65 degrees, and they hold firm in gale force wind rather than flapping, which prevents erosion around the base.
The route includes a specimen known as the Big Welwitschia, one of the largest and oldest on the plain and the usual turnaround point of the drive.
The Lichen Fields
The grey, orange and black crusts across the gravel plains along the route are alive, and this is one of the better places to have that demonstrated.
Lichens are composites of a fungus with an alga or cyanobacterium rather than plants, and more than a hundred species occur in the Namib, surviving entirely on coastal fog. From a moving vehicle they look like coloured stones.
Pour a little water on a dry patch and it changes colour and unfurls within minutes, which guides do as a demonstration and which is genuinely startling the first time.
They grow extremely slowly and a single set of vehicle tracks stays visible for decades. That is the direct reason for the off road driving restrictions across this whole coastal region, and it is why staying on the marked route matters more here than it sounds.
Other Stops on the Circuit
The drive is marked with numbered stone beacons and the route passes several things worth pulling over for beyond the two headline sights.
Dollar bush and other hardy plants grow along the dry watercourses. Old lichen covered gravel plains stretch away on both sides. There are remnants of early exploration activity in the area, including old mining traces.
Goanikontes sits in the Swakop valley on the route, a green oasis of trees and palms in an otherwise bare valley, which exists because of groundwater in the riverbed and which provides an abrupt contrast to everything around it.
Wildlife along the route is thin and worth watching for anyway: oryx and springbok cross the gravel plains, and jackal and the occasional brown hyena track are seen. The gravel plains support far more life than they appear to.
Driving the Circuit
The full circuit takes around four to five hours at an unhurried pace, which makes it a comfortable half day from Swakopmund.
Roads are gravel and manageable in an ordinary car in dry conditions, though higher clearance is more comfortable and a 4×4 is preferable if you plan to explore beyond the main route.
Carry water and fuel up before leaving Swakopmund. There are no facilities on the circuit, no shade to speak of and no phone signal across much of it.
Stay on the marked route. This is not a place to cut across the plains for a better angle, both because of the lichen and because the restrictions are enforced.
Guided Tours Versus Self Driving
Both work and they suit different travellers.
Guided half day tours from Swakopmund handle the permit, provide a vehicle suited to the roads and, more usefully, provide someone who can explain what you are looking at. The welwitschia and the lichen mean far more with commentary than without, and guides carry water for the lichen demonstration.
Self driving costs less and lets you set your own pace, which suits photographers wanting to be at Moon Valley in the right light. It requires sorting the permit in advance and a willingness to read a route marked by numbered beacons.
For a first visit, and particularly for anyone interested in the plants rather than the view, the guided version delivers considerably more.
Best Time to Visit
The circuit works year round and the coast stays mild whatever the interior is doing, which makes this a reasonable option in summer when Sossusvlei and Etosha are punishing.
Time of day matters far more than season. Moon Valley needs low sun, so early morning or late afternoon, and it is genuinely disappointing at midday. Fog is common on this coast in the morning and usually lifts inland, so an early start can begin in grey and clear as you climb away from the sea.
Wind builds through the afternoon, which affects comfort rather than access.
Getting to Moon Valley and the Welwitschia Drive
The circuit starts inland of Swakopmund, reached on the C28 and the D1991, with Moon Valley around 30 kilometres from town and the welwitschia plain about 50.
Swakopmund itself sits 360 kilometres west of Windhoek on the B2, four to four and a half hours on tar, and 340 to 350 kilometres from Sesriem over the Gaub and Kuiseb passes.
Remember that the permit comes from Ministry offices in Swakopmund or Windhoek rather than from a gate on the route.
Moon Valley and Welwitschia Drive Questions
Do I need a permit for the Welwitschia Drive?
Yes, and it must be obtained in advance from Ministry of Environment offices in Swakopmund or Windhoek. There is no gate on the route where you can pay on arrival, which catches out a great many visitors. Booked tours from Swakopmund handle the paperwork, which is one reason many people take a guided half day rather than driving it.
How long does the circuit take?
Around four to five hours at an unhurried pace, which makes it a comfortable half day from Swakopmund. The route is marked with numbered stone beacons. There are no facilities, no shade and no phone signal across much of it, so carry water and fuel up before you leave town.
Why is it called Moon Valley?
Because it looks like one. The area is an eroded section of the Swakop River valley about 30 kilometres inland, filled with bare, rounded grey hills stretching away with no vegetation and no soil, cut by dry watercourses. The shapes come from water rather than wind, with the Swakop and its tributaries cutting down through granite and schist over millions of years.
How old are the welwitschia plants here?
Commonly 500 to 1,000 years, with the oldest specimens estimated past 1,500. They produce exactly two leaves in a lifetime and never replace them, with those leaves growing 8 to 15 centimetres a year, so a thousand year old plant has produced around 150 metres of leaf tissue. They survive on fog rather than rain, which is why they grow within 80 kilometres of the coast.
Should I take a tour or drive it myself?
Both work. Guided half day tours handle the permit, provide a suitable vehicle and, most usefully, explain what you are looking at, which matters more here than at most sites since the welwitschia and the lichen mean little without commentary. Self driving costs less and suits photographers wanting to control their timing, but requires sorting the permit beforehand.
Do I need a 4×4?
Not for the main circuit in dry conditions, where an ordinary car with reasonable clearance manages. A higher clearance vehicle is more comfortable and a 4×4 is preferable if you intend to explore beyond the marked route, though staying on it is what you should be doing anyway given the lichen fields.
What are the lichen fields?
Composites of fungus with alga or cyanobacterium, not plants, forming grey and orange crusts across the gravel plains and surviving entirely on coastal fog. Over a hundred species occur in the Namib. Water poured on a dry patch makes it unfurl and change colour within minutes, which guides demonstrate. A single set of tyre tracks through them stays visible for decades.
Booking Your Namibia Trip
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