Namibe

Namibe, founded as Mocamedes in 1840, sits where the Namib desert meets the Atlantic, and the light and the emptiness are the first things visitors notice. The old centre keeps low pastel buildings with shuttered windows, a nineteenth-century fort and the terminus of the Mocamedes railway. Cold Benguela current water offshore makes the sea good for fishing and cold for swimming, and the desert begins immediately behind the town.

What you actually see

• The pastel centre - low colonial buildings with shutters and verandas.
• The old fort - the nineteenth-century fortification above the harbour.
• The railway terminus - the coastal end of the Mocamedes line.
• The desert edge - Namib scrub and dune country beginning behind the town.

When to go

May to September is the coolest and driest; fog off the cold current is common in the mornings year round. Summer from November to March is hot inland but tempered on the coast. Rain is rare in any season.

Honest expectations

The sea is cold year round because of the Benguela current and swimming is bracing at best. Accommodation is limited and expensive for what it is. Travel beyond town needs a four-wheel drive and Portuguese.

Nearby

Tombwa is south along the coast, and Arco lagoon is inland.