All activities / Flight Experiences / Sossusvlei
Flight Experiences in Sossusvlei
The star dunes and cracked white clay pans of the Namib Sand Sea, including Deadvlei with its 900-year-old blackened camelthorn trees. One of the most photographed landscapes on the continent, and one of the most demanding to shoot well.
Why here
The Namib Sand Sea only makes full sense from the air. At ground level you see individual dunes; from a hot air balloon or a light aircraft at dawn you see the whole pattern, the long linear dunes marching to the horizon, the dry Tsauchab riverbed threading between them, the pans glowing pale in the low sun. Namib Sky Balloon Safaris is the country's oldest balloon operator, launching at sunrise over the desert and landing to a champagne breakfast on the sand. For a wider sweep, Desert Air flies fixed-wing Cessnas from the lodge airstrip out over the dunes, Sesriem Canyon and the wreck-strewn Skeleton Coast.
Best months
Ballooning runs almost year-round, closing only mid-January to mid-February in the peak heat, with the cool April to October months the most reliable for calm dawn air. Flights are dawn-dependent and weather-cancelled if it is windy. Scenic fixed-wing flights run to demand rather than a fixed timetable.
Getting there & around
Both operators fly from the Sesriem and Sossusvlei Lodge area, so this pairs naturally with a dune visit. Balloon flights book out in high season and need a pre-dawn start; confirm the day before for weather. Scenic flights can also connect Sossusvlei to the coast as a transfer.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
Desert Air
OutfitterScenic flight operator based at the Sossusvlei Lodge airstrip flying fixed-wing Cessnas over the dunes, Sesriem Canyon and the Skeleton Coast, with a pilot who doubles as an aerial desert guide.
Namib Sky Balloon Safaris
OutfitterNamibia's oldest ballooning company, family-run since 1991, flying sunrise hot air balloon safaris over the Namib near Sossusvlei under a Namibian Civil Aviation air operating certificate, with a desert breakfast on landing.