Spring in Namibia offers everything to please a weather-worn traveller. Except flowers in bright colours. The sun shines every day all day from tangerine sunrise to scarlet sunset. The sky changes to different shades of blue throughout the day and temperatures are pleasantly high. It is hot and dry since most of Namibia is desert, but cool to cold at night because of the lack of moisture.

This year the landscape even sports a golden hue after the good rains of the past season which ended a drought of several years. The dry natural grass cover even on mountain slopes lends a softness to the dramatic landscape of contrasts.

The surest chance to escape cold, rain and wet is a visit to Namibia in spring. That is: August and September. There may be one last icy day or two on the central highland, the highest plateau around the capital, or in the deep south close to the Orange River if a cold front from South Africa pushes north. But it can never be cold enough to spoil your holiday for more than two days.

Namibia is truly a destination where sunshine can be expected almost 365 days a year. And if, for instance, a foggy day along the coast – where I am writing these words now – contradicts my statement, get in your car and drive away from it. Just head inland. The fog supplies necessary moisture to life in the Namib Desert.

If by chance you experience a day like that and you are in Swakopmund, take a tour with Living Desert Adventures. It will introduce you to the amazing variety of desert life. And it will be a happy memory of a single day without sunshine in Namibia.

Visitors from the northern hemisphere will be in wildlife heaven in Etosha and the Zambezi Region where the abundance of animals adds to the joyous weather. Because there is no water in the veld in Etosha at this time of year, animals are forced to walk across the pan and the flat plains to waterholes.

Along the way they stop to feed without hurry and in big numbers, providing ample opportunity for sunseekers to watch the natural world go by. Lazy lions rest in the shade of trees, watching and waiting. Big elephant bulls walk miles across the open veld in clear view to drink, bathe and dust themselves. Breeding herds choose specific waterholes where the little ones can learn waterhole etiquette and practice the skill of chasing away low-ranking species like giraffe, kudu, warthog and zebra.

Spring, which is truly the driest season in Namibia, offers the best waterhole experiences. Not only for watching animals, but the migrating birds returning from the north also offer pure delight to photographers because of the sparse, dry vegetation.

Coming back to flowers in springtime – Namibia does have a flower secret. It is not obvious and if your eyes are not trained to notice subtle colours in the dry landscape you may miss it altogether.

It is everywhere and in abundance but one cannot be sure when the powder-puff blossoms of the albizia trees or the popcorn fluff on the black thorn acacias will bloom. Along the main roads from south to north and east to west they are everywhere. On the red sand of the Kalahari, on rocky outcrops along the road, on the hillsides around the capital and even in the city where indigenous trees line the streets or grow in open spaces. To me they are as beautiful as cherry blossoms – just not pink and pretentious. The albizia trees are beautiful in form, with a dark trunk. That is how you would notice them. Look for the seemingly dry trees with dark trunks in the landscape devoid of strong colours. The blossoms last for approximately two weeks and they start blooming in the north first. Nobody can say when exactly, but it is worth being on the lookout.

For adventurous travellers to the Zambezi Region a flower surprise is waiting. There, the spring blossoms display a riot of colour. Spare yourself the frustration and buy Helga and Pompie Burger’s book before you travel to that part of Namibia regardless of the season. Namibia lends itself to the pleasure of revelling in abundance and the magic of discovery when you take the time and effort to look closer. TNN