High above the Namib in the morning light, any notion that deserts are monochrome places is quickly dispelled as you float over vast expanses of red, yellow and purple dunes, dotted here and there with blinding white salt pans and bordered in the distance by stark ochre cliffs. Gazing down from your hot-air balloon, you'll find yourself speechless – and may still be searching for words back at the splendid mountain lodge where you can spend a few days taking in the solitude of the world's oldest desert.

After a radical change of scenery in steep-walled Fish Canyon, you can then move on to explore Etosha National Park. Forget the grandeur of the Serengeti or the lushness of the Okavango – this is the "Place of Mirages," a stark expanse of dusty plain stretching out forever under sun-bleached skies. Yet despite the harsh environment, Etosha is home to enormous herds of wildlife. We'll take you to the best watering holes to watch animals lining up for drinks (or snacking on others in the queue). And at day's end you'll enjoy your own superb food and drink around the outdoor fireplace in an exclusive tented camp.

Next we'll arrange a day of tracking the last free-roaming black rhinos in Damaraland, a timeless basalt landscape near Etosha. Our guides can spot the subtlest footprints in the dust and are so skilled at deciphering dung mounds and crushed vegetation that you're virtually guaranteed an encounter (downwind) with these beautiful animals. Just remember to stay very, very still.

If big cats are your thing, we'll visit a research team dedicated to the conservation of Namibia's large carnivores. They've saved and rehabilitated some 900 big cats over the years, so as you explore their beautiful lands near the Omboroko Mountains, spotting cheetahs and leopards is almost a certainty.

One final area we love to share is the Skeleton Coast, an eerie, windblown seaside wilderness near the northern border. In a land of striking contrasts, this is yet another surprise, so damp with fog and dew after the overwhelming dryness of the interior. The huge colony of 100,000 Cape fur seals reminds us oddly of the Cote d'Azur in high season: a mass of grunting activity, and somewhere beneath them sand. Though as with the beach in Cannes, you'll be lucky to set foot on it. Indeed, this is the only place in Namibia where you'll ever find a crowd.