Dark sky places in Namibia

Namibia has one certified dark-sky place on this site: the NamibRand Nature Reserve, an International Dark Sky Reserve in the Namib desert. It records Bortle 1 skies, the darkest class on the scale, where the southern Milky Way core stands overhead in winter, the Magellanic Clouds show on clear, moonless nights, and the full southern sky is on display. The desert is the point: dry air, a high plateau, and a long way from any town.April to September, around the new moon, is the window the guide gives, when the southern Milky Way core is overhead in the winter months. The dry winter is the season to aim for, and a moonless night in the middle of the year puts the galactic core at its best over the Namib.