{"id":471,"date":"2012-07-05T09:06:15","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T07:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.places.co.za\/?p=471"},"modified":"2013-03-25T14:50:51","modified_gmt":"2013-03-25T12:50:51","slug":"africas-first-dark-sky-reserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa&#8217;s First Dark-sky Reserve"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The NamibRand Nature Reserve in southern Namibia has been proclaimed as the continent\u2019s first international dark-sky reserve (IDSR), meaning that it\u2019s one of the best places on earth to star-gaze.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_472\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-472\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-472 \" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/landscape04-300x200.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/landscape04-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/landscape04.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-472\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NamibRand Nature Reserve<\/p><\/div>\n<p>NamibRand is a private nature reserve established to help protect and conserve the unique ecology and wildlife of the south-west Namib Desert. It is probably the largest private nature reserve in Southern Africa, extending over an area of 172,200 ha.<\/p>\n<p>The Reserve shares a 100km border with the Namib-Naukluft National Park in the west and is bordered in the east by the imposing Nubib Mountains. Virtually all facets of the Namib Desert are represented on the Reserve \u2013 sand and gravel plains and stretches of savanna alternate with mountain ranges and vegetated dune belts.<\/p>\n<p>The Reserve is financially self-sustaining mainly through high quality, low impact tourism.<\/p>\n<p>Accommodation within the reserve is offered at <a title=\"Sossusvlei Desert Lodge\" href=\"http:\/\/www.places.co.za\/accommodation\/sossusvlei-desert-lodge.html\" target=\"_blank\">Sossusvlei Desert Lodge<\/a> and <a title=\"Wolwedans\" href=\"http:\/\/www.places.co.za\/accommodation\/wolwedans-dunes-lodge.html\" target=\"_blank\">Wolwedans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NamibRand Nature Reserve in southern Namibia has been proclaimed as the continent\u2019s first international dark-sky reserve (IDSR), meaning that it\u2019s one of the best places on earth to star-gaze. NamibRand is a private nature reserve established to help protect and conserve the unique ecology and wildlife of the south-west Namib Desert. It is probably [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Africa&#039;s First Dark-sky Reserve - South Africa Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Africa&#039;s First Dark-sky Reserve - South Africa Travel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The NamibRand Nature Reserve in southern Namibia has been proclaimed as the continent\u2019s first international dark-sky reserve (IDSR), meaning that it\u2019s one of the best places on earth to star-gaze. NamibRand is a private nature reserve established to help protect and conserve the unique ecology and wildlife of the south-west Namib Desert. It is probably [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa Travel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/south.africa.places\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-05T07:06:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-25T12:50:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/landscape04.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abrie Coetzee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa Travel Blog\",\"description\":\"SA Places&#039; travel blog &amp; guide to Southern Africa\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/landscape04.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/landscape04.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":427,\"caption\":\"NamibRand Nature Reserve\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/\",\"name\":\"Africa's First Dark-sky Reserve - South Africa Travel Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-07-05T07:06:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-25T12:50:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ee6d4ca57590e8a9ed586314d0c0cf21\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Africa&#8217;s First Dark-sky Reserve\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ee6d4ca57590e8a9ed586314d0c0cf21\",\"name\":\"Abrie Coetzee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b6f77c6e5f6f79338fcfbbe78cd8306?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b6f77c6e5f6f79338fcfbbe78cd8306?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Abrie Coetzee\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/author\/abrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Africa's First Dark-sky Reserve - South Africa Travel Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.places.co.za\/blog\/africas-first-dark-sky-reserve\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Africa's First Dark-sky Reserve - South Africa Travel Blog","og_description":"The NamibRand Nature Reserve in southern Namibia has been proclaimed as the continent\u2019s first international dark-sky reserve (IDSR), meaning that it\u2019s one of the best places on earth to star-gaze. 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