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The Desert Express wears its name lightly. At 1 p.m. on a Friday, the station mistress rings the bell on the platform of Windhoek station, and we're off — only to be overtaken by a dragonfly 10 minutes later. But that's the thing with Namibia. It's a country where nature is still in the lead.

Our destination is the old German colonial town of Swakopmund, which fronts the blustery Atlantic and lies on the fringe of the golden dunes of the Namib desert. With a location like that, Swakopmund, says one resident, "is the only place in the world where you need a 4x4 vacuum cleaner."

En route, the train stops for an afternoon game drive at Oropoko Lodge. But we spot far more wildlife from the train windows as the Desert Express traverses the endless plains. We tick off baboons, zebra, wildebeest, four kinds of buck, two dozen buzzards circling over a kill and a solitary giraffe regarding the train with philosophic interest.

Life on board is comfortable. There's a 1950s-style lounge bar, where you can while away some of the 21 hours. Each passenger compartment has a washroom, the beds are snug and the train stops in a siding overnight, so you can sleep without having your bones rattled. After breakfast, guests disembark into the silence of a fog-cloaked Namib desert and climb a 30-m dune to get a distant glimpse of the ocean.

The Desert Express is not for those who like the luxury of, say, South Africa's Blue Train. And it's not for anyone in a hurry. But those who like the idea of meandering through a spectacular corner of Africa, on an express service that's anything but, can visit www.transnamib.com.na for details.

• Claire L. Bell
• Take a slow ride on the Desert Express