$3,850 pp (USD)
2 travelers on Start dateArrival
Arrival
Day 1
Sossusvlei
Sossusvlei
Your guide will pick you up either from the airport or accommodation in Windhoek. We will drive southwards to the desert through scenic landscapes that may include mountain passes depending on the road being used. You will have a lunch stop along the way to Sossusvlei. We will be in the Sossusvlei area before sunset and enjoy the sundowner drive in the desert.
- Main Destination:
- Sossusvlei (Sand Dunes)
- Accommodation:
- Namib Desert Lodge
Wildlife in Namib-Naukluft NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 2
Namibian Atlantic Coast
Namibian Atlantic Coast
An early morning start will see us getting into the Namib Naukluft Park. The Namib Naukluft Park is the third-largest national park in Africa covering an area of 50,000 km2. The Namib Desert has been arid for about 80 million years, with true desert conditions predominating the last 15 to 20 million years. Various wildlife thriving in this area includes gemsbok, springbok, brown hyaena, and black-backed jackal among others. We will visit the most photographed sand dune in the area, Dune 45.
Depending on your energy levels, climbing one of the highest sand dunes in the area, the Big Daddy, is quite fun. A visit to the Dead Vlei is worthwhile. After a visit to Sossusvlei, we will then visit the Sesriem Canyon. After lunch, we will make our way to the coast past scenic Gaub and Kuiseb Passes.
We will go past Walvis Bay Lagoon for some interesting waterbirds including flamingoes. We will then overnight in Swakopmund and enjoy dinner in some of the best restaurants.
- Main Destination:
- Swakopmund (City)
- Accommodation:
- The Delight Swakopmund
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 3
Namibian Atlantic Coast
Namibian Atlantic Coast
After breakfast, we will go for the Living Desert Tour excursion. "Dry bone", "without a trace of moisture" and "as dry as a weathered bone" - these terms may be used to describe this unique biome with sneaky creatures that have adapted to living in harsh environments. For these little creatures, either camouflage or agility to faking deaths helps in serving food on the table or avoiding being someone’s meal.
This is a 4 to 5-hour tour conducted by passionate and experienced desert specialists who are desert conservationists as well. If lucky, you might see the desert “Little Five”; shovel-nosed lizard, Namib sand gecko, Namaqua chameleon, Namib Desert sidewinding adder and the cartwheeling spider (dancing white lady). Birds of interest include Gray’s lark, tractrac chat, and Damara tern among others. You should be back around lunchtime and can enjoy a stroll around Swakopmund city or take any optional activities that we can arrange for you in advance.
- Main Destination:
- Swakopmund (City)
- Accommodation:
- The Delight Swakopmund
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 4
Damaraland
Damaraland
We will leave the coastal environment and drive inland past a couple of shipwrecks. We will visit the Cape Cross Seal Reserve. This is a 60 sq. km reserve and has the largest seal colony in the world, with numbers up to 240,000 at any given time. It could be the second-largest city in Namibia if these animals were humans!
After this activity, we will go through the Skeleton Coast National Park. The Namibian Skeleton Coast National Park is renowned for its cold and unpredictable Benguela Current of the Atlantic Ocean that contends with the dune and desert landscape. This is a rarely visited park in Namibia with eye-catching landscapes that ranges from sweeping vistas of windswept smaller sand dunes to rugged canyons with walls of richly-coloured rocks and extensive mountain ranges. Wildlife here includes oryx, springbok, black-backed jackal, ostrich, brown hyaena, desert-adapted elephant, black rhino and lion. Our destination is Damaraland for this day.
- Main Destination:
- Twyfelfontein (Rock Art)
- Accommodation:
- Twyfelfontein Country Lodge
Wildlife in Damaraland
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 5
Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park
This morning, we will visit the Bushman Rock Engravings around Twyfelfontein before making our way to Etosha National Park. This area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 and consists of over 40,000 rock engravings done by the San (Bushmen) people 2,000 years ago. It is a 45-minute walk conducted by local guides.
We will then proceed to the Petrified Forest. This is a geological formation that happened 280 million years ago. Huge trees were carried by a river and buried here. The sand was deposited around them, creating ideal conditions for the cells of the wood to be replaced by silica and thus became petrified. It is thought these trees are Dadoxylon arberi, the same tree responsible for coal fields in Europe. This is a half an hour's walk done by knowledgeable local guides.
We will proceed to Etosha, and we should be in time for an afternoon game drive.
- Main Destination:
- Etosha National Park
- Accommodation:
- Etosha Safari Lodge
Wildlife in Etosha NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 6
Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park
We will do a morning and an afternoon game drive in the national park. We will be back at the lodge around midday and go back into the park in the late afternoon. Enjoy a siesta or the swimming pool and the tranquility of the lodge. Etosha is a 22,270 sq. km park with 114 mammal species and over 350 bird species. Etosha means “Great White Place” in the local Oshindonga language, referring to the 4,800 sq. km salt pan that covers 23% of the park’s surface area.
The mammals include black and white rhinoceros, lion, leopard, cheetah, African elephant, plains and Hartmann’s mountain zebra, Southern giraffe subs angolensis, eland, gemsbok, African wild cat, and spotted and brown hyaena among other animals. It is quite unique in its own way as the concentration and diversity around waterholes in the dry season is magnificent, giving one a chance to see animal dramas unfolding as they take turns to quench their thirst.
- Main Destination:
- Etosha National Park
- Accommodation:
- Etosha Safari Camp
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 7
Windhoek
Windhoek
Depending on your outbound flight, we can either leave early in the morning to catch a flight in Windhoek for the late afternoon, or do a morning game drive in Etosha and overnight in Windhoek. This day marks the end of our trip.
- Main Destination:
- Windhoek (City)
- Accommodation:
- No accommodation (End of tour)
- Meals & Drinks:
