Day 1 - Flight to Namibia
Begin your holiday to Namibia with a scheduled overnight flight from London to Windhoek, via Johannesburg.
Includes dinner on the flight.
Day 2 - Windhoek
After checking through customs at Windhoek Airport, you are met and transferred to a lovely little guest house in one of the city's leafy suburbs. Spend the afternoon relaxing and getting over your long flight or take the time to explore Windhoek. Ask your hosts to recommend their favourite restaurant from one of the city's many good eateries.
Includes breakfast on the flight.
Day 3 - Grootfontein
Your guide will meet you after breakfast for the drive north through a region of gentle rolling hills where many of Namibia's larger farms and ranches can be found. You will pass through the towns of Okahandja and Otjiwarongo and circumnavigate the small, scenic Otavi mountain range on your way towards Grootfontein: the gateway to Bushmanland. Stop in this region for your first night under canvas in a comfortable mobile camp.
Windhoek to Grootfontein: approx. 5 hours (450km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 4 & 5 - Khaudum National Park
After breakfast head east to Tsumkwe, the heart of Bushmanland. After a short break here you continue to Khaudum National Park and your camp site at Sikeretti within the park. Khaudum is in a very remote area of Namibia and difficult to reach in a normal vehicle so coming here with a knowledgeable guide on a camping safari allows you to explore this wild and magical region in comfort and safety. Underground waters of dry, sandy rivers help sustain this important area of the northern Kalahari and the wildlife that lives here. You might see herds of elephant and wildebeest, numerous antelope species; including good numbers of the shy roan antelope, and even wild dog as Khaudum is the centre for Namibia's population of these rare predators.
Spend a full day game viewing as you travel between Sikereti and Khaudum camping sites. Although you are likely to have some excellent game encounters along the way, you should come here to experience a wilderness in a very remote corner of the Kalahari - let any wildlife sightings be a bonus. Your camp for the second night is idyllically situated atop a sand dune overlooking the Khaudum River Valley. In the late afternoon you will take a drive out onto the flood plains of the Khaudum River.
Grootfontein to Sikereti camp: approx. 6 hours (280km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 6 - Mahango Game Reserve
Depart early in the morning and travel to Khaudum's northern border following a sandy and difficult remote road. As you near the Kavango Region of the Caprivi Strip you will begin to see growing signs of rural village life; there may even be the chance to visit one of these traditional communities. Once you meet the tarmac road it becomes an easy drive towards Bagani and Popa Falls. You aim to arrive at your camp site in time for a late lunch. This pretty location overlooks the wide Kavango River and the Bwabwata National Park beyond, and you can spend the afternoon enjoying the view from the river deck or relaxing by the pool. Perhaps consider an optional boat cruise to seek out a spectacular array of birdlife, basking hippos, drinking elephants or even a pair of playful otters.
Khaudum to Mahango: approx. 6 hours (270km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 7 - Mahango Game Reserve
On this day of the camping safari your guide takes you on a full days' game drive into the nearby Mahango Game Reserve where you will find a tremendous diversity of environments despite its small size. The Kavango River forms the parks eastern boundary and is the focus of the reserve. Flanked by permanent papyrus reed beds, the channels are home to hippos and crocodiles and many water-loving birds, such as ducks, geese, herons, plovers, egrets, kingfishers and numerous waders. More bird species can be found here than in any other park in Namibia.
Adjacent to the river are extensive floodplain areas where you're quite likely to spot red lechwe or sable, a relatively scarce but beautiful antelope that seem to thrive here. The area's variety of vegetation, from wide belts of date palm forest to lush riverine woodland dotted with giant baobab trees, attracts an impressive range of animals, several of which are not seen in some of Namibia's drier regions. Return to camp in the late afternoon to enjoy a relaxing sundowner drink on the deck overlooking the river.
Game drives.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 8 to 10 - Bwabwata National Park
An easy drive takes you from Mahango Game Reserve towards eastern Caprivi and the Bwabwata National Park. Formerly Namibia's Caprivi Game Park, Bwabwata stretches from the Kavango River in the west to the Kwando River in the east, and your destination. The environment around the Kwando River can be likened to Botswana's northern reserves with riverine woodland, floodplains and lagoons combining to create a beautiful and interesting landscape to explore. Your comfortable mobile camp will be set up in a scenic spot within this little visited park.
Spend your time on morning and afternoon game drives here and in the nearby Mudumu National Park. This mixture of habitats is home to a wide variety of animal life and you can usually see herds of elephant and buffalo along with a multitude of antelope species. Look out for types of these graceful creatures that you won't have come across in other areas of Namibia, including puku, reedbuck and the secretive sitatunga antelope. The waterways and lagoons host innumerable birds, from herons and egrets to eagles and owls - it's a birdwatchers paradise.
Mahango to Bwabwata: approx. 4 hours (270km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 11 - Rundu
Leaving the wilderness behind you retrace your steps through the Caprivi Strip and on to the bustling town of Rundu. This ramshackle town has a wonderful, if slightly disorderly, feel of rural Africa. Livestock wander around its rickety buildings, flashes of colourful fabrics appear everywhere, and occasionally you'll sense a Portuguese influence, from neighbouring Angola. Take a break from camping to spend the night in a comfortable lodge on the banks of the Kavango River after a relaxing afternoon by the pool or an optional sundowner boat cruise.
Bwabwata to Rundu: approx. 5 hours (450km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 12 - Waterberg Plateau
Spend a little time at Rundu's craft markets before travelling south towards Namibia's central highlands on a long but easy drive. Your destination is Waterberg National Park, a flat-topped plateau with stunning surrounding scenery. Stay in simple en-suite chalets at the Waterberg Plateau Resort. If you're feeling energetic, it is worth taking the relatively easy 45-minute hike up the plateau for the spectacular view.
Rundu to Waterberg: approx. 6 hours (550km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 13 - Windhoek
After a leisurely breakfast you return to Windhoek via the town of Okahandja. Artisans from all over the country congregate at the two large craft markets here to sell their wares making it a great place to buy curios and carvings. Arriving in Windhoek during the late afternoon there is time to freshen up before dinner at one of the many great restaurants.
Waterberg to Windhoek: approx 4 hours (400km)
Includes breakfast and lunch.
Day 14 - Flight to London
Your morning is free to visit the city, enjoy a coffee at a café or stop to buy last-minute souvenirs. You are collected in the afternoon and transferred to the airport in time for your scheduled flight home and the end of your camping safari to Namibia.
Includes breakfast. Dinner is on the flight.
Day 15 - Arrive in London
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