Day 1 - Flight to Namibia
Begin your Classic Namibia Experience with a scheduled flight from London Heathrow, via Johannesburg, to Windhoek.
Includes dinner on the flight.
Day 2 - Windhoek
After clearing customs at Windhoek Airport you will be met and transferred to your accommodation in a comfortable hotel or guesthouse. There is time to relax before you meet your guide who briefs you on the safari and answers any queries you might have. Dinner is for your own account tonight allowing you to try out one of the many good eateries available in Windhoek.
Includes breakfast on the flight.
Day 3 - Okonjima
Your safari guide collects you after breakfast for an easy drive north to Okonjima where you arrive in time for lunch. Okonjima is home to the AfriCat Foundation, a non-profit organisation committed to the long-term conservation and preservation of Namibia's large carnivores, especially cheetahs and leopards. You can learn more about the rescue, relocation and education work that the foundation does, as well as having the chance to get close to some of these magnificent cats.
Windhoek - Okonjima: approx. 3 hours (235km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 4 & 5 - Etosha National Park
After a hearty breakfast you drive north through the towns of Otjiwarongo and Tsumeb, perhaps making a short stop to stock up on supplies. You aim to arrive at your luxury, mobile camp, situated on a private reserve bordering Etosha National Park to the east. During the afternoon there is usually time to head out into the park on your first safari drive.
Rise early the following morning to enjoy a full day of game viewing, whether following the animals between the surrounding waterholes or else just sitting by the busiest and watching the action. The game drives around the eastern side of Etosha National Park are thought to be some of the best due to the numerous waterholes found here. In your search for wildlife you will cover several different types of terrain.
Okonjima - eastern Etosha Park: approx. 4 hours (300km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 6 - Etosha National Park
After breakfast you game-drive west across Etosha. A vast swathe of the national park consists of the enormous Etosha Pan - a shallow depression of silvery-white salts that fills with water only in exceptionally wet years. Normally it's bone dry, but around it are numerous perennial springs that can attract great concentrations of wildlife. Stop in the Halali area for lunch, a rest and perhaps a swim. Then drive across to your accommodation in comfortable en-suite bungalows in Etosha National Park's southwest region. After dinner at the camp's restaurant you can slope off with a drink to watch the action at the flood-lit waterhole - there is always plenty to see with elephant, rhino and lion being regular visitors.
Safari drives.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 7 & 8 - Damaraland
From Etosha Park you travel south to the town of Outjo before turning west towards the attractive landscapes of Damaraland. On the way you stop for a cultural visit to a Himba village on a farm near Kamanjab. These tribes-people have migrated here, lifestyle and customs intact, and are following their traditional way of life in their village located on a farm as part of a working partnership with the farm owner. A local guide introduces you to the Himba's alternative lifestyle, and helps you to understand their background and culture. Oase village is the only traditionally functioning Himba community outside the far north Kaokoland region of Namibia.
After time with the fascinating Himba people you continue to the Mowani foothills and your luxury camping site surrounded by huge granite boulders and superb scenery. The following morning you make the most of the cool air to take a guided walk around Twyfelfontein: a seemingly ordinary valley that hides an amazing open-air gallery of ancient Bushman rock art and recently declared a UNESCO world heritage site. During your time here you might also visit the nearby 'Organ Pipe' rock formations and the surreal Burnt Mountain. Your guide will be on the lookout for signs of the special desert-adapted game that can be found in this area. Later in the afternoon there may be time for a drive along the riverbed with a possibility of encountering desert-adapted wildlife, including elephants. Stop for a sundowner drink at Welwitschia Hill before heading back to camp for a hearty dinner.
Etosha National Park - Damaraland: approx. 5½ hours (450km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 9 & 10 - Swakopmund
Heading south you circumnavigate Brandberg, which at 2,573m is Namibia's highest mountain. Pause at the small outpost of Uis. Based around a large tin mine, there used to be a thriving, busy town here; but after the mine closed a few years ago it's become a quiet, almost sleepy spot. Semi-precious stones such as amethyst and tourmaline can sometimes be found here at bargain prices.
From Uis you cross what seems an endless and forbidding desert plain on your way to the Atlantic Ocean and the Skeleton Coast. From here it's an easy drive south to the charming coastal town of Swakopmund where you will settle into a lovely guesthouse either centrally located in town or a little out of town, overlooking the ocean. During the afternoon you have free time to browse among the many interesting shops and craft galleries.
The following morning your safari guide takes you on a short drive south along the coast to the port town of Walvis Bay, where you'll usually see flamingos, pelicans and other water birds in the lagoon. Here you join a dolphin cruise out into the harbour in search of the areas rich marine life including heaviside and bottlenose dolphins and playful Cape fur seals. The trip usually includes snacks, fresh oysters and champagne on board.
Dinner on both these nights is for your own account. Ask your guide to recommend one of his/her favourite restaurants here; this is your chance to sample the excellent seafood Namibia has to offer and the locally grown Swakopmund asparagus.
Damaraland - Swakopmund: approx. 4 hours (330km)
Includes breakfast.
Days 11 & 12 - Namib Desert
Head southwest, traversing the deeply incised Gaub and Kuiseb Canyons and out onto the flat gravel plains of the Namib Desert. Each time you drive down to the river bed at the canyon's floor and then climb back up the long steep road to the top and the spectacular panoramas revealed there. You might make a short stop at the tiny desert outpost of Solitaire for tea, and perhaps some homemade apple crumble, before arriving at your campsite at the edge of the desert in the mid-to-late afternoon.
Rise before dawn to drive deep into Namibia's desert, home to some of the world's highest dunes (at about 300m) and stunning scenery. The shifting, contrasting patterns of light over the orange desert sands caused by the rising sun are a photographers dream and always enthralling. Spend the morning exploring Sossusvlei and the nearby Dead Vlei; a natural mud pan where the husks of dead camelthorn trees point towards the sky. The view from the top of one of these gigantic dunes is always spectacular if you have the energy to climb them! During the afternoon there is time to visit the nearby Sesriem Canyon and walk through canyons and rock formations created by the ephemeral Tsauchab River. Return to your camp in time to watch the evening hues change and glow on the distant mountain range.
Swakopmund - Namib Desert: approx. 5 hours (300km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 13 - Windhoek, flight to London
Pass through yet more stunning scenery on your return journey to Windhoek as you climb up and over the Khomas Hochland escarpment. You will arrive back in Namibia's capital city at about midday ready to transfer to the airport for your scheduled flight home.
Namib Desert - Windhoek Airport: approx. 6 hours (390km)
Includes breakfast. Dinner is on the flight.
Day 14 - Arrive in London
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