Day 1 - Flight to Namibia
A scheduled overnight flight from London Heathrow, via Johannesburg in South Africa, to Windhoek with South African Airways begins your Ultimate Namibia Journey.
Includes dinner on the flight.
Day 2 - Windhoek
After arriving in Namibia and clearing customs at Windhoek Airport, you are transferred to a comfortable guesthouse in one of the town's leafy suburbs. Our colleagues in Namibia are easily contactable and happy to discuss your trip, answering any queries you might have. Lunch and dinner are at your own expense today; this allows you to choose from Windhoek's many good restaurants.
Includes breakfast.
Day 3 - Namib-Naukluft Park
After breakfast, your safari guide collects you at around 09.00 for a journey through the Khomas Hochland Highlands, over the escarpment and down towards the dune-fields of the Namib Desert. On route you'll stop to enjoy a picnic lunch at a scenic spot. Your base for the next two nights is Hoodia Desert Lodge, nestled on the banks of the Tsauchab River and overlooked by the impressive Naukluft Mountains. Accommodation is in spacious thatched bungalows, each with an en-suite open-air bathroom and a private balcony.
The lodge is situated a relatively short drive from the edge of the Namib Desert. The Namib is one of the world's oldest deserts. Here your guide introduces you to the flora and fauna that have specially adapted to their arid surroundings. There's a sprinkling of large animals, from gemsbok and springbok to fleeting ostrich, as well as an abundance of amazing smaller life forms.
Windhoek to Hoodia Desert Lodge: approx. 5.5 hours (330km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 4 - Namib-Naukluft Park
Use the whole day to explore in and around Namib-Naukluft National Park with your guide. An early start takes you deeper into the Namib Desert for a spectacular sunrise. You make for Sossusvlei, where many of the dunes tower up to 300 metres above the Tsauchab River Valley.
There's much to see by walking around here; Namibia's Namib-Naukluft Park is one of the largest conservation areas in the world, so it covers an amazing diversity of desert landscapes. You find not only great dune-fields, but also wind-sculpted rock formations, fossil valleys, arid scrub areas and smooth gravel plains. Visit Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei and climb some of the highest free-standing dunes in the world before enjoying a delicious brunch under a camelthorn tree. Return to Hoodia Desert Lodge in the afternoon, stopping off to explore the cool depths of Sesriem Canyon along the way. The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure to relax or take a stroll in the local area.
Hoodia Desert Lodge to Sossusvlei to Hoodia Desert Lodge: approx. 2.5 hours (175km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 5 - Swakopmund
After breakfast, you continue on your lodge safari, travelling north and west to reach the Atlantic coast. Much of your journey is through contrasting areas of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Your route to the coast offers a series of spectacular views as you cross the desert plains before descending into the depths of the Gaub and Kuiseb Canyons and climbing back out again. Around mid-afternoon you arrive at your comfortable guesthouse, centrally situated in Swakopmund, with time to wander around this pleasant coastal town or take a short siesta.
Your guide knows the restaurant choices in Swakopmund well, so this evening takes you to one of his/her favourites; often The Tug Restaurant by the jetty. This is your chance to sample the excellent local seafood that the coast of Namibia is known for.
Notes: You have the option to include a spectacular sunrise balloon flight over the desert before you depart for Swakopmund. The cost for this is roughly GBP 343 / US 532 per person and includes approximately a 50 minute balloon flight followed by champagne breakfast in the desert.
As an alternative to the drive from Hoodia Desert Lodge to Swakopmund, you may opt to take a scenic flight transfer departing at about 10.45 and arriving midday. This would take you over the Namib Desert and along part of the Skeleton Coast (fog permitting); flying over vast dune fields, abandoned mining camps, shipwrecks, Sandwich Harbour and Walvis Bay salt pans before landing at Swakopmund Airport. You will then be transferred to your guesthouse where your guide will meet you later in the day. There will be an additional cost of about GBP 330 / US 512 for this scenic flight transfer.
Hoodia Desert Lodge to Swakopmund: approx. 6 hours (345km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 6 - Swakopmund
This morning you drive south to Walvis Bay, for a dolphin and seal cruise around the outer lagoon. There's a lot to see in these cold, rich Atlantic waters off the coast of Namibia, including Cape fur seals, heaviside and bottlenose dolphins, pelicans, flamingos and a wide variety of other sea birds. The cruise includes snacks aboard, along with some fresh local oysters and champagne.
You usually head back to Swakopmund around midday for an afternoon at leisure, perhaps checking out the town's museums, colonial architecture, curio markets and other attractions. The day ends with dinner in one of the many good restaurants.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 7 - Damaraland
Leaving Swakopmund early, you first travel along part of the infamous Skeleton Coast. Then you turn inland, across one of the Namib Desert's harshest, flattest areas, before gradually climbing into the beautiful mountains of Damaraland. As always whilst on this lodge safari, you stop periodically for your guide to show you points of interest and to explain the changes of landscapes, flora and fauna that occur as the desert gives way to relatively verdant mountains.
You stay in the heart of this region at Camp Kipwe. The camp is made up of comfortable thatched chalets, with private open-air bathrooms, nestled amongst an outcrop of giant granite boulders.
Swakopmund to Twyfelfontein: approx. 6 hours (315km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 8 - Damaraland
After an early breakfast you will be treated to an exciting 4WD nature drive along the ephemeral Aba-Huab River valley. This is a remarkable region and offers some of the most beautiful scenery found in Namibia. At certain times of year the Aba-Huab River valley is a ribbon of vegetation in an otherwise barren landscape. This food source attracts a variety of desert-adapted wildlife including elephant, giraffe and kudu. Whilst you drive and enjoy the magnificent scenery, your guide will be on the lookout for signs of the special desert-adapted game that can be found here. You will return to Camp Kipwe for lunch and time to relax during the heat of the day. Later in the afternoon you may visit some of the interesting sites of southern Damaraland that you didn't experience the previous day, including the ancient Bushmen rock art at Twyfelfontein and the 'Organ Pipe' rock formations.
Notes: You have the option to include an amazing balloon flight over Damaraland today. The cost for a sunrise flight is around GBP 300 / US 465 per person and includes approximately 60 minutes of flying followed by a champagne breakfast upon landing; or a 45 minute sundowner flight costs around GBP 255 / US 395 per person.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 9 - Western Etosha
Your route this morning takes you north through more striking landscapes as you climb the majestic Grootberg Pass. You then go off the beaten track to visit a small Himba settlement - your guide may have to seek the community out as the Himba are semi-nomadic and move location with no notice. These fascinating people are one of the last tribes in Namibia to essentially retain their traditional way of life, having little need for conventional practices. You'll gain an insight into their beliefs and customs as well as have the opportunity to meet members of the village in a relaxed and authentic setting.
You then continue on to one of Africa's premier game areas: Etosha National Park. You enter the park through Galton Gate, which is only open to registered Namibian tour operators and guests of Dolomite Camp where you will be accommodated this evening. This is where the real wildlife experience on your Namibia lodge safari begins. Using Dolomite Camp as your base you can enjoy game viewing at the camp's waterhole or on a short afternoon game drive with your guide. After dinner you'll head out on an exciting spot-lit night drive with the chance of seeing nocturnal creatures such as aardvark, bat-eared foxes, genets and, if you're lucky, large cats. Dolomite Camp is nestled within the dolomite outcrops from which it gets its name. Walkways lead from a spacious main area to thatched en-suite chalets built amongst the outcrops and each with panoramic views over the surrounding landscape.
Twyfelfontein to Western Etosha: approx. 5 hours (350km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 10 & 11 - Etosha National Park
Today you game drive your way east, through Namibia's Etosha National Park, taking your time to watch animals and discuss your sightings with your guide. You stop for two nights at Okaukuejo Camp (or possibly Halali Camp), where you stay in simple en-suite rooms or bungalows. The restcamps are superbly located within Etosha National Park, making them perfect bases from which to explore.
Time your days here like the predators: rising early to hunt for animals, resting in the middle of the day and then heading out again in the mid-afternoon. After dinner at the camp's restaurant you can slope off with a drink to watch more game at the camp's floodlit waterhole.
Safari drives.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 12 - Okonjima
After breakfast and a short early morning game drive in Etosha National Park, you leave for the Okonjima reserve and the luxury lodge accommodation of Okonjima Bush Camp. Okonjima is home to the AfriCat Foundation, which has long been involved with the conservation of Namibia's big predators, especially its cheetah, but also leopard and spotted hyena. You can learn more about the rescue, relocation and education work of the AfriCat Foundation, as well as getting close to some of its many big cats. Other activities available from the lodge include nature drives, bird watching and visits to their night hide where honey badgers, porcupines and other small nocturnal animals often appear. The photographic opportunities at Okonjima are often unbeatable and this is a wonderful highlight to end your Namibia lodge safari on.
Southern Etosha to Okonjima: approx. 3.5 hours (250km)
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 13 - Windhoek
You have time for a morning activity and a tasty brunch at Okonjima before your return journey to Windhoek. You will arrive back at your guesthouse in the early afternoon with time to relax. You can choose from one of Windhoek's many good restaurants for dinner this evening (for your own account).
Okonjima to Windhoek: approx. 3 hours (235km)
Includes breakfast and brunch.
Day 14 - Flight to London
After a leisurely morning, you will be met at the guesthouse and transferred to Windhoek Airport in time for your overnight flight, via Johannesburg, to the UK. This concludes your Ultimate Namibia Journey.
Includes breakfast. Dinner is on the flight.
Day 15 - Arrive in London
Arrive home with happy memories and reams of fantastic photographs from your Namibia safari.
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