Day 1 - Flight to Namibia
Travel to Namibia on a scheduled overnight flight from London to Walvis Bay, via Johannesburg, with South African Airways.
Includes dinner on the flight.
Day 2 - Swakopmund
Landing at Walvis Bay Airport around late morning, you'll pass through customs and meet a driver who will transfer to the nearby seaside town of Swakopmund. It's about a 30-minute drive on good roads along the Atlantic coastline, with the ocean on your left and the desert sand dunes on your right. Your accommodation is in one of Swakopmund's comfortable and welcoming guesthouses. Relax after your long flight with a leisurely walk through the town centre or by strolling along the beach. For dinner you have the choice of Swakopmund's many good restaurants which are renowned for their delicious and fresh seafood.
Includes breakfast on the flight.
Day 3 - Damaraland
You will be met at the guesthouse early by your guide and set of on safari. Some of your fellow travellers may not travel with you from Swakopmund, choosing to connect with the safari from Wereldsend instead. The route begins by travelling north along the Atlantic Coast, across vast desert plains. A little north of the small town of Henties Bay you'll turn inland, driving across gravel plains and into the scenic landscape of Damaraland. It's about a five hour drive before you reach Wereldsend, your base and the first night camping.
The Wild Namibia Adventure can also be easily arranged as part of a self-drive holiday around Namibia. After driving yourselves to Wereldsend in Damaraland, you would leave your vehicle at the base camp here and join your specialist guide and the group on this 6-night safari.
Wereldsend is the historic base of IRDNC (Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation) and from where this now national community-based conservation programme was piloted in the early 1980's. This safari camps here by special arrangement; seeing the work done from the IRDNC base is fascinating and serves to place the entire conservation of Namibia's northwest Kunene region into context. During the afternoon there may be time to visit a nearby graveyard of bones, a potent reminder of mass commercial poaching during the 70's and early 80's. Poaching came close to wiping out desert-adapted rhino and elephant from these parts of Namibia. Your guide will explain how attitudes have changed since then and how conservationists working with rural communities have turned the situation around. Tonight's accommodation will be in a semi-permanent, comfortable tented camp.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 4 - Hoanib Valley
Head out early accompanied by the Torra Conservancy wildlife wardens known as 'game guards'. The guards will take you by vehicle, and perhaps on foot so stout footwear is essential, in search of desert-adapted black rhino. En route they will point out and describe other interesting animals and plants found here - many unique to Namibia.
Later in the morning you'll leave Wereldsend behind, heading north and driving deeper into the wild Kunene region of Namibia; an area sometimes referred to as Kaokoland. Travel through the small outpost of Sesfontein (named for the six springs or fountains in the area) and past basalt hills, a typical feature of Damaraland. Your destination is the dry bed of the Hoanib River, a linear oasis with tall winterthorn, leadwood and camelthorn trees marking its course through an otherwise arid landscape. The remainder of the day is spent exploring this fascinating eco-system, once again searching for desert-adapted wildlife including elephants, giraffe, gemsbok and even lion if you're lucky, all of which seasonally use this ephemeral river's resources. In the late afternoon you'll climb out of the riverbed to set up a remote mobile camp at the foot of the hills. It's a location that offers amazing views across the Hoanib Valley.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 5 - Puros Conservancy
Continue your drive of discovery through the Hoanib river course during the morning and before heading further north towards the Puros Conservancy. This vast area of Namibia covers 3,568km2 of magnificent and remote landscape and is home to a population of less than 300 semi-nomadic Himba and Herero herders. These indigenous people live in small family settlements dotted throughout the desert. Keep your cameras ready for sights of rural living: domestic stock feeding peacefully alongside wildlife near a small village; a colourfully clothed Herero woman with her full-skirted dress sweeping the ground, walking alongside her Himba neighbour who is painted in ochre and clad in calf-skins; children, just out from school, playing a desert version of soccer using a ball made of plastic and rubber bands.
Conservancies in Namibia are member-defined areas zoned for a variety of uses including farming, mixed farming and wildlife, core wildlife and tourism. They are not game reserves but communal land where the majority of Namibia's two million people live. Puros, which borders the Skeleton Coast Park, is one such conservancy. In return for the sustainable management of wildlife in their area, Namibia's conservancies legally acquire rights to benefit from non-consumptive and consumptive use of the land. Puros's conservancy owned enterprises include a popular campsite, a self-catering restcamp and a traditional Himba village and craft market open to tourists. In addition, Puros is one of the conservancies that part-own the safari company you travel with on the Wild Namibia Adventure. Run by a team with many years of experience in the safari industry, money made by this safari company goes towards helping the conservancy manage their wildlife and build a future for their children.
Tonight's accommodation is in a mobile camp set up at the Puros Conservancy Camp. Enjoy an evening of lively discussion around the camp fire and the possibility of elephants strolling past your tent during the night.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 6 & 7 - Orupembe Conservancy
Take a scenic drive up the Hoarusib River, cross the flank of the Etendeka Mountains and descend into the Khumib dry riverbed. Your route travels across dramatic landscapes and passes small Himba settlements. Your destination for the next two nights is Etambura Camp, Namibia's first Himba-owned camp. You'll sleep in simple, yet comfortable canvas and thatch units each with an en suite bathroom, private deck and magnificent views. Your safari group has exclusive use of Etambura Camp during your stay and you'll spend each evening with your conservancy hosts, conversing around the camp fire with the game guards and/or conservancy staff.
The emphasis during your stay in the Orupembe Conservancy is on the interesting and intricate culture of the local Himba people. For instance, a member of the conservancy may describe how myrrh (used for its fragrance and medicinal qualities) is collected. In the months of December to April, Himba women harvest resin from the plant commiphora wildii (the perfume plant, also known as myrrh, and made famous by the Bible's three wise men). Hear how IRDNC has assisted conservancies to earn a regular annual income by sustainably harvesting and marketing this valuable product to international cosmetic companies. You're likely to also get some insight into the challenges of living in an arid and harsh environment and the adaptations that the people here need to make to survive both as an individual and a society in such circumstances.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 8 - Sesfontein Conservancy
After a hearty breakfast you turn and head south. Pause briefly in Puros before following the course of the Gomatum River and travelling across the Giribis Plains where you might find the mysterious fairy circles. A noticeable feature, these are a circular patch of ground devoid of vegetation. Nobody really knows what causes them but in addition to the idea that they were created by fairies, the various theories to their existence include: the suggestion that they are the sites of long dead termite colonies; that they are small hard pans where water is unable to penetrate the soil and so no vegetation grows; or that they are an area upon which a highly poisonous euphorbia bush once grew leaving noxious chemicals in the soil long after it died.
Spend the night at in a private mobile camp set up at the Ganamub Mountain Campsite, on a hillside amongst giant granite boulders. Enjoy the sounds and the scents of the African night whilst around the campfire on your last night in this remote corner of Namibia.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 9 - Swakopmund
Enjoy a leisurely breakfast before travelling south, via the outpost of Sesfontein and the edge of the Palmwag Concession, back to the base camp at Wereldsend. It's a long drive today as you continue west and south to Swakopmund on the Atlantic Coast. Arriving back at your guesthouse in the early evening, there's time to make arrangements for a relaxing dinner at a nearby restaurant.
If the long drive doesn't appeal to you, speak to us about the possibility of a flight transfer from Wereldsend to Swakopmund. This can be arranged at an additional cost.
Includes breakfast and lunch.
Day 10 - Flight to London
You'll have time to visit the town centre and pick up any last minute souvenirs this morning before transferring to Walvis Bay Airport for your scheduled flight home.
Includes breakfast. Dinner is on the flight.
Day 11 - Arrive in London
Return home with a greater knowledge of other fascinating cultures and how countries such as Namibia are working together with their specialists and communities to conserve their unique and amazing landscapes and wildlife.
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