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This safari to Namibia offers an unrivalled wilderness journey set against a backdrop of stunning dunes and
rugged mountains. After enjoying fantastic game viewing at Ongava, you explore remote and wild areas
of the dramatic Skeleton Coast. Escorted by some of Namibia's most informative and engaging guides you
will see aspects of Namibia's most beautiful areas seldom visited by other travellers. You will stay in some
of the country's top lodges, while the tented camps offer elegance, style and all the comforts. Camps in
private reserves allow you an almost exclusive experience.
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Mopane Safari Summary:
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| Day 1 |
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Flight to Namibia |
| Day 2 |
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Windhoek, guesthouse |
| Day 3 & 4 |
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Namib-Naukluft Park, lodge |
| Day 5 & 6 |
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Swakopmund, hotel |
| Day 7 |
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Damaraland, tented camp |
| Day 8 & 9 |
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Palmwag, tented camp |
| Day 10 & 11 |
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Etosha National Park, tented camp |
| Day 12/13/14 |
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Skeleton Coast, tented camp |
| Day 15 |
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Windhoek, guesthouse |
| Day 16 |
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Flight to London |
| Day 17 |
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Arrive in London |
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DETAILED ITINERARY:
Day 1 - Flight to Namibia
Scheduled overnight flight from London to Windhoek, via Johannesburg, with South African Airways.
Day 2 - Windhoek
On arrival in Windhoek, you are met and driven to a comfortable guesthouse, where you can relax or set off to
explore the city on the first day of your safari to Namibia. For dinner you can chose from among Windhoek's
many good restaurants, or alternatively dine at the guesthouse. Our Namibian team is easily contactable if
you have any queries.
Day 3 - Namib-Naukluft Park
After breakfast your guide collects you at the guesthouse. Heading southwestward, you stop for a picnic lunch
by the Khomas Hochland escarpment to enjoy the sweeping vistas below, before descending to the flat coastal
plain of the Namib Desert. Here you'll stay at the excellent Kulala Wilderness Camp, which has just nine
thatch-and-canvas kulalas (chalets) built on elevated wooden decks overlooking a rocky area of the desert.
Later in the afternoon, with your guide, you look more closely at the Kulala Reserve's unique fauna and
flora, before enjoying a delicious candle-lit dinner.
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Day 4 - Namib-Naukluft Park
You are woken early, then drive deep into the Namib's Great Dune Field. Following the sandy bed of the
ephemeral Tsauchab River, you eventually reach Sossusvlei, where the river's course is finally swallowed into
the great mass of apricot dunes, towering up to 300 metres high. Arriving here while the morning light is
soft, you'll see one of Namibia's most photogenic landscapes at its best; it's totally magical. Those
energetic enough to climb a dune are rewarded by a stunning view from the top.
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As the desert heats up in the late morning, you leave Sossusvlei and retreat to the cool haven of Kulala
Wilderness Camp. Your chalet has a great view over the valley and the mountains beyond. Here, you can enjoy a
swim in the pool, and perhaps a nature drive or walk in the afternoon. To round off the day in romantic style
you may opt to sleep under the starry Namibian sky, as your room has its own private sleeping platform on the
roof. This is highly recommended as a great way to spend a night whilst on safari in Namibia.
Day 5 & 6 - Swakopmund
Leaving the Namib-Naukluft Park after breakfast, you travel north-west, crossing the Kuiseb's riverbed. This
route takes you right across the desert - beside towering sand dunes, through dark craggy canyons and across
wide, flat gravel plains dotted with isolated inselbergs. It's a spectacularly diverse drive, with a chance
to see some of the desert's unique Welwitschia plants, and a picnic stop en-route allows you to soak up the
atmosphere. Your journey ends in the old German town of Swakopmund, where you stay at the Hansa Hotel, said
to be one of this pleasant coastal resort's oldest buildings.
Your second day begins with short drive along the coast to the town of Walvis Bay. Spend the morning on the
calm waters of the Walvis Bay Lagoon and, weather permitting, further out towards Sandwich Harbour to see the
Atlantic Ocean's rich marine life and diverse bird life up close. Favourites are always the playful Cape fur
seals and the rare heaviside dolphins. A private lunch is set up for your group at an isolated spot along the
beach; the delicious fare usually includes the fresh seafood for which this area is well known.
After lunch you return to Swakopmund, where your afternoon is free simply to relax or to explore the town's
cafés, art galleries, museums, gem stores and curio markets.
Day 7 - Damaraland
As you drive north from Swakopmund, you travel along the infamous Skeleton Coast, perhaps stopping at Cape
Cross to visit a huge breeding colony of Cape fur seals. Then, turning away from the coast, you head east,
using back roads to travel across the windswept gravel plains around the Brandberg, Namibia's highest
mountain, and into Damaraland. This is an area of stark desert beauty full of sandstone mountains, plateaus
and rare succulent plants sustained only by the sea mists. Depending on time, you may stop to explore remote
petrified forests and Gai As spring with its archaeological stone circles. You arrive at Damaraland Camp in
the late afternoon ready for a chilled sundowner drink around the campfire.
Day 8 & 9 - Desert Rhino Camp, Palmwag
This morning you take time to explore the Huab riverbed in search of desert-adapted elephants before heading
north through the mountains and into the immense Palmwag reserve. This 4,047 km2 private reserve has a number
of freshwater springs that support strong populations of game, including elephant, the rare Hartmann's
mountain zebra, giraffe, oryx, springbok and kudu. Predators including lion, cheetah, leopard, brown and
spotted hyena are occasionally seen here too. It's a really unique area and a special treat to visit on any
Namibian safari.
The speciality of the area is its growing population of rare desert-adapted black rhino, the largest
concentration in the world outside a national park. The rhino here are monitored and protected by the Save
the Rhino Trust and you spend some of your time tracking these magnificent animals with your guide.
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Day 10 & 11 - Etosha National Park
After breakfast, you continue to the private Ongava Game Reserve, adjacent to Etosha's southwestern boundary.
Arriving in the early afternoon, you have two nights at the excellent Ongava Tented Camp, from where you can
explore this superb park.
Etosha National Park covers about 22,000 km2 and is one of Africa's top game areas. Morning activities usually
focus on 4WD explorations of the park, whilst in the afternoon and evening the focus shifts to Ongava Reserve.
Here you can go on walking safaris or night drives and use game hides - walking safaris are not possible within
the park. All the drives use open 4WDs, so expect unrestricted views of the reserve's game.
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Day 12, 13 & 14 - Skeleton Coast
After breakfast you leave the roads and your safari vehicle behind to take a breathtaking flight over
dramatic desert landscapes to the exclusive Skeleton Coast Research Camp situated in a 2,428 km2 private
reserve in Namibia's Skeleton Coast Park. This is one of the most starkly beautiful and also one of the most
fragile ecosystems on the Earth. The Skeleton Coast Research Camp has been set up as a base for research on
lichens, a vital component of the coastal Namib Desert ecosystem, as well as desert-adapted giraffe and
elephant.
Full-day explorations in 4WD Land Rovers allow you to discover roaring sand dunes, windswept plains and
towering canyons. The desolate and uninhabited coastline is home to numerous seal colonies and a graveyard of
shipwrecks. Saltpans attract interesting birdlife and the freshwater springs sustain animal life such as
springbok, oryx, elephant, brown hyena, jackal, ostrich and Hartmann's mountain zebra. A possible cultural
visit to one of the remote and nomadic Himba villages rounds off a fantastic experience in one of the most
hauntingly beautiful spots on the planet.
Day 15 - Windhoek
After breakfast you depart on a light aircraft flight back to Windhoek. You arrive back at your guesthouse in
the afternoon with time spare to relax or explore the city before the evening. Lunch and dinner are at your
own expense so you have the choice of Windhoek's many restaurants or dining at the guesthouse.
Day 16 - Flight to London
After time free in Windhoek, you are collected from your guesthouse and transferred to the airport in time to
depart on your scheduled flight to London.
Day 17 - Arrive in London
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Departures:
Cost is per person sharing, departing and returning UK
There is a single supplement of £690.
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| 10/11/08 - 26/11/08 | £4009 | | 16/11/08 - 02/12/08 | £4009 | | 29/11/08 - 15/12/08 | £4009 | | 20/12/08 - 05/01/08 | £4477 | | 05/01/09 - 21/01/09 | £5103 | | 31/01/09 - 16/02/09 | £5103 | | 18/02/09 - 06/03/09 | £5103 | | 01/04/09 - 17/04/09 | £4937 | | 13/04/09 - 29/04/09 | £4937 | | 03/05/09 - 19/05/09 | £4937 | | 18/05/09 - 03/06/09 | £4937 | | 06/06/09 - 22/06/09 | £4937 | | 13/06/09 - 29/06/09 | £4937 | | 21/06/09 - 07/07/09 | £4937 | | 30/06/09 - 16/07/09 | £5174 | | 06/07/09 - 22/07/09 | £5174 | | 26/07/09 - 11/08/09 | £5174 | | 01/08/09 - 17/08/09 | £5174 | | 05/08/09 - 21/08/09 | £5174 | | 11/08/09 - 27/08/09 | £5174 | | 17/08/09 - 02/09/09 | £5174 | | 02/09/09 - 18/09/09 | £5174 | | 15/09/09 - 01/10/09 | £5174 | | 29/09/09 - 15/10/09 | £5340 | | 10/10/09 - 26/10/09 | £5340 | | 04/11/09 - 20/11/09 | £5340 | | 10/11/09 - 26/11/09 | £5103 | | 29/11/09 - 15/12/09 | £5103 | | 20/12/09 - 05/01/10 | £5609 | | | |
Note: The safari is run in reverse on some dates, beginning
with day 3 in the Skeleton Coast Park
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This itinerary can be downloaded from our Downloads Page
Or you can Email a friend about this itinerary.
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