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Remote Namibia Safari

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Overview

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Day 1 - Windhoek

After clearing Namibian customs you will be met and transferred to a comfortable guesthouse situated in one of Windhoek's leafy suburbs. Take time this afternoon to relax by the pool or set off to explore the town. Choose among Windhoek's many good restaurants for dinner.

No meals included.

Day 2 - Namib-Naukluft National Park

After breakfast your guide collects you at the guesthouse to begin your journey through Namibia. Heading southwestward, you stop for a picnic lunch on the escarpment of the Khomas Hochland highlands and enjoy the sweeping vistas below, before descending to the flat coastal plain of the Namib Desert. Here you'll stay at Kulala Desert Lodge, situated on a remote private desert reserve.

Accommodation will be in spacious and comfortable chalets known as 'kulalas'. Each en-suite chalet has a well-designed, luxury, interior with panoramic views of the surrounding landscapes and a rooftop 'sky bed' for guests who wish to stargaze under a clear African sky. The lodge's main area houses a small bar, a dining area and a reference library and there's a refreshing swimming pool nearby.

During the afternoon, with your expert safari guide, you look more closely at the Namib Desert's unique fauna and flora by exploring the private Kulala Reserve. End your day with a delicious candle-lit dinner.

Windhoek to Kulala Reserve: approx. 5.5 hours (340km)

Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 3 - Namib-Naukluft National Park

You are woken before dawn, and then drive deep into the Namib Desert's Great Dune Field as the rising sun casts a warm glow over the desert plains. You'll enter Namib-Naukluft National Park through a private gate and follow the course of the ephemeral Tsauchab River. Your end point is Sossusvlei, where the river's path is finally swallowed into the great mass of apricot sand dunes; some towering up to 300 metres high. Experiencing this area 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.

As the desert heats up in the late morning, you leave Sossusvlei and retreat to the cool haven of your lodge. Your chalet has a great view over the desert valley and offers a great spot to relax in. During the afternoon you can enjoy a swim in the pool, and perhaps a nature drive or walk into the local area.

Kulala to Sossusvlei to Kulala: approx. 2 hours (140km)

Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Days 4 & 5 - Swakopmund

Board a light aircraft for a scenic flight over the Namib Desert and north along the coastline to Swakopmund Airport (weather permitting). A short road transfer will take you to the colonial style Hansa Hotel, said to be one of this pleasant coastal resort's oldest buildings.

Your second day begins with a short drive along the coast to the port town of Walvis Bay. Start with a boat cruise in and around Walvis Bay harbour, in search of close encounters with the Atlantic Ocean's rich marine life and diverse birdlife. Favourites are always the playful Cape fur seals and the rare Heaviside dolphins. Your skipper will drop you off on a deserted beach where you'll swap to a 4WD to explore the coastal dunes and salt pans.

After a private seafood lunch you return to Swakopmund where your afternoon and evening on this day of the Remote Namibia Safari is free simply to relax or to explore the town's cafes, restaurants, waterfront, art galleries, museums, gem stores and curio markets.

Kulala to Swakopmund: approx. 90 minute scenic flight

Includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Day 4 (dinner is excluded on Day 5, the second night in Swakopmund).

Day 6 - Terrace Bay

As you drive north from Swakopmund, you travel along the infamous Skeleton Coast and into Skeleton Coast National Park. Your destination is Terrace Bay Resort; accommodation at the only lodge in this very remote corner of the wild coast is in much simpler, but still comfortable, en-suite rooms. On route you may stop to view the fascinating lichen plains at Wlotskasbaken, the ghostly remains of mining operations near Toscanini, and the remains of the Zelia shipwreck near Henties Bay and the SW Seal shipwreck near Ugabmund. It's a long drive through stark yet interesting landscapes.

Swakopmund to Terrace Bay: approx. 6.5 hours (380km)

Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Days 7 & 8 - Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp

You delve deeper into the Skeleton Coast wilderness, driving through an area traversed by few visitors. Although you only cover about 140 kilometers today, the drive takes about five hours over little-used gravel roads. Pause at Mowe Bay where a park ranger maintains a small museum of shipwreck debris and records recounting the stories of shipwreck survivors. Other sights on route include the remains of the Suiderkus shipwreck, Klein Oase and Auses Springs hidden amongst the dunes, and an intriguing 'roaring' dune, all combined with whatever desert-adapted wildlife presents itself.

Spend two nights at the relatively new Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp (opened August 2014). Located in a broad valley at the confluence of two tributaries of the Hoanib River, the camp is surrounded by rugged scenery inhabited by plant and animal life that has adapted superbly to the harsh environment of mountains, vast plains, dunes and dry riverbeds. At night you'll stay in one of eight very smart en-suite tented rooms, and by day you'll seek out desert-adapted flora and fauna by vehicle or on foot.

Terrace Bay to Hoanib Camp: approx. 5 hours (140km)

Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Days 9 & 10 - Desert Rhino Camp

It is a long yet interesting drive through the immense 4,047km2 private Palmwag Reserve to Desert Rhino Camp. Your accommodation at this wonderfully remote camp is in one of eight large walk-in tents, each with an en-suite bathroom. Although the surrounding landscape appears parched, a number of freshwater springs support an amazing variety of wildlife, including desert-adapted elephant, the rare Hartmann's mountain zebra, giraffe, oryx, springbok and kudu. It is even possible to see lion, cheetah, leopard, brown and spotted hyena here too.

This remote part of Namibia is also home to a growing population of black rhino, the largest concentration outside a national park found anywhere in the world. The rhino here are protected and monitored by Save the Rhino Trust and part of your safari is spent tracking these magnificent animals by vehicle and then on foot.

Hoanib to Rhino Camp: approx. 8 hours (180km)

Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 11 - Windhoek

A last morning drive takes you to Doro Nawas Airstrip where you depart on a light aircraft flight back to Windhoek. Your Remote Namibia Safari ends here and you bid your expert guide and the group farewell. You arrive back at your guesthouse in the late afternoon. Dinner is at your own expense today so you have the choice of Windhoek's many restaurants, or the option of ordering in at the guesthouse.

Note: Talk to us about adding on a visit to the private Ongava Game Reserve, adjacent to Etosha National Park's southern boundary. Etosha National Park covers 22,270km2 and is one of Africa's top game reserves. Days from Ongava usually begin with 4WD safari explorations of Etosha, whilst in the afternoon and evening the focus shifts to the equally productive private Ongava Reserve. Within the latter you may also be able to enjoy a short walking safari and end with a spot-lit drive back to camp, keeping a lookout for shy nocturnal species.

Two nights accommodation at either Ongava Tented Camp or Ongava Lodge and a flight transfer from Doro Nawas and on to Windhoek would cost about an additional GBP 1,389 / US$1,753 per person from May to June 2017 or GBP 1,620 / US$2,045 per person from July to November 2017. Solo travellers incur a single supplement surcharge of GBP 171 / US$215 from May to June; GBP 235 / US$297 from July to November. The price includes meals, most drinks and all activities.

Rhino Camp to Windhoek: drive approx. 1.5 hours (85km) followed by flight approx. 2.5 hours

Includes breakfast and lunch.

Day 12 - Flight home

Enjoy some free time in Windhoek before you are transferred to the airport in time to check-in for your departing flight.

Includes breakfast.

Remote Namibia Safari

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