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Namibia Grand Tour (self-drive)
NCG14W

14 NIGHTS
FROM $1,352
International flights and car hire quoted separately
A self drive holiday that explores the deserts & canyons of the deep south of Namibia - including the Kalahari, the awesome Fish River Canyon (the second largest on earth), the Succulent Karoo and the Namib Desert. Visit the diamond town of Luderitz; the ghost town of Kolmanskop; the seaside resort of Swakopmund; Twyfelfontein; Etosha National Park & Africat.
HIGHLIGHTS
Fish River Canyon Namibia Fish River Canyon Holidays Fish River Canyon Vacation Namibia Africat Namibia Cheetah
• Windhoek • Aus • Kavango • Caprivi
• Swakopmund • Twyfelfontein Paintings • Etosha National Park • Game Drives
• Livingstone • Africat Foundation
Day 1
Arrive at Windhoek Airport, collect your hire car and drive to your hotel in Windhoek.
  
Check in and relax under warm blue Namibian skies.
Day 2
This morning drive southwards for 5-hours along the edges of the vast Kalahari, the largest sand mass on earth. With its endless plains interspersed with Acacia trees and shrubs, this harsh environment is home to the Bushman people as well as an amazing variety of wildlife.
 
View the unique fauna and flora of the Kalahari that have survived in this desert environment for thousands of years, before checking into your Kalahari guesthouse for dinner and overnight.
Day 3
Today drive 5-hours south to the great Fish River Canyon, the second largest on earth. As you travel through the rocky plains see unique Quiver Trees nestled amongst huge dolerite boulders, some stacked in such a mysterious way that it seems impossible that they were formed by natural forces.
 
Check into your lodge near the Fish River Canyon and enjoy a sundowner walk across the boulder-studded plains, hills and rock formations of Gondwana Canyon Park.
Day 4
Today explore the magnificent Fish River Canyon, where the dramatic geological formations of the Nama Karoo Desert take on stupendous proportions.
 
The vegetation is characterized by dwarf shrubs and scattered grasslands. The slopes of the plateau mountains and vast plains are home to Hartmann’s mountain zebra, springbok, gemsbok, kudu and ostrich. Relax in this area of great natural beauty.  
Day 5
Turning north, today drive 5-hours to Luderitz travelling through more spectacular scenery and the small town of Aus. The Succulent Karoo is a winter rainfall area, with bizarre looking shrubs that store moisture in their leaves and stems to tide them over the dry summer months. This desert is one of the top 20 plant biomes in the world, with an amazing diversity of desert-adapted flora.
  
Continue to the ghost town of Kolmanskop which had been absorbed by desert sands, or take a nature drive to see the Wild Desert Horses at Garub, a watering point where they can be observed as they come to drink. Check in to your hotel in the small diamond town of Lüderitz on the Atlantic Coast.
Day 6
Continue northwards today through ever-changing landscapes into the great Namib Desert, a 7-hour drive through dramatically beautiful desert scenery. The terrain becomes more arid as you travel towards Sossusvlei, whose great mountains of sand are a monument to the extreme forces of nature.
 
Explore the Gondwana Namib Park and Namib Naukluft Park before checking into your Namib Desert lodge. The petrified dunes of the dry riverbed of the Dieprivier are a special attraction, as they are remnants of the fossilised dunes of the ancient Namib, now overlaid with the sands of the younger Namib.
Day 7
Today we recommend an optional tour to Sossusvlei. An early start is imperative as this is the coolest part of the day and the best for photography, as you travel by 4x4 vehicle into this famous clay pan surrounded by some of the highest sand dunes in the world – an endless sea of reddish sand stretching all the way to the distant horizon.
 
Its monumental star shaped sand dunes, some up to 1,000 ft (325m) when measured from the base, were formed by strong multi-directional winds. The warm tints of sand ranging from apricot to orange, red and maroon, contrast vividly with the stark white surface of the clay pans at their base.  This provides photographers with a spectacular display of images to capture.  
  
Climbing one of these dunes affords the energetic traveller an unforgettable experience of endless vistas across a sea of dunes. Time will also be taken to explore the impressive conglomerate gorges of the Sesriem Canyon, with its rock pools fed by the Tsauchab River. The erosion of many centuries has resulted in a narrow gorge, which in the rainy season sometimes fills the rock pools. The name Sesriem is derived from the six “rieme” (leather thongs) that early pioneers used to draw water from these pools.
Day 8
Today drive overland for 4-hours to Swakopmund, through the starkly beautiful Gaub and Kuiseb Canyons of the Namib Desert. Visit Moon Valley, an unusual landscape formed by the valleys of the Swakop River and view ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis plants found on its vast gravel plains, before arriving in the charming seaside town of Swakopmund with its old lighthouse and easy access to the sand dunes and activities of the Namib.
 
Swakopmund is situated on the Atlantic Coast where the cold Benguela Current sweeps up from Antarctica, releasing no moisture into the prevailingly onshore winds – hence the very low rainfall and desert conditions. Fog is common along the coast in the early mornings and late afternoons and this is what gives life to the desert-adapted flora and fauna of the region. The cold current is also highly oxygenated, causing it to teem with marine life.
 
Check into your hotel and relax on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
Day 9
This morning we recommend an optional 3-hour Marine Cruise from Walvis Bay to view the resident school of dolphins and large seal colony at Pelican Point, whilst enjoying oysters and champagne on board.
 
Marine bird life is abundant and includes pelicans, terns and large flocks of flamingos which live in the shallow waters surrounding the harbour. You may also see migrating whales in season (September to October). Afternoon at leisure in Swakopmund.
Day 10
This morning drive 5-hours across the barren Skeleton Coast, renowned for its many shipwrecks and inhospitable coastline. It is here one finds a small lichen reserve, where a relatively large variety of these interesting and slow growing organisms are protected. Also stop to see the thriving population of seals at Cape Cross Seal Reserve and the many gannets and other sea birds in this area.
  
Continue to timeless Damaraland and take time to explore the semi-desert flora and fauna of this region and its fascinating rock formations, as you travel through vast uninhabited open spaces.
  
Also visit geological features in the area such as the Organ Pipes and the Petrified Forest where millions of years ago giant tree trunks were deposited and subsequently turned to stone. In the late afternoon check into your lodge near Twyfelfontein.
Day 11
Today drive 5-hours through Damaraland to Etosha National Park, one of the largest and greatest game parks in Africa.
 
Etosha owes its unique landscape to a vast shallow depression – the Etosha Pan.  During the dry season it becomes an expanse of white cracked mud, shimmering with mirages and spiralling dust devils, with its open pans offering magnificent game viewing. Etosha is home to over a hundred different species of mammals, including cheetah, leopard, lion, elephant, rhino, giraffe, zebra and wildebeest.
 
Check into your rest camp near the southern entrance to the park.
Day 12
Today is devoted to self drive game viewing in the famous Etosha National Park, one of the largest wildlife conservation areas in Africa surrounding an enormous salt pan that is the size of the Netherlands.We recommend setting off early each morning as the camp gates open (05h30 to 06h00 depending on the season), to take advantage of the best game viewing conditions of the day.
  
Explore the vast Etosha Pan, which offer magnificent game viewing opportunities including springbok, oryx, black-faced impala and the small Damara dik-dik. A series of waterholes throughout the park guarantees rewarding game viewing, with Etosha being renowned for its vast arrays of plains game and its “great cats” which are more easily seen on the open pans - including cheetah and leopard.
  
The rest of the morning is free to relax by the swimming pool, before setting out again in the late afternoon for another game drive. With over 100 different species of mammals and reptiles in Etosha National Park, you can hope to see giraffe, hyena, kudu, springbok, warthogs, baboons and many other interesting animals. Etosha is also a bird watchers paradise, with hundreds of recorded bird species and many migrants during the summer months.
 
After a beautiful African sunset, enjoy the balmy evening and pristine stars of the Milky Way as you have never seen them before – as well as the spectacular Southern Cross.
Day 13
Today spend the whole day exploring Etosha National Park, as you drive to your next rest camp in this great game sanctuary.
 
Enjoy spectacular game viewing on the open pans, where game is more easily visible, as well as wonderful viewing at the rest camp waterholes.
Day 14
Today drive southwards for 3-hours through central Namibia to Okonjima. Travel through the mining centre of Tsumeb, where a rich ore pipe is mined for copper, zinc, lead, silver and a variety of unusual crystals. Also pass Lake Otjikoto where in 1915 the retreating German forces dumped weapons to prevent them from falling into the hands of the South African Union Forces. Several of these weapons have been recovered and can be viewed at the Tsumeb Museum.  
  
Continue to Okonjima, the home of the Africat Foundation dedicated to the preservation of Namibia’s large carnivores, but especially leopard and cheetah. Namibia accounts for 25% of the world’s population of the endangered cheetah, which can be radio-tracked on foot in the rehabilitation area where they roam freely and catch their own prey. Leopards are also frequently seen from the viewing hide or can be radio-tracked from the game viewing vehicle.
 
Check in to your lodge, settle in and relax in this wonderful wildlife centre, before enjoying an open top Game Drive in the reserve.
Day 15
Drive 3-hours through central Namibia to drop off your hire car at Windhoek Airport for your flight home.
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