Namib Desert + Windhoek + Etosha + Africat
NRE9W

You will be met at Windhoek Airport and transferred to your hotel.

 

Check in and relax under warm blue Namibian skies.

Today transfer 5-hours through ever-changing landscapes to the great Namib Desert.

 

The terrain becomes more arid as you travel past the Naukluft Massif towards Sossusvlei, whose great mountains of sand are a monument to the extreme forces of nature. Check in to your desert lodge in the Namib Desert and absorb the dramatically beautiful scenery.

Today we recommend an optional tour to see the giant sanddunes at Sossusvlei.

 

An early start is imperative, as this is the coolest part of the day and the best for photography. Travel by 4x4 vehicle into the famous Sossusvlei, a 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.

At leisure to relax and enjoy the stark beauty of the Namib Desert.

 

Explore the area on foot or enjoy one of the optional activities in the region, such as horse riding or a pre-dawn Hot Air Balloon Ride over the majestic sand dunes. Alternatively simply relax and enjoy the spectacular desert landscape, with amazing star gazing in the evening.

Today travel 5-hours from the Namib Desert through spectacularly beautiful scenery to Windhoek.

  

Check into your hotel and relax under warm blue Namibian skies.

Today transfer overland for 4-hours through the starkly beautiful landscapes of central and northern Namibia to one of Africa’s largest and greatest game parks - Etosha National Park.

  

Etosha owes its unique landscape to a vast shallow depression called 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 100 different species of mammals including cheetah, leopard, lion, elephant, rhino, giraffe, zebra and wildebeest.

  

Check into your game lodge near the entrance to the park and enjoy your first open-top game drive, before dining under the stars in the atmosphere that only the African bushveld can provide!

Today is devoted purely to the abundant wildlife of 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.

 

Rise at dawn to take advantage of the best game viewing conditions of the day, as you enjoy a thrilling open-top game viewing drive in Etosha National Park. 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. Hope to see lion, elephant, rhino and possibly leopard, before returning to your lodge for breakfast.

  

The rest of the morning is free to relax by the lodge 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 cheetah, giraffe, kudu, sable antelope, 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.

  

Today transfer 3-hours through central Namibia to Okonjima.

  

This is 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 and settle in, before enjoying a game activity in the reserve.

Transfer 3-hours through central Namibia to Windhoek Airport for your flight home.