NPK12W: Namibia + Cape Town

Day 1

You will be met at Windhoek Airport by your Namibia safari host, who will introduce you to the stark beauty of Namibia on your 3-hour drive north 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, settle in and relax before enjoying observing the work of this wonderful wildlife rehabilitation centre.

Day 2

After an early morning game drive in the Africat wilderness reserve, today we continue northwards for 3-hours to one of Africa’s largest and greatest game parks - the Etosha National Park.

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 game lodge near the entrance to the park and enjoy a late afternoon open-top game drive into Etosha National Park.

Day 3

Today is devoted to game viewing in Etosha National Park with your guide in his vehicle. As you will have the services of your private driver/guide throughout your safari, you will have the flexibility of discussing preferred routings and travelling times with him each day. However 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.

Etosha is also a bird watchers paradise, with hundreds of recorded bird species and many migrants during the summer months.

In the evening, enjoy the balmy weather and pristine stars of the Southern Sky and Milky Way, as you have never seen them before – including the spectacular Southern Cross.

Note: Children <6 are not allowed on open top game drives. However they may enjoy unlimited game drives in your host’s vehicle

Day 4

After a final game drive in Etosha Game Reserve, today we journey southwest for 5-hours into timeless Damaraland - home of the Brandberg Mountains, the highest in Namibia and the Spitzkoppe.

We take time to stop and explore the semi-desert flora and fauna of this fascinating region. We also view some fascinating rock formations, as we travel through the vast uninhabited open spaces of Damaraland.

Twyfelfontein, meaning ‘doubtful spring’, has been declared a World Heritage site to preserve the ancient rock paintings and engravings left by the early San Bushmen. The slopes of the area are strewn with boulders dotted with thousands of their rock art and paintings – making it a virtual open-air museum!

We also visit other 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 in to your lodge near Twyfelfontein.

Day 5

This morning we travel 5-hours across the barren Skeleton Coast, renowned for its many shipwrecks and inhospitable coastline to Swakopmund.

It is here that one finds a small lichen reserve, where a relatively large variety of these interesting and slow growing organisms are protected. We 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.

Swakopmund is Namibia’s premier holiday resort 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 the desert conditions of Namibia. Fog is common along the coast in the early mornings and late afternoons and it is this fog that 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 in to your hotel in Swakopmund, with its charming harbour and lighthouse and easy access to the sand dunes and activities of the Namib Desert.

Day 6

Today we travel 4-hours through the starkly beautiful Gaub and Kuiseb Canyons, with ever changing landscapes and dramatically beautiful scenery to the Namib Desert.

On the way we visit Moon Valley, an unusual landscape formed by the valleys of the Swakop River and view ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis found on its vast gravel plains.

The terrain becomes more arid as we travel towards Sossusvlei, whose great mountains of sand are a monument to the extreme forces of nature.

Check in to your desert lodge near Sossusvlei.

Day 7

An early start is imperative, as this is not only the coolest part of the day but the best for photography, as we 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 with 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. The erosion of many centuries has resulted in a narrow gorge, which in 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 sunset enjoy a nature drive into the desert.

Day 8

This morning we travel 5-hours to Windhoek through spectacular desert scenery.

Enjoy a short orientation tour of Windhoek with its charming German architecture before checking in to your hotel.

Balance of day at leisure to explore the town on foot or relax by the swimming pool.

Day 9

This morning transfer to Windhoek Airport for your 2-hour flight to Cape Town.

You will be met at Cape Town Airport by your Cape host, who will transfer you to your luxury hotel conveniently situated near the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.

Check in and relax in your magnificent surroundings.

Day 10

Today is free for independent sightseeing in Cape Town.

You will be given a day pass for the convenient red Hop-On Hop-Off Bus, which stops at all Cape Town’s key sights and beaches. Start by ascending Table Mountain by cable car to enjoy one of the world’s most famous views. Continue to Camps Bay beach and then explore the shops and many other attractions of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, which is also the centre of Cape Town’s nightlife.

Alternatively choose one of the many local excursions available such as a visit to Robben Island, the infamous prison home of Nelson Mandela. Or simply relax on golden Camp’s Bay beach – the choice is yours!

Day 11

This morning your host will collect you for a full day tour to the beautiful Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.

We start with a short boat trip from Hout Bay to view Cape Fur seals at Seal Island. We continue via spectacular Chapman’s Peak Drive to Cape Point where we hope to see ostrich, baboons and perhaps even dolphins. On the return journey we pass through naval Simons Town, and stop to see its resident penguin colony at Boulders Beach.

We also make a short stop at the Living Hope HIV/AIDs craft centre, your opportunity to support this self-help scheme by purchasing some of their hand-made products, before returning to your hotel in the late afternoon.

Day 12

Enjoy a full day tour to the Stellenbosch Winelands today, travelling through the scenic Franschhoek Valley where a handful of French Huguenot refugees started South Africa’s now famous wine industry.

Visit the historic town of Stellenbosch and several different Wine Estates of your choice – sampling as you go! Enjoy a picnic lunch at a wine estate, before visiting a cheetah breeding project and another Wine Estate on the way home.

Day 13

Return transfer to Cape Town Airport for your flight home.