10 day Namibia Highlights
Priced from NAD 34 450 per person (based on 2 travellers). Should more than 2 people travel, the cost reduces.
Day 1 Windhoek/ Kalahari Desert
From Windhoek, you head south through desert shrub savannah to the Naukluft and Tsaris Mountains.
Situated only 43 kilometres south of Windhoek, the Auas Game Lodge offers 12 comfortable double en-suite bedrooms on a 10 000 hectare game farm with the emphasis on individual hospitality, ideal for smaller groups and families, who want to enjoy the panoramic view and the tranquillity of nature. The lodge offers walks with or without a guide.
Accommodation at Auas Game Lodge on a dinner and breakfast basis.
Day 2 Namib Desert
After breakfast, travel south to the Namib Desert for the next two nights. This is a beautiful drive passing through desert type savannah, open plains and rolling hills.
The vegetation changes from acacia savannah to desert shrub and then open landscapes, hills and passes … with some dramatic changes as you head south-west. There is a chance to stop at scenic sites: giant sociable weaver nests, wildlife such as chacma baboon, springbok, oryx and ostrich. Namibia is a country where the journey is often more important and interesting than the actual destination.
Situated 31.5km from the Sossusvlei entry gate, the newly rebuilt Desert Homestead has been skilfully designed to incorporate all the features that guests loved about the original lodge, whilst enjoying the benefit of a pristine location. Extra activities include horse riding, sun-downer drives, guided walks, hiking, ballooning, quad biking and flight excursions. A late afternoon nature drive or walk at the lodge is recommended, especially at sunset.
Accommodation at the Desert Homestead on a dinner and breakfast basis
Day 3 Sossusvlei
It’s an early morning start, in order to be at the Namib Naukluft Park gate at Sesriem in time for its opening at sunrise. Drive west to the beautiful Sossusvlei area where most of the morning will be spent on dune climbing, photography and to visit the amazing Dead Pan. A stunning area, especially at this time of day!
Star dunes rise up to 300 metres into the air and rank among the biggest in the world; the dune valleys are marked by vast clay pans where the Tsauchab River gave up its fight to reach the sea. More than 60,000 years ago, the encroaching dunes stopped the ephemeral river from reaching the sea with over 50 kilometres still to go.
Besides the dunes and pans of Sossusvlei and Sesriem Canyon, a sideshow of activities and sights has developed around the region and there are plenty of game lodges that provide additional desert-adapted activities. Plants and birds are the dominant life form in this desiccated realm and they support a tiny world of mammals, reptiles and insects that, in the absence of coastal fog, seldom wander far from the river-course and its pans.
This is a photographer’s haven especially in the morning light when the shadows magnify the sharp edges of the dunes, the red Namib sands shine and the area is just so beautiful. The Dead Pan is also one of the most beautiful places to visit, a short hike from one of the parking areas. On the way back to the lodge, stop over at Dune 45 which is probably the most photographed dune in the world. A visit to the enchanting Sesriem Gorge is also recommended where evidence of wetlands of days gone by is in clear evidence.
The afternoon is free to relax after the early morning rise and/or to go on a drive or a short hike in the area.
Overnight at the Desert Homestead includes dinner and breakfast
Days 4 and 5 Kuiseb Canyon, Swakopmund
The drive north (and then west) today takes you through the gradual change from mountains and dunes to rolling grass-covered hills with scattered acacia trees to Swakopmund, a quaint resort town by the sea with an obvious German heritage at odds with its bleak surrounds.
Look out for the endemic Hartmann's mountain zebra as you leave; stop at Solitaire, about 80 kilometres from Sesriem for some home-made bread and an ice cold drink; Kuiseb Canyon has some shady picnic spots; you can see springbok and pure-bred wild ostrich across the vast gravel plains of the Namib; the lunar landscape;, also look out for the unique Welwitschia plant.
The drive from the Sossusvlei area to Swakopmund will take 5-6 hours depending on how often you stop at scenic and other interesting sites.
Swakopmund is a lovely town situated on the Skeleton Coast at the mouth of the Swakop River. The town hosts a wide range of superb restaurants and other interests such as:
Marine Aquarium, street markets, Museum, Krystal Gallery, to name but a few
A visit to Swakopmund is not complete without taking a break at Café Anton for tea/coffee and fresh cake!
Swakopmund has some excellent restaurants, and some recommendations are:
The Tug - excellent for seafood
The Lighthouse - a superb family style restaurant
Erich’s - a wide range of fish and meat dishes
Brauhaus - German style cuisine and excellent beef steaks!
The first morning (Day 5) is set aside for an excursion to the Walvis Bay lagoon, a RAMSAR wetlands site, where thousands of flamingos, pelicans and numerous waders feed in the nutrient-rich shallows. The afternoon is free to spend in Swakopmund.
Optional extra activities:
scenic flights over the Skeleton Coast (recommended)
Dolphin boat cruise at Walvis Bay (recommended)
Dune 4X4 quad biking
One of the newest guest houses in town, the Swakopmund Guest House comprises of 12 superbly furnished rooms. Each room is individual, subtle changes to every room but keeps the lovely atmosphere throughout. All rooms have a small coffee station, fridge, television and telephone. Centre of town with a wide range of restaurants is literally two blocks away with the beach a 5 minute walk.
Accommodation at the Swakopmund Guest House on a bed and breakfast basis
Day 6 Skeleton Coast/ Twyfelfontein
Destination Damaraland today, where enormous granite outcrops and dolerite dykes have been carved by ice, wind and rain over eons. Grassy plains, tree-studded riverbeds and endless open skies add to the grandeur and make this area one of the most scenic in Namibia. The drive to Damaraland takes up to five hours because there is much to see and do along the way.
Drive along the Skeleton Coast via Henties Bay to Cape Cross - the largest breeding cape fur seal colony in the world. The stench of 100,000 seals can be a little over-powering so a handkerchief to cover the nose is recommended!
Enjoy lunch at Cape Cross Lodge or picnic at some suitably serene and other-worldly spot on the way to Uis. Along the way, top at the lichen fields and a salt pan.
If time permits this afternoon, visit the Twyfelfontein rock engravings and paintings, the Petrified Forest and the Organ Pipes. If the day was too interesting and arrival at the lodge is too late, visit Twyfelfontein the next morning.
Distance today will be about 400 kilometres but can take from 6 – 8 hours … depending on how often and for how long the stops are taken.
Twyfelfontein Lodge is situated in the Uibasen Twyfelfontein Conservancy, approx. 5km from the renowned historical site with some of the best specimens of rock engravings and paintings in Southern Africa. The Lodge boasts 57 en-suite double rooms, restaurant, bar and swimming pool. Other popular attractions include Burnt Mountain, the Organ Pipe rock formations, Doros Crater and Petrified Forest.
Accommodation at Twyfelfontein Lodge on a dinner and breakfast basis
Days 7, 8, 9 Etosha National Park
The drive to Etosha National Park is a scenic few hours through more of Damaraland’s singular beauty.
A visit to the Etosha National Park is one of the highlights of Namibia. Etosha, which was declared a game reserve by the German colonial administration in 1907, covers an area of more than 22 000 sq kilometres. In its centre lies a vast saltpan surrounded by grass and thorn savannah, Mopani bushland in the west and dry forest in the north-east. About two million years ago, this area was an enormous lake, fed by the Kunene river. However the lake slowly dried up as, over time, the river changed its course.
The pan is nearly always dry. However, in the southern parts there are some scattered water-holes, which form the basis of life for countless game. In years of good rain, sections of the pan are flooded and become home to many bird species, a speciality being flamingos that come to breed.
Be it a lion or an elephant, a giraffe or a zebra, an excellent number of Southern African animal species (except the Cape Buffalo) are represented in this huge game reserve, approximately the size of Wales.
The Etosha National Park has a good infrastructure. Well-maintained gravel roads lead to the waterholes, where game viewing is at its best. In the three main rest camps/resorts Okaukuejo, Halali and Namutoni, chalets and camping sites are available as well as restaurants, stores and swimming pools.
Two full days (three nights) are set aside to spend on game drives and game viewing at various waterholes in the beautiful game reserve. View numerous species of animals drinking at the same waterhole, a site not often seen in other parks.
Accommodation is in a Namibia Wildlife Resorts bungalow at Halali and/or Okaukuejo or at a lodge on the outskirts of the park.
Overnight included dinner and breakfast
Day 10 Windhoek
Exit Etosha today and head south via Otjiwarongo and the wood carvers market, ending in Windhoek in the afternoon. You have a long drive ahead of you today: up to six hours if you're travelling from the east and four from the south. The roads are all paved so it's a comfortable ride to arrive in time for your onward flight or a night in Windhoek.
This Guided safari includes the following:
Guide fees
Vehicle/s and all vehicle costs
All accommodation
Meals as indicated in the itinerary. Generally, all breakfasts are included as well as dinners in lodges where they sell as a DBB. Lunches or meals in restaurants are not included
Game drives in all national parks –not included on private concessions or reserves – unless specified in the itinerary
Park and other entry fees relating to parks and sites
Mineral water in vehicle/s and campsite/s
First Aid Kit –includes items and medical equipment to treat bruises, cuts and stings. Guides are NOT qualified to carry out medical duties and clients are advised to bring their own personal medicines for allergies etc.
Not included:
Alcoholic beverages or any drinks unless this is specified in the quote
Holiday or personal insurance
Personal needs or items such as laundry and phone calls
Flights –unless included in the itinerary
Guide or any staff gratuities
Visa or departure taxes
Government levies if and when they should be introduced
Code: NTS4
