North by North West

Duration: 15 nights

Tour group: 2 people

Accommodation lodges: 11 nights / camping 4 nights

Vehicle: 7 seater 4×4 safari vehicle with pop up roof

Cost: £2,650 per person excluding flights

Tour in brief: Private escorted tour, Okonjima, Swakopmund, Damaraland, Kunene, Etosha

Itinerary

Day 1

You leave London for your overnight flight to Windhoek via Johannesburg arriving early afternoon next day. Here you will be met by Kathryn and driven the short distance to the city to your overnight accommodation.

o/n Chameleon Guesthouse B&B

Day 2

This morning we take the tar road west following the Erongo Mountains before reaching the sand dunes that surround the coastal town of Swakopmund, the adventure capital of Namibia. o/n Cornerstone Guesthouse, Swakopmund B&B

Day 3 and 4

There is so much to do in Swakopmund from sandboarding down the world’s highest dunes to sky-diving. Our personal favourites are to spend a morning out on the water on a seal and dolphin tour where the local seals often join you on the boat for an up close and personal encounter and a journey out into the Namib with Tommy Collard to look for the endemic species found only in this ancient desert is always considered a highlight of a trip to the coast.

o/n Cornerstone Guesthouse, Swakopmund B&B

Day 5 and 6

This morning we leave Swakopmund and take the salt road north up the Skeleton Coast before heading back inland at Torra Bay. This is a long driving day but a very interesting one with shipwrecks and lunar landscapes in the National Park and abundant wildlife inland. On our second day we have a chance to explore the beautiful Palmwag Concession with its flat top mountains and fantastic flora and fauna. This area is home to desert adapted elephant and black rhino, Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra, giraffe, gemsbok and springbok and all three big cats.

o/n Palmwag Lodge campsite

Day 7

We set off on the dirt road north this morning until we get to the village of Puros. This area is the heartland of the Himba people and we will be staying in the community based campsite on the banks of the river where desert elephant often make nocturnal visits to the camp. This afternoon we will drive to the traditional village where the people live as their forefathers have done for centuries.

o/n Puros Community Campsite s/c

Day 8

This morning we will have a chance to visit Sarah at the local shop and drop off school equipment that she can sell to the next tourists then make a short visit to the village school before getting back on the road south to reach our last campsite in good time before darkness falls.

o/n Ganarab Community campsite s/c

Day 9

Today we leave Damaraland and drive over the Grootberg Pass to Kamanjab and on to your overnight accommodation at Bambatsi. This is one of the loveliest guestfarms in Namibia and the hosts Gerald and Inge will make us very welcome with an al fresco dinner on the terrace overlooking their own floodlit waterhole.

o/n Bambatsi Guestfarm DB&B

Day 10 and 11

After a hearty breakfast we leave our lodge and get back on the tar road for our three hour drive to the Andersson Gate and the start of our 5 nights in Etosha National Park. This huge park is home to an amazing diversity of wildlife and our first 2 nights will be spent in the western sector which is known for its open plains and wide vistas where vast herds of herbivores trek endlessly to the camp’s floodlit waterhole followed by the ever present carnivores looking for their next meal

o/n Okaukuejo Camp, waterhole chalet B&B

Day 12 and 13

This morning we travel further into the centre of the park and the wooded area surrounding Halali Camp.This diverse area has both Mopani woodland and dry savanna that rolls down to the very edge of the giant salt pan. The floodlit waterhole is a real highlight of this camp with black rhino and huge herds of elephants often seen along with porcupines, honey badgers and even the ever elusive leopard.

o/n Halali Camp, Etosha, bush chalet B&B

Day 14

We head east once more today towards Namutoni Camp and the wildlife rich woodland around Fischer’s Pan. This area is home to the majority of the park’s giraffe and is one of the only place in Africa to see the world’s smallest antelope, the diminutive Damara Dik-Dik.

o/n Namutoni Camp, Etosha, double room B&B

Day 15

After a final game drive we leave the peace and quiet of Etosha and head south on the tar road until we reach the gates to Okonjima. The lodge lies a further 24km into the middle of the mountains and it is here we will spend our last two nights tracking some of the country’s biggest carnivores. With its magnificent rooms, excellent cuisine and genuine conservation story, Okonjima is always a highlight of any trip to Namibia.

o/n Okonjima main Camp , view rooms Full Board

Day 16

Following our last morning at Okonjima we leave mid morning and drive the short distance back to the capital where we can pay a quick visit to the local craft markets driving back to the airport in time for your flight back to the UK via Johannesburg.

o/n 36,000 feet

Total cost: £2,650 per person excluding flights

Included: private guide for entire trip / 7 seater safari vehicle with full camping equipment / all accommodation as described above / some meals as per itinerary

Excluded: meals unless included in itinerary / National Park Fees of circa £15 per person per day