North West Adventurer

Duration: 16 nights

Tour group: 2 people

Accommodation: x nights accommodation / x nights camping

Vehicle: fully equipped 4×4 camper

Cost: £2126 per person excluding flights

Tour in brief: Okonjima, private photographic tuition with Karl Andre Terblanche, Swakopmund, Damaraland, Kunene, Etosha

Itinerary

Day 1

You arrive in Windhoek mid morning where you will be met by your vehicle hire representative and driven the short distance to the depot to be familiarised with your 4×4. After a quick stop for essential supplies you take the tar road south before heading off into the desert to your overnight accommodation at the foot of the Naukluft Mountains.

o/n Buellsport Guestfarm DB&B

Day 2 and 3

You leave Buellsport after a hearty breakfast and travel the short distance to the Namib Naukluft park for the first of your 2 nights at Sesriem Campsite. This beautiful campsite lies within the national park and the individual sites are situated under ancient camel thorns. A very early start on day 3 finds you driving into the heart of this ancient desert in time to watch the sun rise over the largest sand dunes in the world. If you are still feeling energetic in the afternoon then a walk down Sesriem Canyon is a must with its narrowing sides and rock pools just right for cooling off after your trek. o/n Sesriem Campsite s/c

Day 4, 5 and 6

A long drive today but an interesting one, over the Tropic of Capricorn and on through the Kuiseb Canyon until you eventually reach the coast at Walvis Bay. From here it is just a 40km drive up the coast to Swakopmund. This quirky seaside town is Namibia’s adventure capital and over the next two days your choices of activities range from sky diving or sandboarding to quad biking. On your first day you will spend time on the ocean on a seal and dolphin tour where the cape fur seals often join you on the boat for a close up and personal encounter, and a day out with Karl Terblanche, local photographer, for a days’ photographic tuition.

o/n An der Mole Apartment, Swakopmund B&B

Day 7 and 8

This morning you 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 again a very interesting one with shipwrecks and lunar landscapes in the National Park and abundant wildlife inland. On your second day you 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 s/c

Day 9

Today you drive further north towards the heart of Kaokoland to the Himba village of Puros. This remote settlement is set in beautiful scenery where the people live side by side with the area’s rich wildlife including desert adapted lions and elephant. Here you will have time to visit the traditional village along with an opportunity to spend time at the local school. o/n Puros Community Campsite s/c

Day 10

Having had a night in the wild you return to civilisation today with an overnight stop at Kavita Lion Lodge. This lovely lodge is not only known for its fine cuisine and beautifully appointed rooms but also has a real conservation story behind it with the work they carry out with the wild lion population of the far north.

o/n Kavita Lion Lodge full board

Day 11 and 12

After a hearty breakfast you leave Kavita for the long drive east across the country on gravel roads, to the Andersson Gate and the start of your 5 nights in Etosha National Park. This huge park is home to an amazing diversity of wildlife and your 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, double room B&B

Day 13

This morning you 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 and 15

You 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 and is the only place in Africa to see the world’s smallest antelope, the diminutive Damara Dik-Dik.

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

Day 16

After a final game drive you leave the peace and quiet of Etosha and get back on the tar road heading south for your last night of sheer luxury at Okonjima Lodge, home of the Africat Foundation where cheetah and leopard are rehabilitated back into the wild. With its magnificent rooms, excellent cuisine and genuine conservation story, Okonjima is always a highlight of any trip to Namibia and a perfect way to break up your journey back to Windhoek and spend a luxurious night in the home of the big carnivores.

o/n Okonjima Main Lodge, view rooms full board

Day 17

Following your last morning leopard tracking you leave Okonjima for your two and a half hour journey back to Windhoek. Here you can drop off your vehicle and transfer to the airport in time for your overnight flight back to the UK via Johannesburg.

o/n 36,000 feet

Total cost: £2,126 per person excluding flights based on 2 people sharing

Included: fully equipped 4×4 camper with SEC1 insurance / all accommodation as described above / Levo seal and dolphin tour and private photographic tuition with Karl Andre Terblanche /some meals as per itinerary

Excluded: Fuel / meals unless included in itinerary / National Park Fees of circa £10 per person per day.