Diverse Namibia

Highlights: Windhoek, Kalahari Desert, Sossusvlei, Deadvlei & Sesriem, Namib Desert, Swakopmund, Twyfelfontein (Damaraland), desert elephants, Epupa, Kunene, Etosha National Park, private game reserve, wonderful landscapes, lots of animals, hiking opportunities, encounters with Bushmen, Himba and Ovambo.

INFORMATION

BB= Overnight stay | Breakfast
DBB= Dinner | Overnight stay | Breakfast
FB= Lunch or lunch packages | Dinner | Overnight stay | Breakfast and activities

Overnight: Hotel in Windhoek (bed | breakfast)

Arrive in Windhoek and pick up your rental car. Approx. 30 minutes drive to your accommodation in Windhoek.

For the first and last evening in Windhoek you should book the desired restaurant in advance. We will be happy to make the table reservation for you.

Optional: Guided Katutura tour, city tour (also on your own).

Overnight stay: Lodge in the Kalahari (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

After breakfast, head south into the Kalahari.

Behind the Auas Mountains, the vastness of the country opens up like a picture book. On the way, you will discover gigantic sieve weavers’ nests in ancient camel thorn acacias. As you approach the lodge, endless linear dunes stretch across the limestone soil of the Kalahari. Oryx, springbok and smaller steenbok make wonderful animal motifs in the red dune sand.

Optional: Afternoon guided panoramic drive in the red Kalahari dunes with sundowner. The drive is carried out in an open and comfortable off-road vehicle with a lot of passion and without any hectic pace. It is a tour to get to know the Kalahari with unforgettable viewpoints on the red dune ridges (duration approx. 2.5 hours)

Overnight : Lodge in the Sossusvlei area (dinner | overnight | breakfast)

Today, before you leave, you should consider a Bushman tour (optional). You will walk to a Bushman village. There you will learn about the way of life, the traditions and some of the wisdom of this indigenous people. The journey then continues east into the Namib Desert. You will spend the night near the famous Sossusvlei.  

Overnight stay: Lodge in the Sossusvlei area (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

Drive to Sesriem Park in the morning, because a dune landscape in the morning light offers an unforgettable landscape. Sossusvlei is surrounded by the highest dunes in the world, which suck the last bit of energy out of your legs as you climb them. Once at the top, you are richly rewarded with a fantastic view. Dune 45 is the most popular dune to climb.

Overnight stay: Lodge in the Namib Desert (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

Continue via Solitaire and through the enchanting landscapes of the Namib Desert. Upon reaching Solitaire, visitors will first notice the many car wrecks picturesquely draped along the roadsides. As you drive on, the gravel plains of the Namib spread out before you, with a mountain here and there on the shimmering horizon. Today’s drive is not too far, and halfway between Sesriem and Swakopmund is the next lodge in the middle of the Namib Desert. Here you can relax extensively and also go on hikes in the surrounding area. 

Overnight stay: Hotel in Swakopmund (bed | breakfast)

After breakfast, drive to Swakopmund via Walvis Bay. The long gravel roads are occasionally decorated with a small plume of dust. You are surrounded by breathtaking expanses and the most beautiful landscapes of the desert. You drive through granite sculpture landscapes, ancient erosion valleys and cross the occasional dry river. Arrival in Swakopmund at midday.

Optional activities: quad biking, camel riding, visit to the museum, aquarium, crystal gallery, riding safari, flight over the Skeleton Coast or Sossusvlei

Overnight: Hotel in Swakopmund (bed | breakfast)

This morning you can take part in an optional catamaran boat trip or a desert tour.

Catamaran cruise: Between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, on the rugged coast of the Atlantic Ocean, you will experience the unique nature and wildlife of the Walvis Bay lagoon on board a spacious and comfortable catamaran. The four-hour trip takes you from the harbor across the Walvis Bay oyster beds out to Pelican Point, home to a large colony of fur seals. The tour offers many highlights. Among other things, pelicans are hand-fed in flight. You will learn many interesting things about these animals.

Desert Tour: also called The Living Desert Tour, is a unique experience in 4WD vehicles that aims to introduce our visitors to the impressive beauty of the Namib Desert and showcase life in the desert. The coastal dune belt, which may seem barren and lifeless to some, is home to a fascinating variety of small animals that have adapted to the desert. They survive thanks to the fog that regularly rolls in from the cold Atlantic Ocean.

A unique opportunity to experience the desert up close.

Overnight stay: Lodge in the Twyfelfontein area (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

Continue north on the salt road towards Henties Bay. Here you can continue to Cape Cross, where, in addition to the cross of the Portuguese navigator Diego Cao, there is a colony of pygmy fur seals. It is one of the largest colonies in the world and is also open to visitors.

You reach your camp in the early afternoon. Damaraland offers a wealth of geological and archaeological highlights. Named after the Damara people, the region is home to Namibia’s highest peak, the Brandberg, and Twyfelfontein, one of the most important rock engravings and paintings of the San, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Overnight stay: Lodge in Opuwo (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

One of the most scenic regions. The landscape is very rocky and mountainous and you can discover cone-shaped ranges of hills. Many species of wild animals live in the area, such as desert elephants, rhinos and giraffes. The Himba and Herero tribes who live here traditionally live as hunters and gatherers or as cattle breeders. The location of your accommodation offers a fantastic view of the surrounding mountain landscape.

Overnight stay: Lodge at Epupa Falls (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

This morning, the journey continues to the 1,207-kilometre-long Kunene River, which carries water all year round. In fact, it seems like the end of the Namibian world. From Ruacana, where the Kunene meets the Namibian border, the river forms the natural border between Angola and Namibia in a westerly direction before flowing into the South Atlantic in a delta up to 30 kilometers wide. Until the Tertiary period, the Kunene flowed into today’s Etosha Pan, which at that time formed an inland delta similar to the Okavango Delta and Lake Ekuma. It was only after the break-up of the Gondwana continent and the drifting apart of Africa and South America that the Kunene shifted towards the Atlantic. Arrival at the lodge around midday.

The afternoon is at leisure.

Overnight stay: Lodge at Epupa Falls (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

In the morning, you can take part in an optional guided tour to a traditional Himba village. A Himba guide will take you to the Epupa Valley, where you will visit a Himba village that is still active and inhabited. Here you will gain an insight into the daily life of the Himba in a normal, traditional kraal. Learn more about the customs and lifestyles of one of Africa’s last nomadic tribes. The Himba are a proud people who have adapted to western civilization minimally and only as necessary.

Overnight stay: Lodge near Ruacana (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

This morning, after breakfast, continue along the enchanting landscapes of the Kunene River, past small primeval villages to the vicinity of Ruacana. Here you can enjoy an overnight stay directly on the Kunene River.

Overnight: Lodge near Ruacana (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

Today you can relax in this picturesque landscape or take part in optional lodge activities such as white water rafting, canoeing or a Kunene sundowner boat trip.

Overnight stay: Village Homestead near Ondangwa (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

After breakfast, drive in a north-easterly direction into Owamboland. The Angola border is only about 70 km away. Around midday you arrive in the town of Ondangwa, where the Homestead Village is located just outside. In the afternoon, you can take an optional 2h30min – 3h guided tour to learn more about the life of the Owambos. A traditional meal will be served.

Overnight: Bush Camp outside Etosha National Park (dinner | overnight | breakfast)

After breakfast, drive south into the world-famous Etosha National Park. The entrance to the park is through the King Nehale Gate. From the entrance you have the opportunity to spot big game in the wild. Continue past Onkoshi Camp in a southerly direction via Camp Namutoni to the eastern von Lindequist Gate, where you leave the park and reach your accommodation shortly afterwards.

Overnight: Bush camp outside Etosha National Park (dinner | overnight | breakfast)

Full-day game drive in the eastern part of Etosha Park on your own. Right from the entrance you have the opportunity to spot big game in the wild. The Etosha National Park has a biodiversity that is hard to beat. A variety of animals gather at the waterholes, which can make for a spectacular experience. Each individual waterhole has a unique character. You return to your accommodation in the late afternoon. 

Overnight: Bush camp outside Etosha National Park (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

Today you have another opportunity to explore Etosha National Park extensively. With a length of 130 km and a width of 50 km, the Etosha Pan is by far the largest in Africa and also the most striking feature of the park. The total area is approximately 4800 km2, which is about a quarter of the total area of the Etosha National Park. In the language of the Ovambo tribe, Etosha means “Great White Place”, a name given to this place by the first European explorers Sir Francis Galton and Charles Andersson when they traveled through this area together with the Ovambo traders in 1851.

Overnight: Camp in Etosha National Park (dinner | overnight stay | breakfast)

Today you cross the national park in a westerly direction, giving you the opportunity to visit the various waterholes on your drive. The Okondeka waterhole, for example, is one of the best for lion spotting. The predator can often be spotted here with its prey. The waterhole is a natural spring and is located a little further north of Okaukuejo directly on the western edge of the pan.

Overnight: Lodge near Omaruru (full board)

Drive south after breakfast. You leave the Etosha Park through the Anderson Gate and drive via Outjo to the vicinity of Omaruru. Here, on a 71 000 ha game reserve, you can experience the world of game, get to know animals and their unknown habits, relax in untouched wilderness, switch off and reconnect with nature.

Overlooking the waterhole, you can observe hippos and book an optional afternoon game drive with lions, elephants and numerous other animals.   

Overnight stay: Lodge near Omaruru (full board)

Today you can take part in the lodge’s optional activities. On offer here are game drives on the reserve, the best opportunity to end your vacation with lions, elephants and numerous other animals.

Return flight to Germany.

On the way to Windhoek, it is worth stopping at the woodcarving market in Okahandja. It is the largest woodcarving market in Namibia. Continue to Windhoek. Here you will drop off your rental car in good time before check-in for your return flight to Germany.