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| DAY 1
- WINDHOEK / ONGAVA RESERVE - ETOSHA
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Depart Windhoek International Airport at 10:00 for your charter flight to Namibia's premier wildlife area - Etosha, in the northern part of the country. Here, the diverse flora and fauna is experienced in a variety of activities, from game walks to game drives and visits to hides both on Ongava reserve and in the famous Etosha National Park.
Ongava Homestead, situated in the private 66.000 acre Ongava Game Reserve, is a renovated old farmhouse, with shared bathrooms and a farm kitchen overlooking a busy waterhole. Sleeping eight guests, complete with domestic facilities, outdoor barbecue, bar, common dining, kitchen and bathroom facilities present a clean and comfortable base to experience and explore the fascinating countryside. Simple safari furnishings create a wonderful atmosphere in which to make friends and enjoy good company.
The waterhole is floodlit at night to catch sight of nocturnal visitors, from the timid genet to big game such as lion, leopard and a host of antelope. Within Etosha we'll also visit numerous perennial springs and pans, encountering lion, leopard, elephant and black rhino, as well as plains game.
After lunch, depart on an afternoon wildlife activity.
Overnight
- Overnight Ongava Homestead Lodge (L,D & activities) |
| DAY 2
- ONGAVA RESERVE - ETOSHA
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Spend another full day in this fascinating area.
Overnight
- Overnight Ongava Homestead Lodge (all meals & activities) |
| DAY 3
- ONGAVA PALMWAG RESERVE
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After an early breakfast, we depart westwards by road in the direction of Palmwag concession. Here, on the concession and in the surrounding areas the desert-adapted elephant and black rhino can be found. Special activities include tracking and searching for these wonderful mammals on foot and by vehicle. The camp consists of 5 meru tents, built on individual, wooden platforms and offering a great scenic view of the surroundings and also the Desert Elephants when they visit the area. Situated about 600 m away from the restaurant and secluded from the rest of Palmwag Lodge, this stop over forms a private experience and feel. The tents are tastefully furnished, with en suite facilities, solar power and a wonderful atmosphere.
Overnight
- Overnight Palmwag Lodge (all meals & activities) |
| DAYS 4/5
- HOANIB VALLEY
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With an early start, our journey continues by road towards the ephemeral river of the Hoanib Valley. Here, in an area seemingly parched and desolate, we enter one of Namibia's richest desert wildlife areas. he rugged mountains and canyons of the Hoanib River provide a last refuge for some of the continent's most unique wildlife; this is the home of the legendary desert elephant and the last free-roaming black rhino population on Earth. In fact seventy-five per cent of Namibia's endemic species inhabit this last bastion of the wilderness.
Experience the wilder side of Africa where only the sporadic roar of lion or cackle of hyena punctuates the silence of the night. The Save the Rhino Trust has been involved with rhino conservation in this area since the early 1980s, with funding from and in partnership with Wilderness Safaris. The Trust is thus able to continue the conservation of this remarkable animal.
Our Discoverer-styled tented camp close to the Hoanib River is a relaxed haven from which we explore this wild land on foot, or from the comfort of one of our safari vehicles. The camp is powered by solar-powered inverter systems and there are no generators or pumps running whilst guests are in camp. There are 5 guest walk-in hexagonal meru-style tents with en suite and flush toilet and bucket shower bathrooms in a separate portion of the tent. Each tent is furnished with necessary comforts and styled with burnt orange interiors, wood and brass, effectively recreating a sense of the early explorers.
Over the course of the next two nights in this enormous wilderness area our guides expose the sheer magnificence of nature's survival strategies in this arid environment, through walks, tracking and game drives concentrating on a variety of topics from birds to insects, medicinal uses of plants and viewing wildlife.
Overnight
- Overnights Hoanib Camp (all meals & activities) |
| DAY 6
- DAMARALAND
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Departing early, we travel to Twyfelfontein where we take a guided walk via a number of routes with local Damara guides to view the San (Bushman) petroglyphs - prehistoric rock etchings strewn over the rock face. We end the long journey in the early evening at the award-winning Damaraland Camp.
Damaraland Camp accommodates guests in 10 comfortable tented rooms, with en-suite facilities including flush toilets and showers with hot and cold running water. The dining room and pub are combined under canvas, and an open fire is enjoyed on calm evenings. A feature of the camp is its unique natural rock pool. In the late afternoon, we search on foot or vehicle for the black rhino, hoping to have a glimpse of this prehistoric-looking animal that survives today in these desolately beautiful areas.
Overnight
- Overnight Damaraland Camp (all meals & activities) |
| DAY 7
- SWAKOPMUND
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We leave Damaraland Camp and cross over the Huab riverbed. Traveling south we begin finding some Welwitschia plants, we also come across some petrified wood and pass the Gai As spring where we find numerous stone circles made by people who lived here about 500 years ago. Continuing south we cross over the Ugab River and then start heading westwards towards the coast. As we get closer to the coast there are lichen fields strewn over the gravel plains, one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth.
After relaxing over our packed lunch en route, we make for The Stiltz Lodge in the quaint and charming town of Swakopmund, arriving in the late afternoon. Swakopmund is a wonderful town in which to end a safari after the experiences of the northern Namibian bush, with its unique urban atmosphere that is a vibrant combination of Africa and Europe.
The Stiltz, as its name implies is built on stilts, providing breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean, the red iron-rich beach dunes and also the Swakopmund River mouth. Each of the 8 minimalist yet elegantly furnished thatched bungalows is linked by wooden walkways to the main restaurant. As the lodge is sited close to the central part of town, this allows for easy access to enjoy the special hospitality, history and cuisine.
Overnight
- Overnight Stiltz Lodge (all meals & activities) |
| DAYS 8/9
- SOSSUSVLEI
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After an early breakfast, we drive southwards to Walvis Bay Lagoon. Here in a protected bay, many flamingos, pelicans and other waterfowl amass. On the calm waters of the bay, we experience sea kayaking, a spectacular activity that allows us to approach the seabirds at a respectable distance and in their habitat, allowing for some unique photographic opportunities of birds flying low over the bay.
We enjoy a seafood lunch served on the beach and afterwards drive inland to the Kulala Adventurer Camp in our private Sossusvlei concession.
Here we enjoy access to the Sossusvlei dunes, for walks in the immense moving sands of the Namib, game drives on our concession and stargazing. Photography in the early morning of the dunes is particularly stunning with rich reds and dark shadows completing the extraordinary vista that is the enormity of the Namib Desert.
Overnight
- Overnights - Kulala Adventurer Camp (all meals & activities) |
| DAY 10
- SOSSUSVLEI / WINDHOEK / DEPART
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After breakfast we transfer by road, including lunch overlooking the view of the plains nearby, to Windhoek and bid farewell to the adventure.
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10
Days
from
US $ 3,900
ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
