11 Nights
Spectacular Namibia
Come face to face with the incredible landscapes with this all encompassing self drive itinerary. Stand before towering sand dunes, soak up the isolation of the Skeleton Coast, look for desert adapted wildlife in Damaraland and be blown away by Etosha's safari paradise.
Tour Highlights
DAY 1
SOSSUSVLEI
On arrival in Windhoek, pick up your rental car (Toyota Rav 4, Automatic) and travel south into the heart of the Namib desert. An approximately 5-hour drive, the scenery along the way is stunning and awe-inspiring. Once you have arrived at your lodge, the remainder of the day is yours at leisure. The Namib Desert gives a sense of remoteness and tranquillity. The stillness and silence found in the Namib has a powerful calming effect. Enjoy sundowner drinks to cap off the first night of your Namibia adventure.
Accommodation: Sossusvlei Lodge
Meals: Dinner
SOSSUSVLEI
This day calls for an early rise, as you will forever remember watching the sunrise over the mighty dunes of the Namib Desert. Gaze at the bright splash of sun-baked sand combined with the mighty play of shadows cast onto the lay side of the dunes. From Sossusvlei visit Dead Vlei, a surreal white clay pan surrounded by great dunes and dotted with age-old camelthorn trees. Return to your accommodation via Sesriem Canyon, an 18 million-year-old gorge eroded into the conglomerate floor.
Accommodation: Sossusvlei Lodge
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 3
NAMIB DESERT
After enjoying breakfast amidst the spectacular scenery of the Namib Desert, depart to your next lodge situated at the foot of petrified dunes. Here you have the opportunity to explore the Namib Desert on spectacular scenic nature and sundowner drives or relax by the side of the lodge pools.
Your accommodation is the unique and spectacular Desert Grace Hotel. The Desert Grace is a newish hotel built in 2018 and was designed with solid sustainability principles. The lodge is made entirely out of sandbags instead of bricks. Not only does this positively impact the environment, but it also makes the rooms cooler in summer and very well-insulated in winter.
Accommodation: Desert Grace
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Optional Activity: Sundowner Activity
SWAKOPMUND
Today you travel via the Namib Naukluft Park to Swakopmund, a tranquil coastal town situated between the Namib Desert and the Atlantic Ocean. Visit the Welwitschia plains and the aptly named Moon landscape, two of the attractions during this scenic drive.
In Swakopmund, you can participate in some of the adventurous activities on offer, or if adrenaline-fuelled activities are not for you, there are still plenty of activities, from catamaran cruises to living desert tours. For total relaxation, soak up some sun at the beach, enjoy fantastic cuisine and craft beer or visit the traditional craft markets for some shopping.
Accommodation: Strand Hotel
Meals: Breakfast
Optional Activities: Scenic flights, dolphin cruises, quad biking, sea kayaking, dune boarding
DAY 4
DAY 5
DAMARALAND
Today you head further north, travelling along the Skeleton Coastline towards the Fisherman’s town of Henties Bay before turning east and heading back inland past the Brandberg, Namibia's highest mountain. Heading towards Damaraland, one of Africa's least populated and most geologically diverse areas. This harsh, rocky environment is home to the elusive desert elephant, the black rhino and free-roaming antelope species.
Upon arriving at your accommodation, you can join an optional nature activity conducted by the lodge or relax and enjoy the late afternoon while admiring the scenery of the setting sun.
Accommodation: Mowani Mountain Camp
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Optional Activities: Afternoon Scenic Game Drive
DAY 6
DAY 7
DAMARALAND
Staying close to Twyfelfontein allows us to visit Twyfelfontein in the early morning hours, where you are accompanied by a local Damara guide on the excursion through Twyfelfontein, a UNESCO heritage site where Bushman communities engraved and painted over 2,500 pictures some 6,000 years ago! This visit can be followed with a visit to the nearby Living Museum of the Damara. You then proceed back to your lodge, where you can take part in an afternoon nature drive in search of the elusive desert elephants roaming this area.
Accommodation: Mowani Mountain Camp
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Optional Activities: Morning visit to Twyfelfontein, Afternoon Game Drive to search for desert-adapted elephants
ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
Your destination today is the wildlife heaven of Namibia - the Etosha National Park. Guests travelling on the comfort tour can visit the Twyfelfontein UNESCO heritage site and nearby located Living Museum of the Damara before stopping at the Petrified Forest. The geological phenomenon found here depicts the creation and metamorphosis of wood into stone amongst some of the oldest landmasses on Earth. Here you also see the Welwitschia mirabilis plant - the oldest living desert plant on Earth. Before checking into our lodge located on the Etosha National Park border, you can enter the park for our first game-viewing excursion.
Accommodation: Etosha Oberland
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Activities: Petrified Forest, Afternoon Game Drive in Etosha
DAY 8
DAY 9
ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
Entering the Etosha National Park in the early morning, your time will be devoted purely to the abundant wildlife found here. The park surrounds a parched salt desert known as the Etosha Pan and is home to 4 of the Big Five - elephant, lion, leopard and rhino. The park’s waterholes support a diversity of mammals and birds, including species such as black-faced impala, cheetah, and Namibia’s smallest antelope, the Damara dik-dik.
Accommodation: Mushara Outpost
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Activities: Optional Full Day Game Drive
ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
Today you can conduct game drives through the Etosha National Park by yourself, or you can book an open game drive park drive with the lodge. The Etosha Pan dominates the park. This salt pan desert, which is nearly completely enclosed by the park and is lined by numerous watering holes, is roughly 130 km long and as wide as 50 km in places. In the afternoon, travel back to your lodge, where you enjoy the rest of the evening at leisure.
Accommodation: Mushara Outpost
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Optional Activities: Full-Day Guided Game Drive
DAY 10
DAY 11
CENTRAL NAMIBIA
Wake up early and travel south as you make your way towards Okonjima Bush Camp. Set in a beautiful bush landscape, either choose to spend the afternoon at leisure beside the sparkling pool or head out on an optional afternoon game drive. Okonjima offers safaris on a sprawling 200 square kilometres reserve of undulating plains, mountainous outcrops, and riverine thickets and offers one of the best opportunities to see leopards in Namibia.
Accommodation: Okonjima Bush Camp
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Optional Activities: Afternoon Game Drive
DEPARTURE
After breakfast, you travel back to the capital, Windhoek. Time permitting, en-route you may stop at the famous wood carvers market in Okahandja or the craft market in the main street in Windhoek to pick up the last few souvenirs. Windhoek is a cosmopolitan melting pot of European architecture with African culture, with a variety of excellent restaurants to choose from. You will be dropped off at your accommodation of choice, or transferred to the airport for your outward flight.
Meals: Breakfast