This tour visits an array of Namibia's hot-spots including Kalahari, Walvis Bay, the Damaraland region, Otjiwarongo, and Etosha National Park - the country's greatest wildlife reserve . At various waterholes zebra, wildebeest and gemsbok drink to the trumpeting of elephants and roaring of lions. You will also discover Sossusvlei in the heart of the Namib Desert and home to the world's tallest sand dunes , some of which tower over 300 meters high. Watching the changing mood and colors at sunrise and sunset is one of Namibia's highlights.

During their tour, our members will follow the itinerary as seen below. 

Day 1: Depart UK
Day 2: Arrival into Windhoek - Kalahari 
Day 3: Windhoek - Maltahohe -  Namib Desert
Day 4: Sossusvlei  
Day 5: Namib Desert - Kuiseb Canyon - Walvis Bay
Day 6: Walvis Bay
Day 7: Walvis Bay - Damaraland 
Day 8: Damaraland - Etosha National Park 
Day 9: Etosha National Park 
Day 10: Etosha National Park - Otjiwarongo
Day 11: Otjiwarongo - Windhoek - Departure
Day 12: Return back in the UK 

DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN KALAHARI

Today you will board your flight for Windhoek, Namibia. 

DAY 2: ARRIVAL INTO WINDHOEK - KALAHARI

Upon arrival at the international airport you will be met by your English speaking tour guide who will go through all details of your trip and answer any questions you may have. They will also help with collection of your hire vehicle and give you your Travel Planner/Information Pack that provides you with maps, itineraries, routings etc. Enjoy lunch at your own leisure then hit the road towards mariental located at the edge of the Kalahari desert (approx. 4 hours). Soon you will be able to spot the reddish glow of the Kalahari Desert in the distance. Here, the green acacia trees and the yellow grass stand in stark contrast to the blue sky and the red sand dunes of the Kalahari Desert stretching for hundreds of kilometres. These stretch over 9 different African countries and thus embody the largest and longest sand sea in the world. On the dunes and in the valleys, also called "streets", live animals such as springbok, oryx and ostrich as well as jackal, spoon dog, spring hare and porcupine.

The Kalahari is an exceptionally beautiful living desert a large semi-arid sandy savannah draped over a gently rolling inland sea of sand covering most of Botswana and large parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is also the last bastion of the San people with the modern world having enveloped all the other areas they once roamed. Here in Namibia it is typically red sands covered in thin, wispy, mostly golden grass and dotted with acacia trees and wide ranging wildlife including gemsbok, impala, jackals and cheetah.

Upon arrival at your accommodation you will have the option of taking a photo safari in a 4x4 vehicle at sunset. Departing about 5 pm, this 2 hour tour will allows you to explore the dessert in a bit more depth. Overnight at your accommodation.

DAY 3: KALAHARI - NAMIB DESERT

After breakfast, you have the option taking a guided walk in the desert. Following this, you will depart for Sossusvlei.

Sossusvlei's rich ochre sand dunes offer one of the most mind-blowing sights you will ever experience. Their oscillating crests rise to an astonishing 320m and, with their air of timelessness, create an unforgettable wilderness in the heart of the world’s oldest desert. Dwarfed by the sheer size of the highest dunes on earth, your ascending footprints look like insect trails leading into infinity. The solitude is immeasurable and your place in the great scheme of life takes on a curious insignificance. The white vleis (clay pans) contrast sharply against the red sand and vast blue sky, while fog-dependent animals and plants seek shelter from the sweltering heat underneath the sand and age-old camelthorn trees. One of these pans, referred to as Dead Pan, is a large ghostly expanse of dried white clay, punctuated by skeletons of ancient camel-thorn trees, carbon-dated as being between 500 and 600 years old. During this time the flow of the Tsauchab River into the pan was stopped by the formation of a dune belt – hence the trees died, now forming part of Namibia’s own Salvador Dali “painting”. 

You will have the option of visiting a "Nama Choir" Village to witness the locals singing and dancing. After this, you will continue through the Namib Desert. Overnight at your accommodation. 

DAY 4: SOSSUSVLEI

This morning, you have the option to take a morning discovery of Sossusvlei National Park. Depart at 5.30 and take to the desert tracks before reaching the entrance of the Sossusvlei National Park. Continue to the dunes. Here you will discover a fantastic landscape of ochre sand peaks. The dunes stretch as far as the eye can see and the richness of their colours ranges from pale orange to bright red. A vertiginous descent on one of the slopes of one of its dunes is an unforgettable experience! Continue by 4x4 vehicle to reach one of the strangest sites of Sossusvlei: Deadvlei. Enjoy a 1 hour round trip walk (accessible to all) that will allow you to discover this unusual place. If you choose this option, you will enjoy breakfast in the dunes. Entrance fee payable on the spot: about ZAR 250 per person.

If you do not take this tour, you will enjoy breakfast at the hotel and free time to explore at your own leisure. In the afternoon, continue to the Sesriem canyon, a one kilometre long, 30 metre deep fault carved by the Tsauchab river in a rocky agglomerate dating from fifteen to eighteen million years ago. In the evening, you will return to your lodge for your overnight stay.

Day 5: NAMBI DESERT - KUISEB CANYON - WALVIS BAY
After breakfast, you will drive on the flat and hard desert tracks before reaching the rocky Namib Desert, home of reptiles and numerous beetles. You will cross the Naukluft Mountains with contrasting colours made of basalt quartz and granite. Depending on your timing, we suggest driving to the famous Welwitchia Mirabilis, a botanical curiosity found exclusively in the foggy areas of the Namibian desert. Some specimens are more than 1500 years old.

Continue on your journey, at which point you will reach Walvis Bay. Walvis Bay is a coastal town, which on one side is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, and ion the other by the golden yellow dunes of the Namib. In Walvis Bay, you will find an array of water-based activities that you could participate in, such as dolphin cruises, catamaran trips, fishing expeditions and kayaking. The Walvis Bay Lagoon is one of the main reasons for visiting the town, with the plentiful birdlife including flamingoes, pelicans and many small waders.

Once in Walvis Bay, check into your hotel and spend some time exploring. Overnight at your accommodation. 

DAY 6: WALVIS BAY 
After breakfast, enjoy free time to explore the town. Walvis Bay is located on a lagoon ans is the largest producer of salt in Africa. The well sheltered lagoon is on one of the 10 most important wetlands of the African coast, making it home to up to 80,000 birds in summer, including flamingos, pelicans, cormorants and fishing birds. Uncover all this town has to offer. 

This morining, you will have the option of taking a cruise to observe sea lions, pelicans and dolphins. On this adventure you will enjoy a discovery of the port, Bird Island, refuge of hundreds of Cape cormorants, Pelican Point, and its colonies of sea lions and flamingos. Along your journey, you may even get the chance for a spot of dolphin watching. 3-hour excursion (9 am - 12.30 pm).  Once finished, can enjoy lunch which consists of Oysters and snacks, as well as champagne. 

You will then have the option of taking a 4x4 dune tour to Sandwich Harbour, a lagoon located in the desert. 4-hour excursion (1 pm - 5 pm).

Following today's optional activities or free time exploring, you will depart for Swakopmund, the oldest seaside resort on the coast. With palm-lined streets, seaside promenades and fine accommodation for all budgets, Swakopmund is Namibia’s most popular holiday destination, and its pleasant summer climate and decent beaches attract surfers, anglers and beach lovers from all over Southern Africa. Once in Swakopmund, you have the option of taking a Swakopmund township tour. Accompanied by a local guide, you will meet the inhabitants of Mondesa and discover their customs and history. At your request, the tour guide can accompany you to schools, local associations and to visit the local. 

Following this, you will return to Walvis Bay. Overnight at your accommodation. 

DAY 7: WALVIS BAY - DAMARALAND

After breakfast, you will hit the road once more to continue your adventure. Heading further north, you will travel via the Brandberg, Namibia’s highest mountain (2.579 m), into the Damaraland, one of the least populated and geologically diverse areas in Africa. This harsh, rocky environment is home to the rare desert elephant, the black rhino and free-roaming antelope species. We visit to Twyfelfontein, a heritage site where Bushman communities engraved and painted over 2500 pictures some 6000 years ago! After a visit to a nearby Living Museum of the Damara we proceed on to the Petrified Forest - a geological phenomenon depicting the creation and evolution of some of the oldest landmasses on Earth. Here we also visit the Welwitschia mirabilis plant – the oldest living desert plant on Earth.
 
Huge, untamed and ruggedly beautiful Damaraland is an exceptionally scenic landscape of open plains and spectacular rock formations. The major attractions are Spitzkoppe, the Brandberg, Twyfelfontein, Vingerklip and the Petrified Forest.

Twyfelfontein has one of the most remarkable concentrations of rock art in Africa. Thousands of primitive paintings and engravings illustrate the concerns of Stone Age hunters. The whole probably dates back thousands of years. As you venture on through this fascinating region recently renamed 'Kunene', you will cross this desert and mountainous region which boasts extraordinary masses of granite. 

Damaraland, one of the least populated places on earth, shows no fences nor boundaries in the vast, stony desert landscape. It is marked by endless vistas across stark plains, ancient valleys and brooding, distant mountains which bring the traveller as close to nature as is comfortably possible. In Damaraland, plants and animals have over millennia evolved side by side with the harsh environment, creating unusual geological features, which together with a wealth of rock paintings and engravings, a population of desert-adapted elephant and rhino, combine to form the unique attraction to this region.

We suggest that along you journey, you visit of the petrified forest which is a marvel to behold. These fossilised trunks can reach 30m high and 6m in circumference, half buried in the sandstone. They are dated more than 200 million years ago! Be sure to see the organ pipes, a series of dolerite pillars that have been freed by erosion. Entrance fee payable locally: about ZAR 100 per person.

You will then continue onto Khorixas. Overnight at your accommodation.

DAY 8: DAMARALAND - ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
After a tranquil breakfast, you will have the option to meet with the locals of a Himba village, one of the last nomadic tribes of the country. Located 20 km from the centre of Kamanjab on the C40, the visit will give you the opportunity to discover the habits and customs of the Ova-Himba people: cow milking ceremony, the "smoke bath", discovery of their beliefs, homeopathic medicine, making traditional jewelry, their art of hairdressing, etc.  You will have the opportunity to look inside their houses and have a cultural exchange, which in turn will help to preserve their culture, traditions and daily existence. 

You will travel towards the Etosha National Park, famous for its vast amount of wildlife and unique landscape.

The park is home to 4 of the Big Five - elephant, lion, leopard and rhino. The Park was proclaimed as Namibia’s first conservation area in 1907 by the then Governor, von Lindequist. Despite the size of the Etosha National Park, only the southern edge of the pan is accessible to visitors. Game viewing in the park is largely focussed around the waterholes, some of which are spring fed and some supplied from a borehole, ideal places to sit and watch over 114 different game species, or for an avid birder, in excess of 340 bird species. Popular game species such as giraffe, blue wildebeest, plains and mountain zebra, hyena, lion, leopard, antelopes such as kudu, oryx, eland, as well as some of the endangered species such as Black rhino, cheetah and the black-faced impala are all found here. An extensive network of roads link the over 30 water holes allowing the visitor an opportunity to do a real game viewing safari over the stretch of the park as each different area will provide different encounters. 

Check into your accommodation and enjoy a free moment to explore or make use of the facilities, Overnight at your accommodation. 

DAY 9: ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
Following breakfast, you will depart for your first morning safari in your own vehicle. You will have many chances to observe the different species of predators that often travel in groups. This park is 129 km long and 72 km wide, nicknamed the "Pan" with a rather poor vegetation of mopanes, wild fig trees, acacias, where some plains alternate with the bush to create the habitat of an exceptional wealth of fauna: lions, zebras, leopards, cheetahs, oryx, elephants and many birds.

You will have the option to take a full day (3h) safari in a 4x4 vehicle in the park.

In the afternoon, you will continue your safari exploration. Surrounding the vast Etosha Pan with its shimmering mirages (a salt bowl totally devoid of vegetation), the famous national park is one of the largest protected areas on the planet. After the summer rains, the seasonally flooded salt pans and streams attract thousands of waterfowl. 

Overnight at your accommodation.

Day 10: Etosha National Park - Otjiwarongo 
After a leisurely breakfast, you leave Etosha behind you and head south back towards Windhoek. Along the way you will pass through towns such as Tsumeb, Otavi and stopping in Otjiwarongo - a first small town north of Okahandja. Here, you have the option of visiting the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), a foundation for cheetah conservation. Following this, you will spend free time in Otjiwarongo and your accommodation. Overnight at your accommodation.

Day 11: Otjiwarongo  - Windhoek - Departure
After breakfast, you will make your way back to Windhoek. Along your way, we suggest that you visit a woodcarving centre. Along this road, you will reach an altitude of 1650 m, which means that it can escape the high temperatures one would expect to experience in Africa. In Windhoek, as dynamic as the buildings are, the charm of the place is as a result of the colonial era. The city is greatly enhanced by the historic buildings designed in the German architectural style of the beginning of the century, alternating with buildings in the international style.

Upon arrival into Windhoek, head to the airport and board your flight back to the UK. 

Day 12: Return back in the UK 

Our members will stay at the following Standard or Superior Category Hotels in a Double Rooms with meals included as per itinerary.

YOUR STANDARD CATEGORY HOTELS

Kalahari Desert: 1-night stay at the Auob Lodge or similar.
Namib Desert: 2-night stay at the Solitaire Lodge or similar.
Walvis Bay: 2-night stay at the Protea Hotel Walvis Bay or similar.
Khorixas: 1-night stay at the Damara Mopane Lodge or similar.
Etosha Region: 1-night stay at the Etosha Safari Camp or similar.
Etosha National Park: 1-night stay at the Namutoni Rest Camp or similar.
Otjiwarongo: 1-night stay at the C’est Si Bon Hotel or similar.

YOUR SUPERIOR CATEGORY HOTELS

Kalahari Desert: 1-night stay at the Kalahari Anib Lodge or similar.
Namib Desert: 2-night stay at the Namib Desert Lodge or similar.
Walvis Bay: 2-night stay at the Protea Hotel Walvis Bay or similar.
Khorixas: 1-night stay at the Twyfelfontein Country Lodge or similar.
Etosha Region: 1-night stay at the Etosha Safari Lodge or similar.
Etosha National Park: 1-night stay at the Namutoni Rest Camp or similar.
Otjiwarongo: 1-night stay at the Frans Indongo Lodge or similar.

Upon arrival at your accommodation you will have the option of taking a photo safari in a 4x4 vehicle at sunset. Departing about 5 pm, this 2 hour tour will allows you to explore the dessert in a bit more depth.

Located in southwestern Africa, Namibia boasts a well-developed infrastructure, some of the best tourist facilities in Africa, and an impressive list of breathtaking natural wonders. Visitors can explore the capital of Windhoek and discover the lovely coastal town of Swakopmund boasting remnants of the country’s German influence, reflected in the architecture, culture, cuisine and the annual Oktoberfest celebrations.

To properly appreciate this extraordinary country, you will have to venture out of the cities to explore the remarkable natural landscapes Namibia has to offer. These include: the impressive Fish River Canyon; the vast Etosha National Park teeming with abundant wildlife, such as lions, desert-adapted elephants and the Hartmann's Mountain Zebra; the hauntingly beautiful Kalahari Desert; and of course the Namib Desert stretching for over 2000 km along the magnificent Atlantic Coast. Namibia is an ideal destination for travellers seeking an unforgettable African experience in a uniquely beautiful untamed wilderness.