Namibia Untold Safari

Upon your arrival in Windhoek, Namibia, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. The remainder of the day is yours to enjoy at your leisure.

This morning you will depart Windhoek with fellow guests for Etosha National Park, stopping en route at Okonjima. Okonjima’s AfriCat Day Centre is home to the AfriCat Foundation. This wildlife sanctuary focuses on researching and rehabilitating Africa’s big cats, especially injured or captured leopards and cheetahs. You will arrive in time to embark on an exciting and informative game drive along with a tour of the centre.

After the excursion, you will enjoy a light lunch before your journey continues further north. You arrive in time for an afternoon game drive on the Ongava Game Reserve in an open game viewer with an Ongava ranger, on a shared basis with other lodge guests.

Today you will be treated to an exciting morning guided game drive into the Etosha National Park, to see more of the wide variety of game and bird species that are to be found there. There is then time to relax by the refreshing swimming pool before you head out again for an afternoon game drive into Etosha before exiting the park before sunset. Alternatively, you can opt to spend the whole day out in the park and either take lunch at one of the rest camps in the area or have a picnic while watching the game at a particularly productive waterhole in the area. Once you are back (gates close at sunset), the rest of the evening can be spent game viewing at the camp’s floodlit waterhole while enjoying dinner.

Today you will leave Etosha and continue your safari to the heart of Namibia in Damaraland, traveling through farmlands and the small towns of Tsumeb, Otavi, Outjo and Khorixas. Damaraland is typified by displays of colour, magnificent table topped mountains, rock formations and bizarre-looking vegetation.

The present-day landscape has been formed by the erosion of wind, water and geological forces which have formed rolling hills, dunes, gravel plains and ancient river terraces. It is the variety and loneliness of the area as well as the scenic splendour which will reward and astound you, giving one an authentic understanding of the word ‘wilderness’.

Arrive in the late afternoon after a full day of travel to enjoy fireside sundowners at your exclusive camp where you will spend 3 nights at Camp Doros. The Camp Doros  is deliberately small and intimate, and it is located in a core area for desert adapted black rhino with activities largely focused on tracking rhino with an experienced and qualified Rhino Ranger team.

Today you will spend a memorable morning tracking rhino with the assistance of local trackers. These black rhino form part of one of the only free-roaming black rhino populations in Africa and tracking animals in an unfenced and uninhibited environment is an absolute privilege. You will return to camp for a freshly prepared lunch and have time to relax at camp during the heat of the day. Later in the afternoon you head out for a scenic nature drive or walk to explore this vast and astounding ecosystem.

Huab Under Canvas works together with the Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) – an NGO that has been instrumental in the preservation of the endangered desert adapted black rhino. Having barely survived the slaughter in many parts of Africa during the ’80s and ’90s, the black rhino population of Namibia has increased substantially since the formation of SRT.

Today you continue your adventures exploring Damaraland, enjoying the freedom to discover fascinating landscapes with your private naturalist guide, both by vehicle and on foot. Damaraland is a surprising refuge for desert adapted wildlife, including elephant, giraffe, oryx, springbok and even some predators such as lion. However, as with any wildlife sightings in Namibia, this depends on many factors including seasonality, so specific sightings are never guaranteed. The wildlife roams large tracks of unfenced desert landscapes and finding game can be challenging, but this is all part of the adventure of exploring this wild untouched gem of Namibia.

Today’s focus will be largely on tracking the elusive desert adapted elephants in the ephemeral river systems, an activity which will mean spending most of the day out. Your guide will take along a delicious picnic lunch and you will return to camp in the late afternoon.

After an early breakfast and departure, today’s drive takes you south past Namibia’s highest mountain, the Brandberg, which peaks at 2,573m above sea level, and west to meet the coast at Henties Bay. You then continue south to the coastal town of Swakopmund where you can enjoy the pleasant seaside location and cooler coastal air for the night. You stay on the eastern outskirts of the town, overlooking the Swakop River valley and desolate desert dune landscapes. Tonight includes dinner at a popular restaurant which specializes in locally harvested fresh seafood as well as other local and international dishes.

After an early breakfast, depart on a fascinating drive taking you south-east through ever-changing desert landscapes. Travel via the impressive Gaub and Kuiseb canyons, meeting the dunes at the settlement of Solitaire. A picnic lunch will be had en route before arriving at the Namib Tsaris Conservancy. Here you will spend your final two nights at the exclusive-use Camp Sossus.

Arrival should be in the mid to late afternoon with enough time to acquaint yourself with the camp and enjoy a hot bucket shower before dinner. Located on the private 24,000ha Namib Tsaris Conservancy and nestled between the Nubib and Zaris Mountains, this camp is a mere thirty minutes’ drive from the Sossusvlei gate, the gateway to the Great Namib Sand Sea which has recently been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This morning you will need to rise early for a magical excursion with your guide in the Namib Naukluft National Park, arriving at sunrise to capture the dunes whilst the light is soft and shadows accentuate the towering shapes and curves. This area boasts some of the highest free-standing sand dunes in the world and your guide will give you an insight on the formation of the Namib Desert and its myriad of fascinating creatures and plants that have adapted to survive these harsh environs.

Once you have explored Sossusvlei, Deadvlei and surrounding dune fields to your heart’s content, you can enjoy a relaxed picnic brunch in the shade of a camel thorn tree. You will return to camp for a late freshly prepared lunch with time to relax at camp during the heat of the day. Later in the afternoon you head out again for a scenic nature drive or walk to explore this vast and astounding ecosystem and to enjoy a magnificent final safari sundowner.

After a leisurely breakfast, depart Sossusvlei and return to Windhoek, driving northeast up the Great Escarpment and through the scenic Khomas Hochland highlands. A tasty picnic lunch will again be served en route and arrival in Windhoek should be by the mid-afternoon.