17 Night Experience Namibia Package

Experience Namibia is an 18-day guided safari which kicks off at Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek.

Participants will be able to enjoy a few of Namibia's highlights, such as the Fish River Canyon, the coastal towns Lüderitz and Swakopmund, and the renowned Etosha National Park during this trip.

The package includes all transport as per the itinerary's routing, accommodation on a shared basis, meals as specified in the itinerary, activities and park fees as specified in the itinerary, and mineral water.

The package excludes expenses of a personal nature, i.e. laundry, telephone expenses, gratuities and other personal purchases, all drinks, personal as well as medical and evacuation insurance, and any additional activities.

DAY 1:

Arrival at Hosea Kutako International Airport where you will be met by your guide. Subsequent transfer to the Windhoek for check-in to the Elegant Guesthouse. After check-in you will be taken on a city tour. A few of the sights you will see on your tour are the Ride Memorial, the Old Fort, the Parliament Building, the Lutheran Church, and the Railway Station.

Overnight stay at Elegant Guesthouse or similar - bed & breakfast.

DAY 2:

After breakfast depart from Windhoek and drive via Rehoboth into the red dunes of the Kalahari Desert to the Bagatelle Kalahari Game Lodge. Late afternoon, participate in a guided game drive to learn about the flora and fauna of the Kalahari Desert.

Overnight at the Bagatelle Kalahari Game Lodge or similar - dinner, bed & breakfast.

DAY 3:

A full day's journey takes you south through the desert-dominated landscapes to a picturesque Quiver Tree Forest. This prehistoric tree reaches skyward with graphically forked branches. Their trunks peel and form intricate patterns as the tree matures. Giant's Playground is an impressive jumble of massive boulders and is a virtual maze where time can be spent wandering through the extensive rocky labyrinth. You proceed to Keetmanshoop and thereafter continue via the Naute Dam to the Fish River Canyon.

Overnight at the Canon Lodge or similar - dinner, bed & breakfast.

DAY 4:

Today you can view the spectacular northern fringes of the Fish River Canyon from various vantage points. Here the impressive surrounding rock formation are a highlight for enthusiastic nature lovers.

Overnight at the Canon Lodge or similar - dinner, bed & breakfast.

DAY 5:

The next leg of the journey takes us via the small historic village of Aus and through the vast barren expanse of the Prohibited Diamond Area to Lüderitz. Lüderitz is renowned for its old-world charm and distinctly German colonial architecture.

Overnight at The Nest Hotel or similar - bed & breakfast basis.

DAY 6:

After breakfast we visit Kolmanskop, a ghost town that was abandoned over 40 years ago and now gives a fascinating insight into the area's great diamond boom. Return to Lüderitz. After a short sightseeing tour of Lüderitz, we are going on an afternoon excursion to the Diaz Cross where the daring Portuguese sailors erected a stone pillar in the 1480's.

Overnight at The Nest Hotel or similar - bed & breakfast.

DAY 7:

The journey leads once more through the Diamond Prohibited Area via Aus and Helmeringhausen to Farm Namtib. Experience the daily life of a farmer in the south.

Overnight stay at Farm Namtib or similar - dinner, bed & breakfast.

DAY 8:

Today we travel through some of Namibia's most spectacular sights. Vast expanses of yellow savanna are dotted with bushes and solitary camelthorn trees. Distant mountain ranges take on different nuances of purple and blue as the day progresses. En route you visit the Duwisib Castle which was built by Baron von Wolff for his American wife Jayta in 1909. Our destination is The Desert Homestead & Horestrails situated south of the Sesriem Gate at Sossusvlei.

Overnight at Desert Homestead or similar - dinner, bed & breakfast.

DAY 9:

Visit Sossusvlei, a clay pan surrounded by some of the highest sand dunes in the world, and the Sesriem Canyon.

Overnight at Desert Homestead Lodge or similar - dinner, bed & breakfast.

DAY 10:

The route takes us north via the Kuiseb Canyon to Swakopmund. Highlights en route include a drive to the ?Moon Landscape? and the ancient desert plant, ?Welwitschia mirabilis?. This quaint desert town with its old-world charm and relaxed atmosphere hedged by desert and sea is enhanced by lush green lawns and palm trees

One overnight stay at the Central Guesthouse or similar - bed & breakfast.

DAY 11:

Morning dolphin cruise on the Walvis Bay Lagoon. The afternoon is at own leisure.

One overnight stay at the Central Guesthouse or similar - bed & breakfast.

DAY 12 and 13:

Departure from Swakopmund along the Atlantic Coast towards the North. Visit the lichen fields near Wlotzka's Baken before continuing to Henties Bay. Onward to the seal colony at Cape Cross. After visiting the seals the journey continues via Ugabmund to the southern Skeleton Coast Park to inspect a shipwreck. You leave the Skeleton Coast Park in the early afternoon via Springbokwasser and can experience the harsh transition from the Namib Desert to the Damaraland highlands with its impressive landscape and ragged valleys. A highlight of your stay at Grootberg Lodge is the rhino tracking excursion.

Two overnight stays at Grootberg Lodge - dinner, bed & breakfast.

DAY 14:

We travel via the Grootberg Pass to Kamanjab and further on the tarred road to the Etosha National Park. Afternoon arrival at the Okaukuejo Restcamp in the Etosha National Park. At the heart of this National Park is the Etosha Pan, a vast dry shallow depression. Perennial springs feed the waterholes along the southern verge which attract a myriad of animal species.

Overnight stay in a bungalow in the Okaukuejo Restcamp or similar - dinner, bed & breakfast.

DAY 15 and 16:

We spend these days discovering the mysteries of the African bush in Etosha National Park, doing game drives in the park, and visiting the numerous waterholes that attract a large diversity of animal and bird species many of these being endemic to the country.

Overnight stay in a bungalow in the Mushara Bush Camp or similar - dinner, bed & breakfast.

DAY 17:

Continue to the Okonjima Lodge, home of the Africat Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of Namibian wild cats in particular leopard and cheetah.

Overnight stay at Okonjima Main Camp - full board.

DAY 18:

Return journey via Okahandja to Windhoek. Okahandja is an important centre for woodcarvers from the north. They practice their ancient skills at the Woodcarvers Market next to the main road. Arrival in Windhoek with transfer to Hosea Kutako International Airport for check-in for your outbound flight.