Welcome to Namibia! When your flight lands in Windhoek, you will be greeted by our local representative in the arrivals area of the airport. Here, our local staff will brief you on your trip itinerary and anything else you might like to know about your time in this country. They will provide your custom info packets for you to use as reference throughout your journey. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to ask them!

Africat Day Centre Visit

From the airport, your adventure will begin with a game ride to Onguma Tree Tops, but first you will visit the Okonjima’s AfriCat Day Centre, a wonderful highlight with which to start your safari. Okonjima is home to the AfriCat Foundation, a wildlife sanctuary which focuses on the research and rehabilitation of Africa's big cats, especially injured or captured leopard and cheetah. You will arrive in time to embark on an exciting and informative game drive and tour of the centre. Here you will learn about the function and vision of the AfriCat Foundation and will also get to meet some of the Foundation’s special captive carnivore ambassadors.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be no tracking of wild cats on this visit and should that be required a pre-overnight extension should be booked.

After the excursion you will enjoy a light lunch before you journey continues further north via the small towns of Otjiwarango, Otavi and Tsumeb arriving at Onguma in the late afternoon. You will have time to freshen up and relax before dinner and the official safari briefing with your guide.

Etosha National Park

Etosha, meaning "Great White Place," is dominated by a massive mineral pan. The pan is part of the Kalahari Basin, the floor of which was formed around 1000 million years ago. The pan is now a large dusty depression of salt and clay which fills only if the rains are heavy and even then it only holds water for a short time. This temporary water in the Etosha Pan attracts thousands of wading birds including impressive flocks of flamingos. The perennial springs along the edges of the Etosha Pan draw large concentrations of wildlife and birds. Ranking as one of Africa's top wildlife viewing destinations, Etosha is your opportunity for a more traditional game viewing safari in an otherwise nontraditional African travel destination.

Game Driving

For your time at Etosha National Park you will enjoy exciting game viewing, with the option to go on across towards Halali or to concentrate on the areas closer to Namutoni and north to Fischer’s Pan.

Etosha National Park boasts many game-viewing centers around the numerous springs and waterholes where several different species can often be seen at one time. The Park is home to some 114 mammal and over 340 bird species. Wildlife that one might see includes elephant, lion, giraffe, blue wildebeest, eland, kudu, gemsbok (oryx), zebra, rhino, cheetah, leopard, hyena, honey badger and warthog, as well as the endemic black faced impala.

Spend your final afternoon on a shared game drive with a local guide on the private Onguma Game Reserve, culminating in a sundowner overlooking Fischer’s Pan. You then return after sunset with enough time to freshen up and enjoy your final ‘safari dinner’ overlooking the camp’s floodlit waterhole.

This morning after breakfast you will continue your safari to the heart of Namibia, Damaraland, traveling through farmlands and the small towns of Tsumeb, Otavi, Outjo and Khorixas. You will enjoy a delicious Magic Box picnic en route and arrive in time in time to enjoy fireside sundowners at your exclusive Huab Under Canvas. Today will be a long day of travelling, but you will be rewarded with a comfortable 3 night stay at your next camp!

Damaraland

Central Namibia is dominated by a series of plateaus at its higher elevations, and it's on these plateaus where life has found a way to thrive. Winding rivers and active springs dot the landscapes of Damaraland, attracting giraffes, elephants, zebras, antelopes and even the rare black rhino. The relatively livable environment also allowed for early man to build societies here, leaving behind evidence of their passing via fascinating rock engravings - some of the oldest in the world. Damaraland is one piece of a landscape puzzle that is necessary for a complete picture of Namibia's awesome space and scope.

Rhino Tracking

After breakfast, you will spend an exciting and memorable morning out rhino tracking with the assistance of local trackers. It is worth noting that 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 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. Huab Under Canvas works together with the Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) - an NGO that has been has been instrumental in the preservation of the rare, 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 increased substantially since the formation of SRT.

Camp Activities

Today you continue your adventures exploring Damaraland, enjoying the freedom to discover the fascinating landscapes with your private naturalist guide both by vehicle and on foot. Damaraland is a surprising refuge for desert adapted wildlife that may include 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 the drive today takes you south past Namibia’s highest mountain, the Brandberg which peaks at 2,573 m 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.

Swakopmund

From its name, to its architecture, to its residents, it's hard to ignore German colonization's influence on Swakopmund, and Namibia as a whole. The German tourists that frequent this city certainly feel at home here, and with its seaside promenade and authentically laid back attitude, you certainly will as well. You can spend the day on one of its many beaches, or venture out to partake in one of many available adventure activities. Surfing, sand boarding, sky diving, it's all here in Namibia's adventure sports capital. Lastly, Swakopmund is also the gateway into the Skeleton Coast to the north, making it a likely stop on your way into this fascinating region.

After an early breakfast you depart on a fascinating drive which takes you south-east through awesome and everchanging desert landscapes via the impressive Gaub and Kuiseb canyons to meet the dunes at the settlement of Solitaire. A picnic lunch will be had en route and you will continue onto the Namib Tsaris Conservancy, where you will spend your final two nights of your safari at the exclusive-use Sossus Under Canvas. 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.

Namib Tsaris Conservancy

The 24 000 hectare Namib Tsaris Conservancy was founded by Landscape Conservationist and Philanthropist Swen Bachran in 2010, and it serves as a natural buffer from the harshest desert conditions and a refuge that is vital to wildlife through the dry season. Eight years of intensive work to reverse sixty years of inappropriate farming practices, including the removal of 120 km of internal fencing, the installation of wildlife watering points, the improvement of road networks, the rehabilitation of land and the reintroduction of wildlife that historically occurred here, has resulted in one of the most picturesque and ecologically sound tracts of land in the area. The Conservancy has gravel plains, mountainous areas with dry river valleys as well as a large raised plateau which towers above the desert below, and it is now home to some of largest concentrations of wildlife in the area, including oryx, springbok, Hartmann’s mountain zebra, Burchell’s zebra, kudu, hartebeest, giraffe, steenbok, klipspringer, bat-eared fox, and aardwolf, as well as predators such as leopard, cheetah, brown and spotted hyena. Plans for the future which include the reintroduction of critically endangered black rhino and the acquisition of adjoining land are already well underway!

Namib Naukluft National Park Excursion

This morning you will need to rise early for a magical excursion with your guide in the Namib Naukluft National Park, normally setting off before sunrise to enter the park at sunrise and 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 and 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.

Sadly, this will be the final day of your Africa Safari adventure, however, you'll be leaving with memories to last a lifetime! After a leisurely breakfast this morning you will depart from 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. Upon your arrival in Windhoek you will be transferred to your accommodation establishment of choice, or out to the Windhoek International Airport.

Please Note: If flying out in the evening - departure flights must be no earlier than 6:00 PM to allow sufficient time for the journey back to Windhoek, or a final night in Windhoek can be arranged at additional cost if required. A final night in Windhoek is highly recommended!

We hope your Safari experience was incredible and wish you safe travels home!