Gentle Walking & Wildlife Holiday Namibia

Day 1 - Fly London to Windhoek

Today you will catch your flight from London and fly to Windhoek. There are no direct flights to Namibia from the UK. Please ask us for details of the available airline options.

Overnight: In flight

Day 2 - Arrive Windhoek International Airport. Drive to Windhoek - 40km, 30 minutes. Afternoon walking tour.

You will be met at Windhoek International Airport by your guide. It’s then about a 30 minute drive to Windhoek. Namibia's capital city.

Before checking in at your hotel you will have the chance to stretch your legs on a gentle orientation walking tour through the city’s historical and cultural highlights. You may stroll past notable landmarks such as the Christuskirche, Tintenpalast (Parliament Gardens) and the old railway station, and will get a taste of Windhoek’s unique blend of colonial heritage and modern-day life. Along the way there will be the opportunity to stop for a light lunch with a first chance to sample some local food.

You will then check in at your hotel and have time to settle in and freshen up. Later, in the evening, you will head out to the legendary Joe’s Beerhouse known for its lively atmosphere and hearty Namibian dishes.

Overnight: Weinberg Hotel Or Similar, Windhoek

Day 3 - Drive to Zebra River Lodge at Maltahohe in the Tsaris Mountains. Guided nature walk.

The drive south to the Tsaris Mountains takes around 4 to 5 hours through ever changing scenery and you will have a stop for lunch on the way. Your destination is the Zebra River Lodge, a charming old farmstead located in the heart of the serene wilderness of the Tsaris Mountains and teeming with desert-adapted flora and fauna.

Later in the afternoon, after you have settled in, you will stretch your legs and take in your new surroundings on a gentle walking trail around the lodge led by your guide. There are several scenic paths such as the Gail’s Cave Trail, the Quivertree Trail, or the Ridgeway Trail which take in the rugged landscape, unique vegetation and the fantastic birdlife that calls this semi-arid region home. If you are lucky you may see resident black eagles and rosy faced lovebird but look out also for animals such as mountain zebra, kudu, steenbok and much more. The geology and archaeology of the region is incredible, and various ancient hand tools, such as mandolins, have been unearthed. A small collection of tools and stones are displayed at the lodge – fascinating stuff! 

Dinner will be served in the lodge.

Overnight: Zebra River Lodge, Maltahohe

Day 4 - Morning walk in Tsaris Mountains - 2-3 hours. Drive to Elegant Desert Camp - 1½ hours. Sunset walk.

This morning your guide will take you on another walk along one of the lodge’s longer trails. You may climb to the ridge top for far-reaching views over canyon areas and quiver trees, taking in some of the wonderful unique geology of the area on the way.

After your walk you will leave the Tsaris Mountains behind to drive down to the desert floor and onwards to Elegant Desert Lodge where you will be based for the next two nights. There will be time to unpack and relax and perhaps take a swim in the pool. 

Later in the afternoon your guide will lead you out on a walk to enjoy the open vistas and stillness of the desert environment and to watch the sun set over the desert. Afterwards, you return to the lodge for dinner perhaps accompanied by a glass of fine South African wine. 

Overnight: Elegant Desert Lodge, Sossusvlei

Day 5 - Explore Sossusvlei, Dead Vlei & Sesriem Canyon on foot - 4-5 hours.

The classic desert area around Sossusvlei and Deadvlei is undoubtedly the scenery for which Namibia is best known, with its iconic red sand dunes. These surreal clay pans, framed by towering red dunes, offer some of the most memorable landscapes in Namibia. Sossusvlei is the largest of four pans in the vicinity, another is Dead Vlei where large camel thorn trees, dead for want of water, still stand after 900 years. The area is home to a variety of desert wildlife including oryx, springbok, ostrich and a number of reptiles.

The clay pan of Sossusvlei is set amid massive sand dunes that rank among the tallest dunes on earth, some up to 400 metres high. The pans are large expanses of bleached, cracked clay which are a deathly white against the red sands of the dunes. Sossusvlei Pan, once an oasis, is the endpoint of a now dry river, the Tsauchab. Until dunes stopped it in its tracks 60,000 years ago, the Tsauchab reached the sea, as ephemeral rivers still do in the northern half of the Namib. Once-a-decade rainfall over the Naukluft Mountains is sufficient to bring the river down in flood and fill the pan.

This morning you will rise early to drive to the Namib-Naukluft National Park, for an unforgettable full day in the Namib Desert. You will park your vehicle and explore on foot, walking through the iconic landscapes of towering apricot sand dunes and ancient skeletal camel thorn trees. You will climb the elegant Dune 24 for panoramic views over the desert and explore the picturesque Sesriem Canyon, a natural gorge where centuries of water erosion has carved a narrow ravine. At the foot of the gorge, which plunges down 30-40m, are pools that become replenished after good rains. Sesriem derives its name from the time when early pioneers tied six (ses) lengths of rawhide straps together and secured to a bucket to draw water from the deep pools within the canyon.

In the late afternoon you will return to the comfort of your lodge, where you can relax and perhaps have a swim before dinner.

Overnight: Elegant Desert Lodge, Sossusvlei

Day 6 - Drive to Swakopmund via Walvis Bay Lagoon - 4-5 hours. Afternoon at leisure.

Today you drive north, traversing vast gravel plains and arid dunes as you head for the coast. On the way you will visit the Walvis Bay Lagoon, one of South Africa’s most important coastal wetlands. The lagoon, which offers a striking contrast to the surrounding desert scenery, is a protected RAMSAR wetland site and home to a wide variety of birdlife; roughly 50 species. Look out for greater and lesser flamingos, pelicans, avocets, plovers, cormorants and the endemic Damara tern.

You may stop somewhere along the way for lunch before continuing to the charming town of Swakopmund. Swakopmund is a town with an air of enchantment about it, as if the ornate buildings of the old quarter and the lush greenery of the seafront were somehow spirited away from their proper setting to be left without rhyme or reason in an African desert. Beyond the last row of houses, the desert is devoid of vegetation except for low bushes. A bare plain beside a rough sea and dry river is hardly a prime position for a holiday resort, and yet against all the odds the town has become one. Swakopmund, named for the mouth of the Swakop River, was established in 1892 as the main harbour for German South-West Africa, firstly with a landing station where the Imperial Navy erected beacons on the site, and cargo and passengers were rowed ashore in surfboats from steamers anchored offshore. Once a concrete breakwater had been built it became possible to use tugs and barges instead and the town grew as a harbour town and then later into a seaside resort.                      

Upon arrival, you will check in at the welcoming Swakopmund Sands Hotel, located just a short walk from the town centre, jetty and beach. The afternoon is free for you to relax at the hotel, walk into town or, if time permits, you may find local activities available.

Dinner tonight will be taken in your hotel.

Overnight: Swakopmund Sands Hotel, Swakopmund

Day 7 - Morning marine cruise at Walvis Bay. Afternoon at leisure.

In the morning you return to Walvis Bay (the name means Whale Bay) to join a scenic cruise in the protected waters of the bay, which provide a safe haven for over 150,000 birds. This excursion also offers the chance to see three different types of dolphin (Heaviside’s dolphin, endemic to the Namibian coast, dusky dolphins and bottlenose dolphins) as well as boisterous Cape fur seals and a wide variety of seabirds. A light snack and sparkling wine are typically served on board, adding to the experience.

Following the cruise you will drive back to Swakopmund and then the afternoon is yours to enjoy at leisure. You may like to browse the town’s many quaint shops and commercial art galleries or the curio market around the lighthouse area. Or you could visit the Swakopmund Museum which has exhibits on the Namib Desert and the colonial German history of the region. Swakopmund also has a National Maritime Museum. Alternatively you could simply take a stroll along the beach promenade.

Tonight, dinner will be at one of the restaurants in town.

Overnight: Swakopmund Sands Hotel, Swakopmund

Day 8 - Drive along the Skeleton Coast to Twyfelfontein. On the way see lichen fields, the Zeila shipwreck and stop off at Brandberg to walk to the White Lady rock painting - total driving 420kms, 6-7 hours.

Leaving after breakfast, you head north along the Skeleton Coast (1½ hours), known for its stark beauty where thousands of miles of sandy desert meet with the cold waters of the Atlantic. It is dotted with shipwrecks, and atmospheric ocean fogs creep over the shoreline. You will have several scenic stops along the way. Firstly you will visit the fascinating coastal lichen fields - fragile desert organisms that flourish in the mist. Then you will see the wreck of the Zeila, a fishing trawler stranded offshore, now an eerie monument to the treacherous Atlantic currents.

From here you turn inland and drive to Brandberg Mountain, a huge granite massif rising up over the plains, and at 2,573m the highest point in Namibia. This mountain has been sacred to the local San people for centuries. With a local guide you will walk to see to the famous ‘White Lady’ rock painting, a striking example of ancient San rock art, nestled in a gorge along the Tsisab River. Although she has a big reputation, the ‘white lady’ of Brandberg is a diminutive 40cm tall, and is depicted as part of processional frieze. This is an excursion of about 1½ hours on foot. 

Returning to your vehicle you continue to Twyfelfontein in the heart of Damaraland. Twyfelfontein is a spectacularly scenic area, featuring one of the largest and most important concentrations of rock art in Africa and home to some of the best examples of rock paintings and engravings in southern Africa. The name Twyfelfontein translates to ‘fountain of doubt’, which refers to the perennial spring situated in the impressive Huab Valley flanked by the slopes of a sandstone table mountain. It was this spring that attracted Stone Age hunters over six thousand years ago, and it was during this time that the extensive group of rock engravings and paintings were produced. Twyfelfontein was declared a World Heritage Site in 2007. The local fauna and flora of this area includes plants such as welwitschia, a ‘miracle’ plant that can live for over 1,000 years, and animals such as rhinoceros, giraffe, springbok, oryx, ostrich and famously, the desert-adapted elephant. These creatures live in harmony with the community and the communal farming activities of the local conservancy.

You will stay at Twyfelfontein Country Lodge, arriving in the late afternoon. This is a comfortable lodge set in a picturesque landscape of red rock formations with magnificent views from the deck over the Huab Valley, desert plains and distant mountains. Dinner will be served at the lodge restaurant under Damaraland's vast, starry skies.

Overnight: Twyfelfontein Country Lodge

Day 9 - Morning walk to see UNESCO World Heritage Site and rock etchings. Drive to Grootberg Lodge - 2-3 hours.

In the morning, whilst the temperature is still cool, you will visit the ancient rock etchings of Twyfelfontein in the company of a local guide. Your guide will provide insights into the history and significance of this cultural treasure which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Strewn over a hillside at Twyfelfontein in the southern Kaokoveld, boulders and slabs of red sandstone hold some 2,500 prehistoric engravings that depict wildlife, animal spoor and abstract motifs. It is perhaps the largest and finest collection of petroglyphs in Africa. The engravings show animals such as elephant, giraffe, kudu, lion, rhinoceros, springbok, zebra and ostrich that once used to drink from a fountain at the bottom of the hill. In some cases, footprints were engraved instead of hooves or paws. The abstract motifs feature mainly circles. Stone tools and other artefacts found at Twyfelfontein suggest that hunter-gatherers occupied the site over a period of perhaps 7,000 years. The exact age of the engravings is unknown, but the patina on individual figures, the darker the older, does give an idea of their relative ages.

After your visit you will return to your vehicle for another 2-3 hours to continue further into the heart of Damaraland where baobab trees, strange plants and dramatic cliffs dominate the landscapes. You will arrive in the afternoon at Grootberg Lodge which enjoys an enviable location, situated on the edge of the Etendeka Plateau with views across the Klip River Valley.

Overnight: Grootberg Lodge, Damaraland

Day 10 - Elephant tracking in the morning. Afternoon at leisure.

This morning you will set out early in vehicles with a guide and tracker from the lodge to search for the elusive desert-adapted elephant. This guided tracking experience offers a rare opportunity to observe these remarkable giants in their natural habitat, learning about their behaviour and survival strategies for the harsh desert environment. The elephants of the region generally inhabit the ancient, ephemeral riverbeds that need rainfall before flowing above ground; however, in the dry season the water still flows under the desert sand. There is some debate as to whether the Namibian desert dwelling elephants should be classified as a different species. They are apparently very well adapted to living under the particular conditions of the desert and routinely move distances of up to 70km between feeding grounds and the scattered waterholes where they drink during the dry season.

Please note that these are wild animals who wander at will in the conservancy and so sightings are not guaranteed! However, this will still be a worthwhile experience, giving the opportunity to learn and appreciate more about the lifestyle and challenges for the local people.

You will have a picnic lunch in the shade of a tree, giving time to relax amid the stunning scenery of Damaraland. You will return to the lodge in the early afternoon where you may explore further or relax by the pool.

Overnight: Grootberg Lodge, Damaraland

Day 11 - Drive to Vingerklip - 140km, 2-3 hours, with visit to Himba community en route. Afternoon walk - 2 hours.

After a leisurely start, you leave Grootberg behind to drive to Vingerklip, a drive of about 2 to 3 hours through rugged mountains and wide-open plains. 

Along the way you will visit a traditional Himba community to gain an insight into the culture and lifestyle of this semi-nomadic indigenous group and learn something of their customs, dress, and survival skills. The Himba are one of the last tribes in Namibia still attempting to preserve and live their traditional lifestyle. These friendly people are closely related to the Herero tribe and they speak the same language. They are herdsmen, breeding mainly cattle and goats while leading a semi-nomadic life, and they are well known for their centuries-old livestock farming practices. For the Himba people, clothes, hair and jewellery hold a special meaning and form an important part of their tradition and culture, with every aspect either having a practical reason, significance or representing age or status. Even new-born babies are adorned with pearl necklaces while older children are given bracelets crafted from copper and decorated with shells.

You will then continue the journey to Vingerklip. Rising dramatically from the flat landscape, Vingerklip is a towering rock pinnacle, the remains of an ancient lava flow shaped by millions of years of erosion and offering a striking contrast to the surrounding arid plains. Its name, meaning "rock finger" in Afrikaans, aptly describes its imposing presence. It stands proudly above a valley, known as the Ugab Terraces on the edge of the Damaraland.

You arrive at your lodge, which sits on a hilltop just 1km from the rock pinnacle, in the early afternoon. Your guide will then lead a walk to the first of the Vingerklip rock formations (2 hours return). Alternatively, you can just relax by one of the lodge’s two pools or spot animals from your private veranda.

Overnight: Vingerklip Lodge, Damaraland

Day 12 - Drive to Etosha - 200 Km, 3 to 4 hours. Afternoon game drive in open-sided safari vehicle.

Today you drive north through a variety of changing landscapes to reach the Etosha National Park, one of Namibia’s greatest natural treasures. You arrive at the southern edge of the park and enter via Andersson’s Gate for an exciting game drive in an open safari vehicle. With its vast salt pan and thriving waterholes, Etosha offers exceptional wildlife viewing - look out for elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, and perhaps even elusive rhino and cheetah.

After your safari you will continue to nearby Etosha Omusati Lodge, which is located just outside the park.

Etosha is recognised as one of the best game parks in Southern Africa for the numbers and variety of game, as well as for its interesting geology. The name Etosha translates as ‘Great White Place’ or ‘Place of Mirages’. The dry and shimmering Etosha Pan is a vast shallow depression and is thought to be the remains of a large inland lake which existed before continental uplift changed the slope of the land and the lake dried up. If the lake existed today, it would be the third largest in the world. Nowadays the Etosha pan is filled with water only after seasonal rains. In the dry season, the wildlife is attracted to the perennial springs and waterholes that make for excellent game viewing. There are over 115 different mammals in the park including endangered species such as cheetah and black rhino, as well as elephant, lion, leopard, hyena, zebra, giraffe and a whole host of plains game. 340 species of bird have been recorded in Etosha including uncommon members of the hawk and vulture families. 

Overnight: Etosha Omusati Lodge

Day 13 - Full day of games drives In Etosha National Park.

You have a full-day game drive dedicated to exploring the park’s diverse habitats and renowned waterholes, which draw a wide variety of wildlife - ranging from large elephant herds and lion prides to elegant antelope and countless bird species. Your expert guide will help track animals and share insights with you into Etosha’s ecosystems and conservation efforts.

You will stop at one of the park’s well-equipped rest camps at lunchtime where you can take a short break, buy some food, browse the souvenir shops, or visit the rest camp waterhole for additional wildlife sightings.

In the late afternoon you will return to Etosha Omusati Lodge to relax and reflect on your exciting day of wildlife viewing. Dinner is served at the lodge.

Overnight: Etosha Omusati Lodge

Day 14 - Drive to Okonjima Plains Camp - 250km, 3-4 hours. Afternoon walk.

After breakfast you begin the journey southward to Okonjima Nature Reserve, home of the renowned AfriCat Foundation. The drive is approximately 250 km and takes around 3 to 4 hours, passing through scenic cattle farmland and rolling hills.

You arrive and check in at the Okonjima Plains Camp which is within the secluded wilderness area of Okonjima Nature Reserve. This family-owned lodge was formerly a cattle and hunting farm and has transitioned to become a welcoming lodge that specialises in conservation. Sunsets from the terrace here are particularly fine.

In the afternoon, your guide will lead you on a nature trail walk through the surrounding bushveld. This gentle walk offers the chance to observe birds, small wildlife, and animal tracks, while soaking in the tranquillity of the reserve.

The camp offers optional activities for the enthusiastic, which are payable locally.

Dinner is served at the lodge’s restaurant where you can enjoy fresh, locally inspired cuisine while looking out over the plains.

Overnight: Okonjima Plains Camp, Central Highlands

Day 15 - Full day at Okonjima. Rhino tracking and Pangolin tracking on foot.

The Okonjima Nature Reserve is home to the AfriCAT Foundation and is recognised as one of the best places to stay to see carnivores and other endangered species, such as the aardvark, pangolin and brown hyaena in the wild. You will also learn more about conservation. The AfriCat Foundation was founded in the early 1990’, as a non-profit organisation, starting out primarily as a sanctuary for the rehabilitation of cheetah and leopard rescued from irate livestock farmers. Captured big cats were given a second chance to be released back into the wild and become completely independent hunters in a protected area, right in the middle of commercial cattle farmland. The Foundation has since focused on research projects considered essential for the long-term conservation of Namibia’s wildlife. Today, AfriCat is renowned for its carnivore rehabilitation programs and for working to mitigate conflicts between humans and wildlife. The AfriCat Foundation is based partly at Okonjima Farm where you are staying, and partly at Kaross farm in the northwest. The partnership between the Okonjima Lodges, the Okonjima Nature Reserve and the AfriCat Foundation is considered a valuable demonstration of a symbiosis between conservation and tourism.

After an early breakfast, you will set off on foot for an unforgettable morning of rhino tracking. Accompanied by an experienced guide and tracker, you will explore the reserve in search of the endangered white or black rhino. Walking quietly through the bush, you will learn about rhino behaviour, habitat, and the vital conservation work taking place at Okonjima.

You will return to camp to relax during the heat of the afternoon, possibly by the pool or observing wildlife from the camp’s viewing hide.

Later, towards evening, you will join a guided pangolin tracking excursion on foot. This offers a rare and deeply rewarding opportunity to encounter one of Africa’s most elusive and threatened nocturnal creatures. Using telemetry and expert tracking skills, your guide will lead you through the bush as daylight fades, sharing insights into pangolin ecology and the efforts being made to protect them.

You return to the lodge for a relaxed dinner surrounded, for the last time on your trip, by the sounds of the Namibian night.

Overnight: Okonjima Plains Camp, Central Highlands

Day 16 - Time at leisure. Drive to Windhoek International Airport - 3-4 hours. Depart Namibia.

Depending on flight timings there may be time at leisure this morning before the drive to Windhoek Airport for your flight home.

Overnight: In Flight

Day 17 - Arrive London.