You will be collected between 07:30 and 08:00 this for a lengthy drive that takes us to the northern
part of Namibia. The famous Etosha National Park is our final destination, but our route will see us
passing through farmlands and but also the towns of Okahandja, Otjiwarongo and Outjo along the
way. Okahandja will however be our first stop to visit Namibia’s largest craft market. We aim to
arrive in Etosha National Park early in the afternoon in time for lunch.

From the main southwestern camp Okaukuejo, we will depart for our first official game drive in the
comfort of our vehicle, attempting to spot our favourite animals! A few hours before sunset we will
arrive at our lodge where we will relax by one of the best watering holes in all of Etosha while
enjoying the view of the African sun disappear. After your evening meal, there are more
opportunities to see Etosha’s big game when the floodlit waterhole comes to life, situated on the
boundary of our camp and easily reachable on foot from your rooms.

Today we will get fully acquainted with the routes, waterholes and unique vegetation of the park, and what it has on offer for us as we set off early on our game drive. 

One of todays’ highlights will be the visit to the massive white mineral pan, which gives the park its name. Etosha means ‘Great White Place’ and
the pan which covers 25% percent of the park, forms part of the Kalahari Basin, the floor of which was formed roughly 1000 million years ago. The dusty white pan is a depression of salt and clay today and occasionally fills up during heavy rains. 

We will have a lunch stop in Halali, one of the younger camps in the Etosha National Park. You are welcome to utilize the bar and pool facilities here before we continue our afternoon game drive. It will not be until late in the afternoon when we head back to our lodge and enjoy another delicious dinner.

Today’s journey takes us to the heart of Damaraland. A long scenic drive through the stunning Grootberg mountainous area and the beautiful granite boulders and sandstone features inside the Twyfelfontein conservancy, before we reach our lodge. Damaraland is sub-divided in different conservancies, which are areas where human beings and wildlife are able to co-exist peacefully, and therefore this area is also home to the Desert-Adapted Elephants.

We set out to view the archaeological site in the late afternoon when temperatures have slightly subsided. A massive open air gallery with more than 2000 unique rock engravings was declared as
National Museum during 1952 and approved as World Heritage Site by UNESCO during 2007. We will
also see the Ugab Terrace and Umbrella Thorn trees. We head back to our lodge in the area for a
wonderful dinner and a discussion on the socio-economic environment in Damaraland.

The Spitzkoppe is one of the most photographed mountain motifs of Namibia. This inselberg
surmounts its surrounding by 700 metres with an overall height of 1728 m above sea level. Due to its
distinctive form, which can be spotted from a great distance the Spitzkoppe is often called the
“Matterhorn” of Namibia. Actually the Spitzkoppe consists of two separate mountains: The large
Spitzkoppe, which is 1728 m high and the small Spitzkoppe, which has a height of 1584 metres.
Further west we also find the so-called Pontok Mountains.

For hikers and mountaineers the Spitzkoppe is a paradise. Beginners can practice nicely here and for
professionals the ascent of the peak is a real challenge as it is difficult. The first ascent of the
challenging west side was in 1946 and up to today only 600 roped parties have succeeded to reach
the peak. We will end our evening with a tasty dinner and organisational discussions for the
following day.

We will sleep in this morning as we do not head off to the cosey town of Swakopmund until 10am this
morning. The city’s German origins are quite pronounced in beautiful old German colonial buildings throughout the city. Swakopmund is like a German North Sea town with an African flair. The first European explorers of the area, Dutchmen Sebastian van Reenen and Pieter Pienaar described
the area in 1793 as one with plush vegetation, elephants and rhinos. Nowadays however, the area can be described as ocean on one side and desert on the other, with some shrubs as the only natural vegetation. Close to a century after the Dutch exploration, the area was a colony of the German Empire, and was chosen as a second port for German Southwest Africa after Luderitz.

Upon arrival in Swakopmund, lunch at one of the wonderful seaside restaurants is a must and will be followed by a short walking tour with your guide around the city’s’ historical monuments and famous sites before we will settle into our accommodation. We plan to have a little downtime before this afternoon quadbike activity in the dunes which we know you will absolutely love! We end the day with a great dinner at a wonderful seaside restaurant.

We set off quite early this morning as we have one of the longest drives of our tour, which will be
along the sand sea, via the Kuiseb and Gaub Mountain passes, and over the gravel plains of the
Namib Desert, we continue a scenic drive to the Sesriem area. A short coffee stop is a must as we
also past through the Tropic of Capricorn.
We will enjoy a long scenic drive through the stunning Namib Naukluft mountains on route to our
final destination of Sesriem, the gateway to the Sossusvlei National Park famous for hosting some of
the world’s highest and oldest sand dunes. The dunes of Sossusvlei in the Namib Desert, are often
referred to as the highest dunes in the world. Various arguments are laid out to support this claim,
but all miss the point, which is that Sossusvlei is surely one of the most spectacular sights in Namibia
and the world. The Sossusvlei area lies within the greater Namib Naukluft National Park, which is said to be the seventh largest national park in the world. At over 49,000sq km (18,000sq mi), the park roughly covers the same area as the combined size of states New Hampshire and Vermont in USA.

It is a pre-dawn start for us today as we head into the dunes to try and catch a beautiful sunrise amongst this amazing landscape. We are amongst the magnificent dunes this morning and head to the famous area known as ‘Deadvlei’, which is a clay pan branded by its dark, dead camelthorn trees characterized by their contract against the white pan floor. We will also have the opportunity of climbing ‘Big Daddy’, one of the world’s highest climbable dunes at 316m (1,036ft). Our excursions in the Sossusvlei area will not be done until the late morning when we make our way back to our lodge to enjoy the coolness alongside the swimming pool.
In the afternoon, we have planned a visit to the Sesriem canyon for you! We hike down the remarkable depths of Sesriem Canyon. Our experienced guides will share the history behind this magnificent natural canyon carved by the Tsauchab River. We enjoy our last dinner as we have come to the end of our wonderful tour 

We have come to the end of our tour today and have a long journey back to Windhoek, with quick stops for lunch and an enriching coffee experience in the small town of Klein-Aub! We aim to arrive back in the capital city in the late afternoon hours and give our guests some time to relax. The dinner this evening will be at a local restaurant.