8-Day Namibia Safari

Your guide will pick you up from the airport in Windhoek and take you to your nearby bush lodging in the Wildlife Sanctuary. The “carnivore tour” game drive this afternoon allows visitors up-close encounters with the sanctuary’s rescued lions, leopards, wild canines, and other animals. Some people prefer to fly into Windhoek and then proceed directly to the Namib Desert without taking into account the likelihood of a flight delay, the effects of jet lag, or the lengthy journey from Windhoek to the desert. Staying near to Windhoek tonight enables you to get used to the dry air of Namibia and establish a calm, healthy routine for the rest of your safari.

Today provides a beautiful picturesque trip to Sesriem and the Namib Desert dunes. You descend into the Naukluft Valley and its breathtaking mountain vistas largely on graded gravel roads. As you go closer to the easternmost point of Namibia’s famous desert dunes, where sand and savannah meet, the scenery doesn’t lose its breathtaking quality. You can frequently observe roving animals from your lodge, including springbok, Oryx, and ostrich. We offer a two-night stay in the area because we want to give you enough of time to take in this arid yet stunning landscape. One of the largest animal reserves in the world, the Namib-Naukluft National Park is located within the Namib Desert and spans nearly 50,000 km2 (19,300 mi2).

On these two days your guide will drive you to the desert sands, where you will be able to see the well-known and attractive sites of Dune 45, Dead Vlei, and Sossusvlei. Later on, you can visit Elim Dune and explore Sesriem Canyon while taking in the beauty of an African sunset. You are dwarfed on either side as you descend the Tsauchab River valley by enormous sand dunes. You occasionally pass past groves of dead trees, a reminder of a time when there was a lot more water. You might encounter springbok, ostrich, jackal, and the legendary desert antelope oryx throughout the trip. A short, somewhat bumpy ride through a sandy trail leads to Dead Vlei and Sossusvlei from the end of the tarmac road. A marsh or pan of water is referred to as a vlei in Afrikaans.

This morning, you travel a little distance south to Walvis area, where you will learn about the abundant bird and marine life on a fun and informative tour in the protected area. Then there is a lavish meal served on board with locally grown oysters and sparkling wine. The afternoon is yours to explore Swakopmund. During your tour of the bay, you may see dolphins, whales, Cape fur seals, mola molas (sunfish), and, with any luck, orcas (killer whales). Birdwatchers won’t be let down by the opportunity to see pelicans, cormorants, Cape gulls, Caspian Terns, flamingos, and other wader species up close.

You will travel north-east across Namibia’s savannah region to Etosha National Park. Your camp’s floodlit waterhole guarantees excellent animal viewing throughout the evening and into the early morning. You’ll spend two nights in Namibia’s premier national park, giving you plenty of opportunity to visit a number of the area’s famous waterholes, which are frequently home to big herds of elephant, oryx, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, and springbok. You’ll also be on the lookout for the park’s renowned “black” species, such as its black-maned lions, black rhino, black-backed jackal, and rare black-faced impala.

Etosha, which means “great white place” in the local Oshindonga language, is dominated by the huge mineral pan that bears the same name. The Etosha Pan, which makes up about 25% of the park, is a large, dusty depression of salt and dry clay that only fills during strong rains and even then only temporarily. Nevertheless, there are a number of perennial springs near the pan’s boundaries that attract a lot of fauna and birds. In addition to your game drives with you, we offer an evening game drive with a park ranger this evening. You’ll be on the watch for the park’s diverse nocturnal fauna, both predator and prey, as you travel in a specially designed open-sided 4×4 safari vehicle with a spotlight scanning the bush.

Your safari guide will then bid you farewell before returning you to Hosea Kutako International Airport in time for your afternoon flight.