Day 1: Windhoek

Upon arrival, you will be met and transferred to Hilltop House, located in the hills overlooking Windhoek. Your stay here will be on a bed and breakfast basis. There are some excellent restaurants within a short distance of the house.

Days 2 & 3:

The safari departs by light aircraft from Eros Airport, close to the centre of town in Windhoek. We depart in the morning at about 10h00. But this departure may be adjusted to suite other guests on the trip. All guests coming off international flights in the early morning will be given enough time to connect off the incoming flight without an overnight in Windhoek, if they so wish. It is a one-hour flight down to Sossusvlei Wilderness Camp, where we spend 2 nights.

Sossusvlei Wilderness Camp is situated 20 km’s from Sesriem, the Park’s entrance to the Sossusvlei dunes. Towering dunes rise dramatically, more than 1000 ft above the surrounding plains. The camp’s location provides access to Sossusvlei, yet also offers privacy and exclusivity. It has been built just below the top of a mountain, using rock, brick, timber and thatch and provides a cool refuge from the desert. There are nine guest units, ensuring personal service and attention. Each unit is superbly appointed and has a panoramic view overlooking the plains below, its own plunge pool as well as an en suite bathroom with hot and cold running water, shower and flush toilet.  The main living area (comprising dining room, bar and lounge) is under thatch. Activities centre round early morning excursions in 4x4 vehicles to the magnificent Sossusvlei dunes and the “vlei” itself. Afternoon activities are enjoyed on the property where guests can spend time taking in the desert scenery with its unique fauna and flora.

Days 4 & 5:

The early morning flight takes guests over the Namib and over Sossusvlei itself for an alternative view of the dunes from the air, and then due west to Meob Bay on the Skeleton Coast. The desert and Skeleton Coast scenery is spectacular, where the dunes and the desert meet the Atlantic Ocean. The flight up the coast takes you over the site of the Eduard Bolen shipwreck, past Conception Bay and the wreck of the Shaunee, over Sandwich Harbour and its famous lagoon and will land at Swakopmund Airport. You are then transferred to Walvis Bay Harbour for a boat trip (weather permitting) which will allow you the opportunity to view seals and usually schools of dolphins swimming alongside the boat. You may also see turtles, sunfish, penguins, as well as a wonderful quantity and variety of birdlife.  The group will return to Walvis Bay Harbor and following a delicious seafood lunch, be transferred by road to Swakopmund to enjoy a tour of this charming town. In the afternoon you depart from Swakopmund for a scenic flight further up the Skeleton Coast, past the Cape Cross Seal Colony, before turning east to fly up the Huab River Valley to Damaraland Camp for two nights.

Situated on the northern face of the Huab River valley and looking south toward the imposing Brandberg Mountains, Damaraland Camp offers its guests endless vistas.  Early morning mists, generated by the clash between the icy Atlantic Ocean and the warm desert air of the Skeleton Coast, drift inland along the river sand canyon, providing sustenance to the flora and fauna of the region. This comfortable and friendly camp offers walks and drives in one of the best wilderness areas in Namibia.  Although wildlife is not concentrated, the camp is situated where the rare Desert Elephant roams, alongside Gemsbok (Oryx), Springbok, Ostrich and other hardy desert animals.  Rare succulent plants somehow manage to eke out an existence in this harsh countryside. Damaraland Camp accommodates guests in nine comfortable tented rooms, with en-suite facilities including flush toilets and showers with hot and cold running water.   The combined dining room and bar are under canvas, and an open fire is enjoyed on calm evenings. A feature of the camp is the unique rock pool.  Activities throughout the area are in 4x4 vehicles, and on foot.

Days 6 & 7:

We fly by light aircraft today from Damaraland to Ongava Lodge or Ongava Tented Camp, for a further two-night stay. Highlights are the game drives into Etosha National Park as well as the night drives, walks and hides on the private reserve.

Ongava Game Lodge is situated along the southern boundary of Etosha National Park in the privately owned Ongava Game Reserve.  Accommodation here comprises 10 air-conditioned rock and thatch chalets, each with en-suite facilities.  All meals are served in the main dining area under thatch with a view over the camp’s water hole.  Activities include game drives in open 4x4 vehicles into the Okaukuejo area of Etosha where Lion, Elephant, Cheetah, Gemsbok, Springbok, and Hartebeest can be seen at many of the water holes in the park.

In addition, night drives and walks are enjoyed on the private reserve.  Ongava has resident White and Black Rhino, giving guests staying at Ongava the opportunity to see both species.

Ongava Tented Camp is situated along the southern boundary of Etosha National Park in the privately owned Ongava Game Reserve. The small twelve-bedded tented camp is built in a different sector of the reserve to Ongava Lodge. Accommodation comprises six large comfortable walk-in tents with en-suite facilities, including flush toilet and a hot shower.  All meals are enjoyed in the main dining area under thatch.  There is a small pool as well.  Activities include game drives into the Okaukuejo area of Etosha where Lion, Elephant, Cheetah, Gemsbok, Springbok, and Hartebeest can be seen at many of the waterholes in the park.  In addition, night drives and walks are offered on the private reserve.  Ongava has resident White Rhino, and Etosha has Black Rhino, allowing guests staying at Ongava the opportunity to see both species.

Day 8, 9 & 10:

Following AN early morning activity, we depart Ongava by light air charter and head west towards Damaraland and the Skeleton Coast. We may stop en route to collect more passengers or change plane.

Once we arrive at the Skeleton Coast we spend all our time on the ground in vehicles and on walks.

We stay all three nights at Skeleton Coast Camp. This is a six-roomed luxury tented camp in the heart of the reserve.  Skeleton Coast Camp is built onto an island in a dry riverbed about 20km inland from the coastline. Each tent is large and roomy and has a bathroom en suite. As a result of water shortages, it is unfortunately not possible to offer a laundry service. We have a wonderful old gnarled leadwood tree – which offers shelter from the elements and this is our dining room for our outdoor meals.

This region is so vast and there is so much to see and experience that we abandon our traditional early morning and afternoon activities.  We leave camp after breakfast and spend the full day exploring the park.  A picnic lunch is enjoyed out in the wild and we return to base camp in the late afternoon.  We travel in 4x4 Land Rovers with pop-top roofs, and cover an extraordinary variety of terrain.  Nature drives may include visits to the clay castles of the Hoarasub, Rocky Point, the roaring dunes, lichen fields, seal colonies, and remnants of shipwrecks.  Walking may also play a part in the activities.  Due to the pristine nature of this area, many parts are accessible only on foot.  Many specially adapted species of plants like lithops and welwitschia can be visited in this way.

Even though this is a quality safari, the terrain is harsh, rough and rugged.  We will try and make this as comfortable as possible, but we have no way of hiding from the elements.  Sometimes we can experience cold temperatures – and then 400m up the valley, we encounter hot desert winds.

The Skeleton Coast Park is one of our planet’s most inhospitable, but hauntingly beautiful places – it is wild, desolate and uninhabited. It has everything from roaring sand dunes and windswept plains, to towering canyons and saltpans, and even one of the most productive fishing grounds anywhere.

Fresh water springs permeate through barren sands to create rare oases in the desert that sustain pockets of wildlife. Springbok, Gemsbok (Oryx), the rare desert Elephant, Ostrich, Cape fur seals, jackal and Brown Hyena – and even cheetah on rare occasions, eke out an existence in this rugged terrain, along with the vegetation like the ancient welwitschia which has adapted to the harsh conditions.

The arid desert environment in the Skeleton Coast is within the northern reaches of the Namib Desert.  The Benguela current brings cold waters all the way from Antarctica and helps to moderate temperatures.  The cool air off the ocean meets the hotter desert air and nearly every morning, a cool mist envelops the coastline, bringing life sustaining moisture to the desert. By about 9 or 10 in the morning the sun’s rays have burnt this mist off.

There are many regions in the Skeleton Coast.  On these safaris, we visit the most isolated, beautiful, remote (and private) northern sector of the park, from just north of Mowe Bay to just south of the Kunene River.  The Parks have set aside this area for low volume, exclusive safaris.

Day 11:

Fly by light aircraft back to Windhoek aiming to touch down around mid day.

What Is Included

• All charter flights and transfers as specified

• Accommodation on a shared basis

• All meals and local wines, beers and spirits at dinner and on activities.

• All Activities

• Services of the lodge guides and staff

• Park fees

What Is Not Included

• All international scheduled flights and their departure taxes

• All items of a personal nature

• All insurance

• Visas and their respective fees

• All other drinks

• Any new Government tax

• Gratuities to staff

• This camp does not do laundry due to the water shortage on the Skeleton Coast.

Note: Baggage in charter aircraft is restricted to 12kg per person in a soft bag (including camera equipment and carry on baggage).