Guided self-drive Adventure
Only €3499 per Person sharing!
14 August 2011 – 3 September 2011 (land only)
SHORT AND SWEET
The northern parts of Namibia are known as Damaraland and Kaokoland or the Kunene, bordering Angola this is the countries wildest and most remote territory. We then travel through the Caprivi and enter Botswana through Kasane with nearby Chobe and Vic Falls with a lot to explore for two days. Then we travel through Moremi and Chobe national parks with magic 4x4ing on the way to Maun. We will visit the Bushmen of the central Kalahari . This tour is for nature lovers, and probably most scenic, cultural and romantic African safari, not your usual trip. Make a booking
Including: 4x4 Vehicle for 21 days, Petrol, 6 night in lodges and 14 nights in comfortable camping in roof top tents, Border fee, Park Entrances, Conservation Fees, qualified Guide, Cook, and Meals as per Itinerary.
Truly a once in a life time experience!!!!!
ITINERARY
DAY 1, WINDHOEK, Lodge [---]
It sits on a sloping plain on the northern side of the Khomas Hochland (Khomas Highlands) at an altitude of 1,728 meters. The charm of the city of Windhoek lies in its harmonious blend of African and European cultures and the friendliness of its people. We visit the cosmopolitan capital and enjoy a restaurant meal (own expense).
DAY 2&3, SOSSUSVLEI, camping [BLD]
Today is a long drive day with spectacular photographic stops through the terrain ending at Sesriem. We will pick up our vehicles in the morning to drive to one of the oldest deserts in the world, having endured arid or semi-arid conditions for at least 55 million years. Its aridity is caused by the descent of dry air and cooled by the cold Benguela current along the coast. It has less than 10 mm of rain annually and is almost completely barren. Towering red sand dunes of Sossusvlei form the gateway into the Namib Desert. We will enter Sossusvlei along a 4x4 driven track. We explore Sesriem Canyon and watch breathtaking sunsets over the world’s highest sand dunes.
DAY 4, SWAKOPMUND, Lodge [B--]
Today we make our way through places like Solitaire and the Tropic of Capricorn with Lunar landscapes. Swakopmund was founded in 1892 as the main harbor town for the old German South-West Africa. It is the capital of the Erongo district and is a beach resort with German colonial architecture. This town is popular for its cooler temperatures.
DAY 5, SPITZKOPPE, camping [BLD]
We travel through the diverse desert landscapes and moving north along the arid coast, to the Cape Cross seal colony, before heading inland to set up camp under the Spitzkoppe. These huge granite domes rising out of the desert allow for dramatic sunsets and sunrises. The locals believe that the desert elephant was born here.
DAY 6, TERRACE BAY, Base camp [BLD]
There are a number of places on earth that capture your creative imagination and leave a lasting impression on your mind. Namibia happens to have a number of them along its coast which serves as much sought after retreats. Terrace Bay is offering an absolutely unsurpassed coastal experience packed into one destination.
Whereas the camp is set in an undisturbed and peaceful surrounding enveloped in the sand dunes of the northern Namib Desert.
The camp caters for a maximum of 50 people and thus ensuring not only minimum human induced impact on the environment s but also an enhanced wilderness experience for the visitor.
DAY 7&8, PALM WAG, camping [BLD}
Palmwag Lodge is a paradise on the Uniab River in northwest Damaraland. Waving palms whispering in the wind, spectacular surroundings which harbour the famous desert elephant, the rare black rhino, giraffe, zebra, gemsbok and many other wild animal species, sunsets to dream of – this is Palmwag Lodge, one of Namibia’s oldest and most popular tourist rendezvous.
DAY 9, RUCANA- EPUPA FALLS, camping [BLD]
The Epupa Falls, a series of cascades that drop a total of 60 m over a distance of about 1.5 km, reaching a maximum width of 500 m. Originating from the Herero word for the spume created by falling water, Epupa is a fitting name for this fascinating sight. Watching the Epupa Falls and its white mists of water against the red colours of the surrounding desert and mountains during sunset, with a sundowner drink in one hand and your camera or binoculars in the other, is likely to make up one the most beautiful and memorable experiences during your trip to Namibia.
DAY 10&11, ETOSHA NP, camping [BLD]
Etosha National Park is one of Southern Africa's finest and most important Game Reserves. Etosha Game park was declared a National Park in 1907 and covering an area of 22 270 square km, it is home to 114 mammal species, 340 bird species, 110 reptile species, 16 amphibian species and, surprisingly, one species of fish. The Etosha Park is one of the first places on any itinerary designed for a holiday in Namibia.
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 Etosha Pan covers around 25% of the National Park. The pan was originally a lake fed by the Kunene River. However the course of the river changed thousands of years ago and the lake dried up. The pan now is a large dusty depression of salt and dusty clay which fills only if the rains are heavy and even then 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.
DAY 12&13, CAPRIVI, camping [BLD]
Enjoy Game drives in the National Parks. Mamili is Namibia's version of the Okavango Delta, a paradisiacal area of watery channels, reed islands and beautiful wetlands. It is situated in north-eastern Namibia in the eastern Caprivi Strip and is home to elephant, lion, buffalo, giraffe, rare sitatunga and red lechwe, crocodile and hippo, puku and spotted-necked otters.
DAY 14&15, KASANE, Lodge [B--]
Kasane is a great opportunity to stock up with supplies. It is close to Africa's 'Four Corners', where four countries almost meet: Botswana, Namibia, Zamia and Zimbabwe. We will have time to either visit the Vic Falls in Zambia, for a boat cruise on the Chobe River or just to relax on the banks of the river with a cocktail.
DAY 16, CHOBE, camping [BLD]
Chobe National Park, which is the second largest national park in Botswana and covers some 11 700 square kilometres, has some of the greatest concentrations of game found on the African continent, not least of which are the 120 000 head of elephant. The Park is surprisingly diverse, as it has the perennial Chobe River as its Northern border, and it touches the Linyanti marshes to the west, is home to the well-known Savute Channel, and connects with the Moremi Wildlife Reserve to the South West.
Chobe is most often associated with its elephant population – which covers much of Northern Botswana, and the north-west of Zimbabwe. The elephant population is migratory, making seasonal moves of up to 200 kilometres from the Chobe and Linyanti Rivers (their dry season home) to the pans in the south east of the Park, where they disperse to in the rainy season. The Chobe elephants are known for their extreme site, although they don’t tend to have large tusks.
DAY 17, SAVUTI, camping [BLD]
Savute is known as an excellent game viewing area, and indeed boasts good sightings throughout the year. The channel, and marsh are now dry, and have been so since 1982, however, flooding could happen at any time, as it has done so on a number of occasions in the last century or so.
The area is home not only to good populations of elephant and lion, there are also excellent concentrations of plains game, such as giraffe, zebra, impala, tsessebe, wildebeest, kudu, waterbuck, warthog, and eland. Other than lion, predators are common (indeed the Savute area is known for its predators), which include spotted hyaena, jackal, bat-eared fox, cheetah and wild dog.
DAY 18, MOREMI, camping [BLD]
The Moremi Game Reserve covers much of the eastern side of the Okavango Delta, and combines permanent water, with drier areas – making for some startling, and unexpected contrasts. Prominent geographical features of the Reserve are Chiefs Island and the Moremi Tongue. In the Moremi one can experience excellent savannah game viewing by 4x4, as well as bird-watching on the lagoons. There are also thickly wooded areas, which are home to the shy, and rare, Leopard.
DAY 19 MAUN, camping [BL-]
Maun is the tourism capital of Botswana and the administrative centre of Ngamiland. We will be back in civilization and it will be possible to get here nearly everything. After shopping we can rest at the camp or take a dip in the pool.
DAY 20 GHANZI, camping [BLD]
Our next destination is a Bushmen village in the central Kalahari. They will come visit us in the evening and are showing us their traditional dancing (optional extra /own expense) and we can listen to their beautiful language with more than 36 different sounding clicks.
DAY 21 WINDHOEK, Lodge [B--]
In the morning we will go for an educational walk with the Bushmen on their hunting grounds. They will show us all about their hunting skills and traditional healing; this is a very impressive experience. After the walk we will leave Botswana and return back to Windhoek.
DAY 22 FLIGHT HOME from Windhoek [B--]
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