Swakopmund – Cape Cross – Twyfelfontein – Etosha Game Park – Windhoek – Sossusvlei – Swakopmund
Day 1:
Depart from Swakopmund and drive north to the Cape Cross seal reserve and view a large colony of 80,000 to 100,000 Cape Fur Seals. This area is also of historical significance as the Portuguese explorer named Diego Cao, the first European to set foot in Namibia, erected a stone cross in honor of King João II of Portugal. Lunch packs en route. Travel into the interior of the country, through rugged landscapes past the Brandberg, Namibia’s highest mountain, to Twyfelfontein, (meaning doubtful fountain). Dinner / bed / breakfast at a lodge or camp near Twyfelfontein.
Day 2:
After breakfast we visit an amazing variety of rock engravings and paintings, which are estimated to be some 6000 years old. We also view the “Organ Pipes” with its bizarre Dolerite columns and the “Burnt Mountain” with its interesting geological features. Lunch en route. Proceed to the Etosha National Park, one of the major game reserves in Africa. Dinner / Overnight at one of the three Rest Camps.
Day 3:
A full day of game viewing in the Etosha National Park. This park is one of the major sanctuaries for wildlife in Africa. The area was proclaimed a game reserve as far back as 1907. The size is 22,270 km² and it consists mainly of bush and grass savannah. This type of landscape provides excellent opportunities for game viewing at the numerous waterholes or in the open countryside. There is a game-viewing drive after breakfast until late afternoon with a break for lunch. Dinner/ bed / breakfast at a rest-camp.
Day 4:
After breakfast last game viewing drive in the park. Thereafter travel to Windhoek via Otjiwarongo and Okahandja. Time permitting visit Lake Otjikoto near Tsumeb and the wood carvers market in Okahandja. Lunch break in Otjiwarongo, capital of the North. Arrive in Windhoek in the late afternoon. Dinner / bed / breakfast at a accredited accommodation establishment in Windhoek.
Day 5:
After breakfast embark on a short tour of the City of Windhoek. Afterwards travel across the rolling hills of the Khomashochland at an altitude of more than 2000 meters above sea level, down the steep Spreetshoogte Pass into the Namib Desert below. Continue in a southerly direction and experience the unsurpassed scenery of the rugged Naukluft Mountains to our left and the dune landscape to our right. Overnight at a lodge, camp or guest farm near Sesriem.
Day 6:
Early in the morning we depart on an excursion to Sossusvlei, a large clay pan in the center of the Namib Desert surrounded by the highest sand dunes in the world. Breakfast packs at Sossusvlei. Visit Sesriem Canyon: As a result of erosion over many centuries, a narrow gorge of about one kilometer in length was formed about 30 to 40 meters deep. Early explorers had to tie six lengths of thongs together to draw water from the pools in the canyon, hence the name “Sesriem”. Dinner / bed / breakfast at a lodge, camp or guest farm near Sesriem.
Day 7:
After breakfast we embark on our return journey to Swakopmund and travel via Solitaire and the scenic Kuiseb and Gaub Canyons into the Namib Naukluft Park. We pass the waterholes Ganab and Hotsas where, with a bit of luck, one can see ostriches, springbok, oryx and mountain zebras. Then on to the Welwitschia Plain, where the endemic Welwitschia plant occurs in large numbers, and past the so called “moon valley” – a fascinating rock formation which is millions of years old. Arrive in Swakopmund in the late afternoon.