Extreme Southern Namibia

9 days—Quiver Forest, Giant's Playground, Fish River Canyon, Orange River, Lüderitz, Ghost Town of Kolmanskop, Wild Horses, Sossusvlei. Enjoy a unique biome

$4900-6100 USD

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Safari summary

This tour gives you an insight into Namibia’s unique landscapes and scenery in the southern part of the country. The tour features the Kalahari Desert which is a semi-arid savannah environment with very small red sand dunes and vegetated, Lüderitz and the Ghost Town of Kolmanskop, Fish River is much more dry, mountainous and very rocky and Sossusvlei has very high red sand dunes. The Namib Desert represents a true desert with less precipitation and unique flora and fauna. The Kalahari Desert covers most of Botswana and only a third of it is within Namibian Borders. The true desert of the Kalahari is experienced more on the Namibian side as there much less precipitation compared to Botswana. You will experience all these fascinating landscapes and unique wildlife during this 9-day tour.

About this tour

	Tour type	Custom, tailor-made, private
	Main focus	Game drives
	Activity level	Easy activity
	Best months	All months
	Countries	Namibia
	Parks	Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Namib-Naukluft

Fine details

Safari highlights

Beaches
Photography safari—with professional guide
Sightseeing | shopping | markets

What’s included?

Accommodation
Airport transfers
Park fees

What’s not included?

Alcoholic beverages
All drinks
Hot air balloons
Internal flights
Laundry
Premium alcoholic beverages
Spa treatments
Visas

Itinerary

Windhoek- Arrival

You will be transferred from the airport to the capital city of Namibia, Windhoek. You have time to stroll the city at your own pace, do the last-minute shopping for the trip and get accustomed to local norms and values. You will then meet your guide for dinner and briefing on what the entire trip will be about.

Hilton Hotel, Hilton Garden Inn Windhoek

Quiver Tree Forest

After breakfast, you will head southwards past towns of Rehoboth and Mariental. This is a 4-hour drive from Windhoek including photo/scenery stops. We will be there before sunset for late afternoon photography of the quiver forest which is a dense stand of Aloe dichotoma trees that occur in southern Namibia and northern Cape, but a few places are so many together. After dinner, we will go for night photography including stars background on these trees.

Quiver Forest Rest Camp

Fish River Canyon

Ai-Ais/Richtersveld

An early morning start will take us to the Giant's Playground which consists of marvelous balancing dolerite (black granite) rocks. One would think they were put there by humans! After breakfast, we will take a leisurely scenic drive through the Gondwana Canyon Park. Although not so easy to spot in this rather barren habitat, wildlife here includes Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra, Greater Kudu, Klipspringer, Dassie, Chacma Baboon. We will embark on afternoon nature drive around a private reserve.

Canyon Lodge, Canyon Village

Fish River Canyon

Ai-Ais/Richtersveld

We will visit the Fish River Canyon. This canyon is the least visited Africa’s wonders, stretching about 160km and 550 meters at its deepest, it is arguably second in size to Arizona’s Grand Canyon. This Canyon lies in the Fish River Canyon and Ai-Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier National Park. There are a couple of interesting xerophytic plants like Elephants Trunk (Pachypodium namaquanum) and some drought resistant succulents.

Canyon Lodge, Canyon Village

Luderitz- Sperrgebiet National Park

Ai-Ais/Richtersveld

After breakfast, we will further south of the country along the Orange River between South Africa and Namibia. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of 2,432 km (1,511 mi), the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north. With less than 50mm of rain each year, it is home to leopards, lizards and adventurers and ironically contains the world’s richest desert flora in the midst of the rugged terrain.

Luderitz Nest Hotel

Luderitz Sperrgebiet National Park

After breakfast, we will embark on a catamaran tour which is centered around an unforgettable trip to Halifax Island, home of a thriving African penguin colony. Along the way, you may see various marine wildlife, including dolphins, birds, seals, and, occasionally, whales. We will also visit the Ghost Town of Kolmanskop in the Sperrgebiet National Park. It used to be one of the richest towns in the world in 1908 after diamonds where found.

Luderitz Nest Hotel

Sossusvlei- Namib Desert

Namib-Naukluft

After a relaxed morning and breakfast, we will make our way to Sossusvlei. It is quite a scenic drive past a couple of privately owned concessions and ranches with very low human population. We will be on the lookout for desert wild horses. There is still a mystery of their origin, and several theories have been put up. Aus area is a meeting point 3 main ecological biomes, the Succulent Karoo, the Namib Karoo and the Namib Desert.

Sossusvlei Lodge, Dead Valley Lodge

Sossusvlei- Namib Desert

Namib-Naukluft

We will explore the red sand dunes, Deadvlei, Sossusvlei, Dune 45 and the Sesriem Canyon. In the afternoon we will have a sundowner among the dunes as a goodbye to the Namib Desert. The Sesriem Canyon is about kilometer long and 30 (100ft) meters deep and might have some water, quite important for animals to drink it.

Sossusvlei Lodge, Dead Valley Lodge