22-Day/21-Night Accommodated Self-drive Safari from/to Windhoek covering the classic, most sought after natural...
Parks visited include:
19 Day/18 Night Self-drive Safari from Windhoek via coastal and northern Namibia to north-eastern Botswana and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe
Safari tour package: | A custom, tailor-made, private safari |
Prices: | $22147 - $47710 |
Includes internal flights: | No |
Length of safari: | 19 days |
Best months: | All year |
Countries visited: |
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Parks visited: |
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Activity level: | Easy - Game drives, bush dinners |
Safari type: |
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Day 1 Windhoek
Upon arrival at Windhoek's Hosea Kutako International Airport, transfer to your nearby guest farm accommodation where the remainder of the day is at leisure. After some rest and a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon, join the farmer for a game drive. Enjoy your first meal in this beautiful country with the sound of Africa in your ears and under a starry sky that you have most probably never seen before in such splendour.
Near Windhoek International Airport
Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Basis
Game drive included
Khomas Region
Day 2 and 3 Windhoek – Swakopmund
A morning transfer from Ondekaremba into Windhoek takes you to the vehicle rental company's office for collecting your rental vehicle, and allows for doing some shopping or sightseeing, before you leave the central highland for the Namibian coast.
You are heading west towards the Namib Desert and the Atlantic Ocean. The small coastal town of Swakopmund is your destination. Explore its historic sites, sandy beaches and lively central business district on foot, and enjoy the offerings of many cosy restaurants and street-side cafés.
A self-drive excursion to nearby Walvis Bay introduces you to the Namib Desert's coastal dune belts and the marine life og the Southern Atlantic Ocean.
During a boat cruise on the Walvis Bay Lagoon, pelicans, seagulls, cormorants as well as dolphins and seals are regularly encountered. A lucky few also occasionally sight a Mola Mola (sun fish), a sea tortoise or a whale.
Optional activities in & around Swakopmund/Walvis Bay are available on request.
Swakopmund
Bed & Breakfast Basis
Boat trip included
Erongo Region
Day 4 Swakopmund - Erongo Mountains
The “Spitzkoppe” is a well known landmark of Namibia and forms part of the Erongo Mountains. On your way into the Erongo Mountains swerve past this rock formation and enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings. For rock climbers this is Heaven, while less adventurous visitors are bound to marvel at the pre-historic rock paintings and the abundance of wildlife found in these mountains.
Optional guided afternoon activities are available through your lodge hosts.
Tonight you sleep on the northern slopes of the Erongo Mountains in comfortable bungalows. While walking to breakfast, enjoy some bird watching.
Omaruru District
Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Basis
Erongo Region
Day 5 Erongo Mountains - Twyfelfontein Area
Only a 15-minute drive from the Erongo Wilderness Lodge lies the historic village of Omaruru, which became a centre of the arts and handicrafts in recent years. Travelling further west, you reach the small settlement of Uis, named after a long deserted open-cast tin mine whose crater turned into a huge lake. On your way further north from Uis, you pass the Brandberg Massive with Namibia’s highest mountain peak and home of the famous “White Lady” rock painting. (A visit of the Brandberg's rock art sites is not for the faint-hearted or unfit and should only be attempted in the early hours of a winter morning, after an overnight in a nearby lodge. A Community Guide has to be hired for this outing on the spot.)
For this tour programme, we recommend continuing in a north-westerly direction and using the opportunity for a visit to the world heritage site of Twyfelfontein with its countless beautiful rock engravings. Strange geological formations like the Organ Pipes and the Burnt Mountain as well as a Petrified Forest also await your call.
Upon arrival at your accommodation in the late afternoon, enjoy sundowners on the platform of your lodge.
Twyfelfontein
Bed & Breakfast Basis
Kunene Region
Day 6 and 7 Twyfelfontein - Palmwag Area
Today's destination is situated only some 80km further north: At Palmwag, you have various activity options, ranging from optional guided excursions on offer by the lodge that concentrate on wildlife and scenery to a self-drive outing to Fort Sesfontein, the gateway to Kaokoland. The fort was built as a police station some 100 years ago, by the 'Schutztruppe', the military wing during imperial Germany's brief colonial presence in former South West Africa.
Relaxation is possible around the beautiful pool of the lodge and its numerous outdoor facilities.
Damaraland
Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Basis
Kunene Region
Day 8 and 9 Palmwag Area – Etosha National Park
Today’s journey takes you via the Grootberg Pass, with stunning vistas across the Etendeka Mountains, and via the small town of Kamanjab to your next, anxiously expected highlight, the Etosha National Park. Just before the borders of the park, high up on a mountain offering you a stunning sight right to the first waterhole of the National Park, lies your accommodation. When passing through the village of Outjo consider visiting the local bakery for some road snacks, they are divine. If time permitting, make a first gamedrive to Okondeka on the western edge of the Etosha Pan - lions love to linger here before sunset. On the morning of day 2 you might want to take your breakfast in a basket to enjoy while watching game at one of the waterholes of your choice.
Etosha National Park
Bed & Breakfast Basis
Oshikoto Region
Day 10 Etosha National Park
Is there really a game and bird species you have not seen yet? Don't worry, you have another full day's game viewing ahead of you while travelling towards the eastern Etosha Gate. So keep your binoculars and camera at hand. In the vicinity of Fisher’s Pan you might get lucky spotting hyenas. On the detour of Klein Namutoni, seeing the very shy, cute little “Blue Bucks”, so called because of to the bluish coat on their behind, will take some eye straining to distinguish them from the bush. And for a change of scenery, pop in at Namutoni Rest Camp to take a shot of the historic fort that also served as police station in gone-by colonial times.
Etosha National Park
Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Basis
Oshikoto Region
Day 11 Etosha National Park - Grootfontein Area
On your way to Namibia's far north-eastern regions!
Lake Oshikoto close to the mining town of Tsumeb still cherishes the secret of its depth and whether it has an underground connection to Lake Guinea. It is known for sure that some of the ammunition and weapons, sunk here by the German 'Schutztruppe' while fleeing from South African troops at the end of WW I, must still be lying at the bottom of the lake but not even experienced divers managed to reach it thus far.
The small Tsumeb Museum in town is a must-see for the keen historian or the geologist interested in Namibia's many unusual minerals. Another unique Namibian feature is the Hoba Meteorite found in a field to the west of Grootfontein. With approx. 20 tons of almost pure iron, it is the largest meteorite identified on the earth's surface.
Find tonight’s accommodation next to the main road to Rundu, situated in an oasis like surrounding.
Grootfontein District
Bed & Breakfast
Otjozondjupa Region
Day 12 and 13 Grootfontein Area – Divundu
Large forests of Namibian teak timber and tiny bush villages of Kavango wood carvers line the almost straight tar road to the north. The region was named after the Kavango River, one of Namibia’s border forming rivers, that keeps drawing its countless visitors into its spell. Whether it is the natural surroundings, birding or game viewing that leads you into this region you will not be disappointed. Reaching the Kavango River turn east and take the road to Divundu. On the banks of the Okavango River, leading down into the panhandle in Botswana, lies Nunda, close to Mahango National Park, a hidden jewel.
Divundu
Dinner, Bed & Breakfast
Kavango Region
Day 14 and 15 Kavango River - Kwando River
After crossing the Kavango River at Divundu, you travel eastwards through the Bwabwata National Park, the former Caprivi Game Park, to the next border forming river, the Kwando. Originating in Angola, the Kwando River divides the Caprivi Strip from the Caprivi head. Along its course its name changes to Mashi River, Linyanti River and, still further east, to Chobe, the river that forms the border shared by Namibia and Botswana.
Kwando River, Caprivi Strip
Bed & Breakfast
Caprivi Region
Day 16 and 17 Kwando River - Katima Mulilo - Chobe/Zambezi
You want to do game viewing pure? No problem – in the lodge situated on the Namibian shores of the Chobe River you will be able to do just that. Since crossing the border to Botswana might be a little tiring in your own vehicle, return the rental vehicle in Katima Mulilo and use a transfer across the border (Ngoma Bridge) to the Kasane Immigration point in Botswana, from where a speed boat will take you to the lodge.
Chobe & Zambezi Rivers
Full board including activities
Transfer to Kasane included
Caprivi Region
Day 18 Chobe/Zambezi - Victoria Falls
"Mosi oa Tunya", the “smoke that thunders”, is one of the 7 world wonders and on your menu for today. After the cruise, a speed boat takes you back to the Immigration point in Kasane, and a road transfer will get you across the border from Botswana into Zimbabwe.
Upon reaching Gorges Lodge, check into your room and enjoy the view of the cloud of mist hanging over the famous waterfalls. A shuttle service is available to take you to Victoria Falls Park in the afternoon (shuttle bus & entrance fees are optional extras), from where you may experience the marvel of the Victoria Falls and its surrounding rain forest from close quarters. Depending on water levels in the Zambezi River, soaked clothing and a wet camera might be part of the deal but the sight of a rainbow rising out of the chasm against the backdrop of a curtain of water over 100 meters high will be the part never to be forgotten again.
Vic Falls
Bed & Breakfast
Transfer from Botswana to Zimbabwe included
Day 19 Victoria Falls - Departure
Today you bid farewell to this amazing place that according to legend made Dr. Livingstone of Africa explorer fame utter the words: "A sight so beautiful it must have been gazed upon by angles."
Transfer to VFA Airport, in time for your outbound flight.
Services Included in this programme, on a SELF-DRIVE basis:
- Accommodation as indicated above
- Activities indicated as included above
- Meal basis as indicated above
- Vehicle rental from Windhoek to Katima Mulilo - 16 days:
- Road transfers:
• from Katima Mulilo/Namibia to Kasane/Botswana
• from Kasane to Gorges Lodge near Victoria Falls/Zimbabwe
• from Gorges Lodge to Victoria Falls Airport
Not included are:
- Flights & Visa/Permits of any kind
- Sightseeing programme & entrance/park fees
- Optional activities
- Additional meals & all beverages
- Fuel for rental vehicle
- Purchases and expenses of a personal nature
On a GUIDED basis, the tour includes in addition to the above inclusions:
- English speaking driver-guide for the Namibia portion: Windhoek to Katima Mulilo,
& all tour expenses pertaining to the guide.
(From Day 16 to departure on Day 19: services as per self-drive programme)
- Transport in an air-conditioned 5-seater minibus & all tour expenses pertaining to
the vehicle
- Sightseeing marked in bold above & the applicable entrance/park fees
22-Day/21-Night Accommodated Self-drive Safari from/to Windhoek covering the classic, most sought after natural...
Parks visited include: