Itinerary
Namibian Explorer
13 nights/14 days
Day 1 – Arrival Windhoek
On arrival at Hosea Kutako International Airport you will be met by your Avventura representative and taken to pick up your rental car for your 45 minute journey to your guest house.
The rest of your day is at leisure.
Accommodation: Villa Violet.
Meal Plan – Breakfast.
Days 2 & 3 – Sossusvlei
After breakfast at the hotel, you will travel south to Sossusvlei, a journey of approximately five and half hours for a two night stay at the Desert Homestead Lodge.
The lodge offers several activities for you to choose from:
Desert on horseback. Explore the wide-open plains riding over a varied terrain changing from soft, sandy, stretched open fields, to rockier mountain trails, through dry riverbeds, under social weaver’s nests and around camelthorn trees. This adventure includes either one or two nights sleeping at the Desert Homestead Outpost tented camp dependent on preference and experience.
Horses vary from very tame and easy to ride to some just as easily manageable but willing and able to give a more exiting ride. Beginners are just as welcome to join on this adventure as more experienced riders.
Namib Mountain Hike (4-6 hours). Before sunrise and after an early-bird-breakfast, the first leg of your guided hike consists of crossing the local landmark mountain. After one to one and a half hours, the mountain “saddle” will be reached just as the sun comes up. Here you will enjoy a rest with breakfast while watching the sun rise over the red Namib dunes covering the horizon.
You will then journey through the vast savannah that offers some grass for feeding oryx and springboks, zebras and ostriches. With luck, cheetahs or even a leopard are sometimes spotted. You will follow a tributary of the Tsauchab River with camelthorn trees scattered on its banks.
Once you reach the Desert Homestead Outpost, cool refreshments will be waiting for you to relax before your 4×4 transfer back to the main lodge for lunch. The remainder of the day is at leisure.
Sossusvlei Drive. Your 4×4 drive options include either a half day guided journey through the rugged landscapes and dunes bathed in pastel hues or an early evening drive through the Witwater Wilderness Reserve concluding with sundowners and snacks before being driven back to the lodge for a sumptuous dinner.
Accommodation: Desert Homestead Lodge.
Meal Plan – Breakfast, Picnic Lunch and Dinner.
Days 4 & 5 – Swakopmund
After breakfast at the lodge, you will travel north west to Swakopmund, a journey of approximately five and a half hours for a two night stay at the Swakopmund Guesthouse.
Set along Namibia’s spectacularly scenic coast, the seaside town of Swakopmund is known for its wide-open avenues, colonial architecture, and its surrounding otherworldly desert terrain. Founded in 1892 as the main harbour for German South West Africa, Swakopmund is often described as being more German than Germany. Now a seaside resort town, Swakopmund is the capital of the Skeleton Coast tourism area and has plenty to keep visitors happy. The quirky mix of German and Namibian influences, adventure options, laid-back atmosphere and cool sea breezes make it a very popular Namibian destination. Guests can enjoy a number of exciting activities including: quad biking, horse riding, paragliding, fishing, sightseeing and fascinating desert tours.
Accommodation: Swakopmund Guesthouse.
Meal Plan – Breakfast.
Days 6 & 7 – Twyfelfontein
After breakfast, you will travel north to Twyfelfontein, a journey of approximately four and a half hours for a two night stay at the Twyfelfontein Country Lodge.
Twyfelfontein in Damaraland is home to one of the largest collections of rock-art engravings found in Southern Africa. Not only did the Khoi-San and tribes of ancient years leave us with a true cultural heritage, but the whole area is characterised by natural wonders such as Doros Crater, Burnt Mountain, Organ Pipes, Petrified Forest and desert-adapted animals – of which the desert-adapted elephant is probably the most well-known species.
Over your two day stay in the heart of one of the world’s most magnificent wilderness regions you will have access to a number of activities including a guided drive along the ephemeral river where you can marvel at the rich vegetation with the possibility to encounter desert-adapted elephants in the dry Aba-Huab River valley. Be on the lookout to spot birds of prey, antelope, fairy circles, the Welwitchia Mirabilis endemic plant and many other interesting geological formations.
A visit to the rock engravings and paintings, The Burnt Mountain and The Organ Pipes accompanied by a resident guide is also not to be missed. Many of the rock formations are the products of prehistoric volcanic action.
You will have the opportunity to experience traditional village life, including seeing the works of blacksmiths, leather tanners, jewellers and craftsmen. After, you can take a guided bushwalk where the women collect plants from the bush for food, perfume and medicine and where the men show you how to set up traps, snares and how they used to hunt in the old times.
There will be time to relax and enjoy the tranquil majesty of the Huab Valley, desert plains and distant mountains as you sip on your freshly prepared sundowners.
Accommodation: Twyfelfontein Country Lodge.
Meal Plan – Breakfast & Dinner.
Days 8 & 9 – Etosha South
Following breakfast, you will depart for the Etosha National Park, a journey of approximately three and a half hours for a two night stay at the Etosha Safari Lodge.
The Etosha National Park provides one of Namibia’s premium game viewing opportunities. Guests may catch a glimpse of a variety of wildlife including lion, giraffe, elephant, white and black rhino, and a multitude of plains game.
During your two day stay you will have a choice of full or half-day guided game drives. In addition, you may choose to take part in other activities such as tracking rhino on foot and guided nature walks. Watch the sunset over this magnificent landscape before dining on the veranda under a dome of stars sat next to a blazing fire.
Accommodation: Etosha Safari Lodge.
Meal Plan – Breakfast.
Day 10 – Etosha East
After breakfast, it is time to head to the east of the Etosha National Park, a journey of approximately three hours for a one night stay at Mokuti Etosha Lodge.
Mokuti Etosha Lodge is the perfect venue for guests to explore the famous eastern side of Etosha National Park and is located on its own private 4,000 hectare nature reserve.
You can simply relax in the shade under the trees, visit the exciting reptile park, play a game of tennis, explore the reserve by following one of the marked walking trails or be pampered in the spa or workout at the gym. For the more adventurous, there is the option of accompanying one of Mokuti’s experienced game guides in an open safari vehicle into Etosha National Park.
Alternatively, you may choose to discover the thrill of nocturnal life and splendour not seen during the day on an evening guided bush drive including a traditional meal alive with flavour and authenticity. Just relax and sink into the call of the wild, owls hooting and the ‘sawing’ of the ever elusive leopard.
Accommodation: Mokuti Etosha Lodge.
Meal Plan – Breakfast & Dinner.
Days 11 & 12 – Okonjima
Following breakfast, you will travel to Okonjima Nature Reserve, a journey of approximately three hours 45 minutes for a two night stay at the Okonjima Plains Camp.
The Okonjima Nature Reserve sprawls over 200 square kilometres of undulating plains, mountainous outcrops, and riverine thickets, and it is here that leopard (panthera pardus), the most adaptable of all the wild cats, thrive.
These intelligent, solitary predators occur in high density in the expanse of Okonjima Nature Reserve’s multi-faceted topography. The Reserve’s predator research programme has spanned three decades, and its findings have provided great insight to leopard behavioural patterns as well as offering an upbeat prognosis for a sustainable future for the species in today’s Africa.
Your two day stay offers the best chance to view wild leopard in Namibia, as well as those collared for research purposes, in their natural habitats.
The Okonjima Nature Reserve, a huge protected area set amongst the rugged commercial farmlands of central Namibia, comprises a diversified ecosystem representative of both the large and small mammals of Namibia and most of the country’s endemic birds.
You will have the opportunity for game drives and guided bush walks offering you an intimate, up-close perspective of Namibia’s wildlife and, especially, its most protected species.
Accommodation: Okonjima Plains Camp.
Meal Plan – Breakfast.
Day 13 – Windhoek
Following breakfast, you will have the morning to enjoy the activities and facilities at Okonjima Plains before setting out for your return journey to Villa Violet for your last night in this wonderful country. The journey will take approximately two and a half hours.
On arrival in Windhoek, your afternoon and evening are at leisure.
Accommodation: Villa Violet.
Meal Plan – Breakfast.
Day 14 – Departure
Unfortunately, it is time to leave this marvellous country. After breakfast, you will drive to Hosea Kutako International Airport to drop off your rental car and check-in for your international flight home.
