NAMIBIA CRUSADER GUIDED TOUR

On arrival into Hosea Kutako Airport in Windhoek, you will be met by the guide and depart North via Okahandja to the Okonjima Nature Reserve. Okonjima is home to the Africat Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that started out as a welfare organisation to protect Namibian wild cats, and has evolved to also include vital education for young farmers and school kids. Before your overnight stay, enjoy an afternoon activity with the opportunity to admire predators such as leopard and cheetah.

The 20,000 hectare nature reserve is equally appreciated for its abundance of wildlife and it’s sweeping landscapes, which include vast plains peppered with trees and magnificent Omboroko Mountains standing in the background. 

This morning enjoy another activity at Okonjima, then get ready for the journey to Mokuti Lodge via Otjiwarongo, Otavi and Tsumeb. Mokuti Lodge is only a four minute drive to the Von Lindequist Gate of Etosha National Park. Covering over 8,600 square miles of Namibia, almost a quarter of the park is the Etosha Salt Pan that was formed over 100 million years ago, measures 130km long and 50km wide in some places and can be seen from space! Aptly named, Etosha translates to ‘Great White Place’ and was established as a national park in 1967. 

The next two days will be spent doing game drives in the park in search of game and wildlife, often found congregated around one of the numerous waterholes. 

Today sees you travel West on the route taking you past Fort Namutoni and Halali Camp to Etosha Safari Lodge that sits just outside the Andersson Gate at the South of the park. Built in 1896, Fort Namutoni originally served as a German Police post and was then used to hold English prisoners in the first world war. Today it sits as a lodge and view point for visitors. Halali Camp takes its name from the German word ‘Halali’, which traditionally means the end of a hunt. Halali Camp signifies the end of game hunting and the increasing focus on eco-tourism in Namibia.

Over your two nights stay in South Etosha, you will make your way around various waterholes in search of the Big 5 that can be found in the park.

After exploring Etosha South, head further West to the private Hobatere concession for an overnight stay. From here you will be able to explore the private concession area as well as traverse over the border into Etosha National Park for your morning and evening game activities. Spend the afternoon at leisure in the lodge.

The adventure begins today! Travelling along the Hoanib River, you will be taken to the Khowarib Gorge, which runs through the dry Hoanib River and is home to some Herero and Damara families. Tents are pitched in the Khowarib Community Campsite for your first night of camping. The Namibian bush is arguably best enjoyed by taking in the sights and sounds of nature whilst sat around a campfire under the blanket of stars.

All camping equipment is supplied and offers comfortable dome tents, comfortable mattresses, duvets, cushions, towels and linen, camping beds, electric lanterns, solar bucket showers and toilets.

After a first nights camping and a ‘full english’ style breakfast, the journey continues along the Hoanib River, a dry river bed that offers dense and overgrown vegetation including Acacia trees, ideal food for the famous desert adapted Elephant. Another night is enjoyed under the stars set up in the Hoanib Dry River.

Day 9 is spent exploring Kaokoveld and searching for the desert adapted Elephant. In the Hoanib River area, about a third of female elephants no longer have tusks as a result of years of adaptations, whereas male elephants still have tusks. Desert adapted elephants are not their own species as was once suspected, but actually African bush elephants that have adapted to dwell in desert ecosystems. They have wider feet, longer legs and smaller bodies than other African elephants which helps when they make their long journeys to find water and food.

Another night is enjoyed camping in the Namibian desert.

The next day is spent traversing the private Palmwag reserve, which is home to the largest number of predators outside of Etosha National Park and has a diverse range of birdlife. The reserve also offers a number of fresh water springs that attract many animals including the critically endangered desert-adapted black rhino, as well as mountain zebra, kudu, giraffes and oryx.

One last night is spent camping in the Palmwag concession.

A final bush breakfast finishes your tented camping experience in Namibia, and you will move back to staying in lodges, starting with Palmwag Lodge that sits on the Uniab river, nestled in the Etendeka mountains. The Uniab River is an ephemeral river that runs along the Skeleton Coast, that once existed as a large river delta with five watercourses. Today only one watercourse remains and acts as a big attraction for animals and birdlife alike. 

Head out of the Namibian desert to Swakopmund, stopping en route in Twyfelfontein (meaning ‘doubtful spring’ or ‘uncertain’), which displays a number of fascinating rock engravings and paintings, leading it to resemble an open air art gallery. Some engravings could date back between 6,000 - 10,000 years and the site was declared Namibia’s first UNESCO world heritage site in 2007. 

Arrive in the coastal city of Swakopmund in the afternoon. Swakopmund has developed into a beach resort over the years, but still offers an example of German colonial architecture. The city started out as a small harbour, the main one for the Imperial German colony and as a result a small percentage of its population are still German speaking today. 

The next morning you will be picked up and driven to nearby Walvis Bay as your morning boat cruise departs from the waterfront. A 3 hour experience on the catamaran will take you through the harbour and on to Pelican Point, where you will visit the resident seals and may be afforded the opportunity to see Heaviside and Bottlenose Dolphins swimming alongside the boat. The cruise is also great for spotting birds such as flamingos, pelicans, White Chinned Petrels, Wilson’s Storm Petrels, Black Oystercatchers and even Jackass Penguins. In season, there are occasionally Southern Right Whales, Humpback Whales and Killer Whales in the area. The trip will be rounded off with fresh Walvis Bay oysters, snacks and sparkling wine on board before making your way back.

Today you will leave Swakopmund and travel south through the Namib Naukluft Park into the low plains of the Namib desert. The name Namib aptly translates to ‘vast place’, as it spreads more than 2,000 kilometres along the Atlantic Coast. The sand seas that line the coastline are made up of huge sand dunes, some more than 300 metres high and spanning 32 kilometres long, the largest in the world. The thick fog that moves in from offshore and settles over the coast has been the cause of more than a thousand shipwrecks that now litter the skeleton coast. Spend the afternoon at leisure.

An early morning departure takes you into the Namib Naukluft Park to visit the Sossusvlei and the largest sand dunes in the world. Sossusvlei is is a salt and clay pan, enclosed by huge red sand dunes, although the name Sossusvlei is sometimes used to describe the surrounding area including other neighbouring vleis. During your visit you will stop at the nearby Deadvlei, a clay pan that was once an oasis, that dried when the river changed its course and today is a sight to behold. Acacia trees grew here when there was an abundance of water to feed them, but died out when the water dried up. The pan today is an interesting contrast of colours, with the blackened acacia tree trunks, vast white pan and towering red sand dunes surrounding it. En route back to the lodge, you may like to stop at the Sesriem Canyon which runs almost a kilometer long and 30 metres deep for a sundowner with a view!

Return to Windhoek via the Remhoogte Pass and Rehoboth where you will have some free time to spend exploring the city.

Windhoek was first established by Jonker Afrikaner in 1840, when him and his followers created a settlement near one of the main hot springs. He built a stone church that also operated as a school and laid out gardens, and Windhoek prospered for a while. However, the Nama and Herero wars destroyed the settlement completely and by 1973 nothing but guinea fowl and jackals remained. Only in 1890 was the city founded again by Curt von François.

Today you may have more time to explore the city depending on your departure time, but will see you bid farewell to Namibia.