Botswana and Namibia - Best of Both Worlds

Come and have high-tea with our herd of 20 resident giraffe! A real highlight when staying at Thamo Telele. Take a afternoon drive (or walk) to the local waterhole, perch yourself peacefully under the trees enjoying a sundowner and snacks, and wait for our unique ungulates to come and say hello. This is an ideal opportunity to closely observe giraffe displaying their natural behaviours. And whilst the giraffe are feeding, a whole host of other plains game and birdlife will join in on the action too. This unique experience, led by our naturalists on hand, is one not to be missed. You’ll learn all about giraffe conservation throughout Africa and the education programmes at Thamo Telele, as well as how to identify each giraffe by their unique patterning. Each of them has a Setswana name, and if in doubt there is an identification book for referencing to get it right.

Grab your comfiest walking shoes, your bino’s and ask at reception about the various self-guided nature walks you can do around the 250-hectare reserve. The well-marked trails are an ideal way to safely explore this private reserve while stretching your legs after or before a long flight while taking in the wonder of our wooded forest and diverse grasslands. The reserve is free of predators but abundant

in bird life and plains game. You’ll come across so many magical sightings, from the smallest critters, to beautiful big trees. And if you happen to stumble upon our resident giraffe, enjoy quietly observing them on foot.

Saddle up to explore this exquisite private reserve on horseback! You’ll embark on a professionally guided outride (forall level riders). This is an exhilarating way to get up close and personal with our resident giraffe, zebra and all the plains game that reside on the reserve.

Calling all bird lovers! Grab your binos, your bird book and your Natural Selection birding checklist to enjoy your very own birding safari at Thamo Telele. Being on this private reserve with over 300 species of birds, this is a hot-spot for bird lovers and a peaceful way to spend your time bird watching along the banks of the Thamalakane river.

Choose an early morning or afternoon bike ride on our nature trails. We offer off-road safari bikes and biking helmets for individuals, couples, or families with children. Choose guided or self-guided rides. You can also book a day’s biking safari where a professional guide will take you from camp, along the

Thamalakane river and off towards the buffalo fence looking for animals. But please note that bike excursions must be booked in advance.

Heli from camp to enjoy a scenic helicopter flight over the Okavango Delta. This is an incredible opportunity to appreciate the vastness of the Delta when seeing it from above. From your seat, door off (or on) you’ll be able to spot game, take exceptional photos and follow the waterways and animal

pathways that shape this ancient wilderness.

Experience Botswana beyond wildlife and go on a cultural tour of the safari town of Maun. Learn about local customs and traditions from your host, intermingled with their own personal experiences. Feast your senses on the sights, smells and sounds when walking through the vibrant market place. Taste some traditional dishes at a local Café. Meet some of our resident talents and admire their crafts. Look

out for the BaHerero women dressed in their big, elaborate and colourful dresses. Try your hand at the ancient practice of basket weaving and hear the stories behind the beautiful patterns. This is an authentic glimpse of life in Botswana and an experience not to be missed.

This 3 hour tour will give you an overview of modern day Windhoek while you get to know

the comprehensive history of Windhoek and Namibia from colonial era to today.

We visit the Christ Church, Ink Palace, Parliament Gardens, and the Old Fort.

From the city centre we then drive to the Katutura Township.

Katatura is Windhoek’s informal settlement and estimated to be home to more than two

thirds of Windhoek’s 325,000 people. The township is a vibrant and exciting place to visit and

a great chance to get a bit of insight into some of the more traditional Namibian cultures.

Are you ready to experience the cultural diversity of Namibia in an old original Volkswagen
Bus? We have partnered with the well-known Namibian musician known as EES to give you
the Namibian experience of a lifetime.
Come and experience a Township Tour in Windhoek with us

3 hours

This unique City Tour through the Capital of Namibia will take you back in time by revealing

the history and inside stories behind individual houses, interesting places and monuments –

knowledge that is not found in the travel guides.

It is this detailed knowledge that breathes life into the story of Windhoek’s development, it’s

three castles, the ‘Tintenpalast’ and the ‘Alte Feste’.

Full- or half-day guided morning game drives in the Etosha National Park, Namibia’s prime savannah wilderness area, allow you to see the massive salt-pan and perennial springs that provide the water required by the Park’s high-density big game population. Full day activity on request and comes with packed lunch.

Offered seasonally and subject to an available walking guide, the guided nature walks through the reserve will proudly showcase the abundant array of life, from the unusual plants to the arid-adapted animals with a chance of potentially approaching white rhino.

Andersson’s hide allows for unobtrusive game viewing of the camp’s waterhole. Often frequented by plains game including warthog, zebra, giraffe and an array of antelope, the waterhole also attracts larger game such as rhino and sometimes even lions.

Guided afternoon/evening game drives take place on the private Ongava Game Reserve. The reserve is famed for its population of rhino and lion, as well as other game such as the endemic black-faced impala.

Guests can interface with science and research across Anderssons and part of this experience is an immersion into the world of natural history and science at the new Ongava Visitor Centre. With dozens of in-depth displays that feature information on the geology, animals, plants and ecological functioning of this fascinating region, guests are encouraged to meander through the self-guided exhibition area.

The Dream Cruiser is Onguma's newest and most unique under the stars sleep-out experience.

Arriving in time to enjoy sundowners and take a tour of your overnight accommodation, this sleep out in the wilderness of the reserve is on our custom built Land Cruiser, featuring a full bathroom on the lower deck and a bedroom with lounge area on the upper deck.

A night on the Dream Cruiser calls for al fresco picnic-style dining is delivered by our chef for you to enjoy as the evening turns to night and the stars dance in all their glory.
A ranger is on call via a two-way radio, so make the most of this time and relax in the safety and complete comfort of this unique space.

After a good night's rest, you can enjoy morning tea/coffee with homemade rusks before being collected for breakfast at the lodge.

Onguma's fabulous new water-level hide affords guests a great opportunity to calmly sit and enjoy nature unobserved. Amateur and professional photographers alike love the angles and light from this equipped hide.

There is a small ablution facility nearby, benches from which to view the surroundings and lots of windows and vantage points for creative camera angles.

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Onguma Nature Reserve consists of 35 480 hectares of Namibian wilderness & is home to numerous plains game, more than 300 bird species ?and even 4 of the Big 5. ?The Reserve boasts over thirty different animal species. Plains game roam freely on the Reserve and predators although not always easy to spot, are nevertheless common residents of the area. Lions and Cheetahs are frequently seen and often heard. There is a healthy black rhino and leopard population and hyenas are also often seen and heard.

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Credit: Onguma Nature Reserve

Etosha is a 22 750km² wildlife sanctuary in Namibia – one of Africa’s most stable and accessible countries. Etosha, meaning ‘place of dry water’, and refers to a flat calcrete depression (or pan) of about 5 000km². The ‘Pan’ (overlooked by the Onguma Reserve) provides a great, parched, silver-white backdrop of shimmering mirages to an area of semi-arid savannah grassland and thorn scrub. The pan itself contains water only after very good rains and sometimes for only a few days each year, but is enough to stimulate the growth of a blue-green algae which lures thousands of flamingos.

Africa takes on a new perspective when you experience it on foot as the first explorers did. A bush walk is a unique physical, mental and spiritual adventure through nature. Experience the sights, smells and sounds of the Namibian bush by conducting an early morning leisurely walk accompanied by one of our experienced armed rangers.

?Johan, our resident therapist, is a professional massage therapist with over 15 years experience, having lived and worked at renowned Wellness Centres in Asia and Africa. His passion for and dedication to massage therapy originated in the East, where he was trained and educated from the best teachers in their respective fields. Having the opportunity to spend considerable time with monks in Thailand, has also led him to incorporate focused awareness into his massage therapies.

We offer:
- Therapeutic Full Body Massage - 60 min – N$ 850 / 90 min
- Lymphatic Drainage Massage - 60 min
- Back Neck & Shoulder Massage - 45 min – N$ 600 / 60 min
- Head & Face Massage - 45 min
- Thai Foot Massage - 45 min
- Unique Combination of Therapeutic Massage & Thai Yoga Massage - 90 min

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. Read more about our Leopard Research.

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 behavioral patterns as well as offered an upbeat prognosis for a sustainable future for the species in today’s Africa.

A two-day Okonjima 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 larger and small mammals of Namibia, as well as most of the country’s endemic birds.

Game drives and guided bush walks offer visitors an intimate, up-close perspective of Namibia’s wildlife and, especially, its most protected species.

The Okonjima Nature Reserve is home to, and runs extensive research projects on rare and endangered species, big and small.

LEOPARD TRACKING

The Leopard ‘experience’ will take you out into the Okonjima Nature Reserve and will allow you to spend more time with our experienced guides and participate in the research data collection for our long-standing leopard project and newly introduced brown hyaena programme. Some of our adult leopards are radio collared which enables the guides to track them with a specialised telemetry device contributing to frequent viewing, giving visitors an opportunity to observe these magnificent predators in their natural habitat and experience the fascinating behaviour and interactions between these two species while they compete for food. Although this significantly increases the chance of an excellent sighting, it cannot ever be guaranteed as they are wild free-roaming predators.
Morning activities (seasonal times): Departure 06:00 / 06:30 AM; Return 09:30 / 10:00 AM.
Afternoon activities (seasonal times): Departure: 15:30 / 16:00 PM; Return 19:00 / 19:30 PM.

THE AfriCat FOUNDATION CARNIVORE CARE & INFORMATION CENTRE (ACCC)

During the visit to AfriCat, visitors will have the opportunity to spend some time at the Carnivore Care & Information Centre, which provides valuable insights into the Foundation's work.
The visit will include a short guided drive to the AfriCat Carnivore Care Centre, where visitors can meet some of the ambassador cheetahs. Our knowledgeable guides will answer questions, explain the Foundation's work with carnivores in Namibia, and help position the vehicle for that perfect photo opportunity.

Morning activities (seasonal times): Departure 06:00 / 06:30 AM; Return 09:30 / 10:00 AM.
Afternoon activities (seasonal times): Departure: 15:30 / 16:00 PM; Return 19:00 / 19:30 PM.

ENDANGERED SPECIES NATURE DRIVE

This game-drive allows more time to enjoy and understand the Okonjima Nature Reserve as a natural island bound ecosystem. As the private Nature Reserve was established primarily to conserve some of our more threatened mammal species, it provides an increased chance to encounter these relatively rare animals. This is once again assisted by the AfriCat Foundation’s research projects on the shy brown hyaena, bat-eared fox and rhino. There are more than 40 mammal species within the Okonjima Nature Reserve, both large and small as well as a good representation of the typical flora. At the discretion of your guide, there may be the chance to view some of these animals, large or small.

Morning activities (seasonal times): Departure 06:00 / 06:30 AM; Return 09:30 / 10:00 AM.
Afternoon activities (seasonal times): Departure: 15:30 / 16:00 PM; Return 19:00 / 19:30 PM.

GAME DRIVE:

Experienced guides will entertain you with their knowledge, sharing interesting and enlightening information about the history of the Okonjima Nature Reserve and the research gathered over the past 30 years of conservation on Okonjima. On this trail, no telemetry device is used to track any of the carnivores researched by the AfriCat Foundation. Wildlife is the focus of the drive. Visitors are offered insight as our guides attempt to foster a general appreciation of the natural habitat of the Nature Reserve.
Morning activities (seasonal times): Departure 06:00 / 06:30 AM; Return 09:30 / 10:00 AM.
Afternoon activities (seasonal times): Departure: 15:30 / 16:00 PM; Return 19:00 / 19:30 PM.