Namibia Wild North 11 Days Self Drive in Luxury

This is one of our most popular activities. A guide with a tracker will take you out into the surrounding conservancy in search of the elusive desert elephants, giving one also the opportunity to appreciate the life style of the local Damara-Nama people. Lunch takes place in the shade of a tree in the remote wilderness of Damaraland. Damaraland is one of the few last places where the wildlife roams freely, sightings cannot be guaranteed. • Departure time from the lodge: 07h30. • Return around 15.00. • Minimum 2 guests per excursion - Max 9 per vehicle. • Children under 12 are discounted at 50% of adult rate.

Your guide, along with the game trackers will take you in an open 4x4 game vehicle down to the Klip River Valley. Part of the tracking will take place on foot, with the possibility of between 1 to 3 hours walk at the most. At lunchtime there will be a stop near the springs where you can enjoy some refreshments. It's almost a full day activity going along bumpy roads and walking in rocky terrain, so not advisable for the faint-hearted. Sightings are not guaranteed. • Departure time from the lodge: Summer 06h00, Winter 07h00. • Return before sunset. • Minimum 2 guests per excursion - Max 9 per vehicle. • Children under 12 years my not join this activity.

The lodge offers scenic drives on top of the Etendeka Plateau with the possibility of seeing a variety of wildlife population of zebras, antelope, jackal and occasionally leopard and lion. Springbok, Kudu and Oryx are a permanent fixture and even the nervous and shy klipspringers are sometimes seen leaping from ledge to ledge on the steep cliffs of the mountain. • Departure time from the lodge: 07:00. • Duration is +/- 3 hours. • Afternoon departure 16h00 (summer) or 15h00 (winter) after coffee & tea and home baked cake. • Minimum 2 guests per excursion - Max 9 per vehicle. • Children under 12 are discounted at 50% of adult rate.

Enjoy a scrumptious but, wholesome breakfast on the veranda or deck of the restaurant. Your guide will meet you at the lodge for an early start to explore the plateau on foot. You will have an opportunity to see and learn about the local flora, the amazing sedimentary and volcanic rock formation of the Etendeka Mountains and perhaps encounter the wildlife living on the plateau. • Morning departure time from the lodge: Between 07:30- 08:00. • Afternoon departure 16.30h (summer) or 15.30h (winter) after coffee & tea and home baked cake. • Duration is +/- 2 hours. • Minimum 2 guests - Max 9 Guests per guide. • Children under 12 years my not join this activity.

Guests will be guided through conservancy farms in the surroundings, visiting several authentic Damara homesteads. This tour is an exclusive opportunity to spend time with their hosts and gain insight into their origins, cultures, traditions and their approach to human-wildlife conflict as part of farming in harsh desert conditions.

The tour also includes a visit to the #Khoadi //Hoas Conservancy office to meet the staff and to understand the role of the conservancy in preserving the natural resources of the area, as well as the positive impacts and benefits that the conservancy enjoys as a direct result of owning Grootberg Lodge.

The Cultural Tour starts after an early breakfast.

Guided afternoon/evening game drives take place on the private Ongava Game Reserve. The reserve is famed for its population of rhino as well as lion and other game such as antelope, including endemic black-faced impala. Private vehicles can be booked at an extra cost (subject to availability).

Full- or half-day guided morning game drives in the Etosha National Park, Namibia’s prime savannah wilderness area (with a packed lunch on full day). See the massive saltpan as well as the perennial springs that provide the water required by the Park’s high-density big game population, including its elephant population. Private vehicles can be booked at an extra cost (subject to availability).

Offered seasonally and subject to an available walking guide, nature walks through the area take in the abundant array of life, small and large; with a chance of potentially approaching white rhino.

The hide is a fantastic place to relax and while the hours away up close and personal with wildlife slaking its thirst at the camp waterhole. This arid environment where little water occurs makes this a popular drinking spot for game.

Guests can interface with science and research across the Ongava Game Reserve 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.

?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.

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.

Onguma Nature Reserve consists of 34 000 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.

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.

Onguma Nature Reserve consists of 34 000 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.