The Cultural Namibia Self-drive Safari (Luxury)

Explore this ancient and arid landscape with your guide on the Nature Drive. Departing early in the morning, the guide will show you that this harsh, dry environment is alive with desert-adapted flora and fauna, and perhaps, if lucky, discover the desert-adapted elephant.

Usually departs at 06h30 and will go out for +/- 4 – 6 hours.
Drinks & snacks are included.

Departing mid-afternoon your guide will take you to explore this diverse landscape of ancient Damaraland, filled with geological wonders and other surprises.

Learn about the fascinating geological formations of Burnt Mountain and the Organ Pipes, and discover Namibia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Twyfelfontein - known for being one of the largest and oldest collections of San rock art engravings in the world!

Usually departs at 15h00 and will last for +/-2 hours. along with seeing Burnt Mountain and the Organ Pipes.

Relax and watch a magical and memorable sunset.

Walk up to the sundowner location and make yourself comfortable. Order your drink of choice, or choose from one of our famous cocktails or mocktails and delight in sumptuous snacks.

Meet the Himba people of Kaokoland with our guide / interpreter on an excursion to a traditional Himba village. Interact and photograph one of the last remaining nomadic tribes of Africa. You will have time to ask questions while your guide answers and explains the Himba`s intricate traditions, customs and beliefs.

- Morning departure is at: 8h00.
- Afternoon departure is at: 14h00 during summer and winter.
- Mineral water is included.
- Duration is approximately 3 - 4hrs.
- Private Himba excursions have to be booked in advance to ensure vehicles and guide availability.

Epupa Falls Excursion
(The road might become inaccessible during parts of the rainy season between Dec to April)
This is a full day excursion, which departs at 08h00 from the lodge after breakfast. The excursion is conducted in a 4x4 vehicle. Driving time is approximately three hour to reach Chief Kapika’s village. After visiting the village you will continue for another 35 km to Epupa Falls where you will enjoy your picnic lunch packs on the bank of the Kunene River while marvelling at the white water rushing over the Falls. Return to the lodge just before sunsets.

- The activity includes bottled water and picnic lunch packs.
- Not included – are extra soft or alcoholic drinks. Please request the lodge to pack extra if you wish to have a larger choice.
- Minimum number of guests per tour are 4 x full paying adults.
- Maximum number of guests per tour per day are 6 per vehicle.

Baobab Tree - Africa’s Tree of Life
This succulent absorbs and stores water during the rainy season to be able to produce a nutrient-dense fruit in dry seasons.
This mystical tree, believed to predate even mankind, is a symbol of life, hope and positivity during tough times, as it proves that it can withstand any harsh seasons while baring flowers and fruits.
They live up to around 3000 years, grow tall up to 25m and can have an impressive circumference stretching up to 40m.

- Est. 3 to 4 hours trip
- Mornings & Afternoons
- Guided & Self drive options
- Mineral Water included

Pick-up at Opuwo run way at +/- 11h00 by Lodge transfer.
Arrive at Opuwo Country Lodge for a welcome drink and toilet stop. Depending on your time of arrival, lunch can be served before or after the Himba village excursion, which normally takes +/- 1 to 2 hours. The lodge will provide the pilot with a complimentary day room whilst clients are on the excursion, alternatively he/she may join the excursion at no extra charge. Transfer back to the Opuwo airstrip between 14h30 and 15h00 for your return flight.

- Light lunch is included in the price
- Duration of Himba drive will depend on your time of arrival. Departure time should not be later than 15h00. Late arrival will result in a shorter excursion.
- The excursion is based on a minimum of 2 guests per excursion.

Join one of our local Himba guides to visit a Himba village and learn how one of Africa’s remaining semi-nomadic people, live, work and worship. Through the guide’s interpretation you will be able to exchange information and be allowed to take photographs and film the Himba family as they go about their daily lives.

The activity is offered on a daily basis and normally departs after breakfast in one of our safari vehicles. Depending on your interests, you will be taken to a traditional Himba graveyard and the local primary school. Guests are back at about 11:30 in time to freshen up for lunch.

The Epupa Falls, a series of cascades that drop a total of 40 m over a distance of about 1,5 km, is just 800 m west of Epupa Camp, an easy walk. Originating from the Herero word for the spume created by falling water, Epupa is a fitting name for this fascinating sight.

To quote the Bradt Travel Guide, "Epupa Falls don't compare to Victoria Falls in scale, they are all the more beautiful for occurring in such an arid region." Nowhere else in the world do you find a waterfall contrasted with such wild arid desert landscape. Watching the Epupa Falls and its white mists of water against the red colours of the surrounding desert and mountains during sunset, with a sundowner drink in one hand and your camera or binoculars in the other, is likely to make up one of the most beautiful and memorable experiences during your trip to Namibia.

Every evening approximately one hour before sunset, we take you in our safari-style vehicle to the Epupa Falls and then to the top of one of the hills overlooking the waterfalls for a sundowner. Enjoy a gin and tonic or one of Namibia’s excellent beers while watching as the surrounding desert landscape explodes in colours and fascinating shadows. We return to the lodge in time to freshen up for dinner.

For those of our guests who want more than just to gaze at the Kunene River, we offer seasonal rafting trips twice daily, namely after breakfast and lunch between May and November. After taking you upriver in our open safari vehicle, our qualified guide will provide you with the equipment needed and brief you on the day's expedition. He will then lead you on a gentle cruise down the river with ample time to stop and enjoy the scenery, watch the birds and the crocodiles sunbathing on the banks, and take photographs. En route we will stop at one of the islands for refreshments.

For those who do not want to paddle or are a bit wary of the water, we have 8-seater rafts where our guides do the paddling and manoeuvring for you The greatest fun, however, is the 2-seater crocs, where you and your partner do the paddling. No advance rafting experience is required. Our guide will instruct you and also give you a safety briefing. Helmets, safety jackets and dry bags for cameras and other personal belongings are provided.

For bird lovers, we offer river birding trips where our expert guide will point out some of the 238 recorded species that inhabit the Kunene region, including Rufous-tailed Palm-Thrush (a permanent resident at our camp), Monteiro’s Hornbill, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Goliath Heron, African Fish-Eagle, various bee-eaters, kingfishers ranging from the Giant to the tiny Malachite Kingfisher, bulbuls, rollers (Purple, Lilac-breasted and European), Rosy Faced Lovebird, Golden, Spectacled and Lesser Masked-Weaver, and sunbirds, to name just a few. This is as close to nature as you will get, and truly a soothing way to spend your morning or afternoon.

Exclusive birding trips need to be booked well in advance.

Our guides can take you along the river or into the surrounding hills to explore the flora and fauna of Kaokoland and enjoy stunning views of the Kunene snaking its way through the dry desert landscape. During your hike you are likely to come across Bushman’s poison bushes with their beautiful but deadly pink flowers and large Euphorbia bushes, of which the poisonous milky-white latex has been used by the San and Himba for hunting for centuries. Also easily recognisable are the makalani palms, mopane scrub and the flat-topped umbrella thorn with the almost Mexican name: Acacia tortilis.

Depending on your interests, we offer guided walks to one of the following:

To and around the Epupa Falls down to a white beach below the Epupa Falls. The walk will take you through the village to the main fall where the Himba people often come to wash their clothes, bathe, or play in the shallow pools.

Into the surrounding hills to explore the fauna and flora of this riverine area and beyond.

The crocodile trail, a 3 km walk meandering eastwards along the Kunene River bank.

Birding walks at Epupa Falls and the surrounding area.

These walks can take up to three hours. In summer these are best undertaken in the early morning hours. The starting time depends on the guests and their interests.

Our guides can take you along the river or into the surrounding hills to explore the flora and fauna of the Kaokoland and enjoy stunning views of the Kunene snaking its way through the dry desert landscape.

During your hike you are likely to come across large Euphorbia bushes (whose poisonous milky-white latex has been used by the Himba for hunting for centuries), rose quartz crystals, mopane scrub, and the flat-topped umbrella thorn with the almost Mexican name: Acacia tortilis.

Epupa Camp joined the Straw Wars and now invites all Kunene Region lodges to join us in this plastic straw combat.

Bar staff and waiters agreed, although a plastic straw seems like a small piece of plastic, one does not really need it.

More important is to focus on our rivers and oceans to eliminate plastic as far as possible.
Even if this is just a drop in the ocean, our aim is to create awareness for the sake of our children’s planet.

Although we are a small remote tented camp, we meet many international travellers who can help us spread the message.

Our guests, once we have explained why we do not serve a rock shandy with a straw, appreciate our efforts.

So do not wait to draw the last straw!

From the Epupa Camp Team - in peace

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.

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.