You arrive at Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako Airport where will be met by your guide and driven the short distance to your overnight accommodation at the Trans Kalahari Inn where you can meet the other members of the group over dinner and relax on your first night. The Inn has lovely thatched rooms, friendly staff, a swimming pool and bar and one of the best restaurants in Windhoek - a perfect first night stop over before your adventure begins the following day.
Trans Kalahari Inn - The relatively close proximity to Windhoek airport makes the Trans Kalahari Inn a great first and last overnight stop.
The terrace is a perfect place to meet your fellow travellers and enjoy your first sundowner together and the on-site restaurant serves lovely food all day.
We head south this morning down the main tar road before turning off into the Kalahari Desert at Kalkrand. Our destination today will be Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch which nestles between the red linear dunes that are typical of the area. There are no fences surrounding the lodge and the wildlife roams freely around the camp and you have a good chance of seeing bat eared fox, meerkats, ostrich, and the desert dwelling oryx and springbok as well as the opportunity of glimpsing cheetah and leopard.
Kalahari - the dunes here form straight lines with open grasslands in between. Here there is a wealth of wildlife including the desert dwelling species such as springbok and oryx as well as brown hyena, leopard, bat eared foxes and meerkat
A full day at Bagatelle gives you the opportunity to enjoy morning and sundowner drives into the linear dunes. The sand is a deep red and the pale grasses wave in the desert breeze. Ancient trees dot the landscape each housing giant sociable weaver nests.
Photography in the desert - the light in Namibia's deserts is spectacular and the contrasts of the red sand and the pale grasses in the Kalahari make for stunning images
We leave the eastern side of the Fish River today and drive to the west where our next 2 nights will be spent at the Fish River Lodge which sits right on the edge with a remarkable view of the canyon. The rim edge bungalows are delightful and the lodge offers guided hikes and 4x4 rides down to the river below.
Getting to Fish River Lodge - the lodge lies down its own driveway which is a bumpy track through desert scrub which takes about an hour from the gravel road
The lodge offers different options of guided tours of the canyon. Full day hikes to the canyon floor are popular as are the half day canyon drives which are less strenuous.
Enjoying a sundowner drive to a major lookout point is a great way to end your day as the canyons turns deep red as the sun sets
We leave the canyon behind us this morning and head north onto the gravel road.
The Namtib Desert Lodge sits in the middle of the Namtib Biosphere Reserve and lies off the scenic D707 in the Namib Naukluft National Park.
This stunning area of red sand dunes and towering rocky outcrops is a photographer's paradise and the lodge has a true conservation story behind it - this isn't one to miss!
Most of our journey today will be on gravel and is fairly slow going but the scenery is spectacular. The Bahnhof Hotel in Aus is a good lunchtime stop before we head further north into the Namib Desert
At Namtib all farming activities, be it with game or domestic animals, as well as human activities, e.g. tourism or educational, are adapted to suit the environmental conditions of the area. Through our holistic management approach of our natural resources, Namtib today boasts a large variety of fauna and flora within a well balanced ecological environment.
Education is the key to success for sustainable socio-economic development. At Namtib we provide in-service training opportunities for young Namibians in both the natural resource management as well as the hospitality sector. We constantly strive to improve our current methods and find techniques to further advance the sustainability of the entire project.
The long term objective of Namtib Biosphere Reserve is to proof that sustainable economic utilisation of the land bordering the Namib Desert is possible, whilst still ensuring the conservation of the biodiversity of this delicate environment.
Namtib Desert Lodge offers nature drives and guided walks on the reserve ranging from 1 to 5 hours. For keen photographers the area will delight with the desert grasses and the Tiras Mountains
It is hard to believe that the scenery can get even more spectacular than the southern Namib - but it does!
You will be overwhelmed by the ever-changing landscapes as we drive through mountains and dunes before reaching Sossus Dune Lodge. The lodge is situated inside the National Park which gives you the opportunity of driving down to the world’s highest sand dunes at Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei in time for sunrise.
The unique features of this desert landscape captivate people and throughout the day the shifting sands change colour under the Namibian sun
Highlights: dramatic desert scenery, high mountain passes, the world’s highest sand dunes. Oryx, ostrich, springbok, black backed jackals, dune lark, sociable weavers
An early start today for us to drive down to the biggest dunes in the park for dawn. Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei are spectacular at sunrise and sunset and by staying inside the park you have the opportunity to enjoy this special time of day before anyone else is allowed in the park
Ballooning - many guests opt for an early morning balloon flight for a spectacular view of the world's highest sand dunes and the neighbouring mountains.
After a hearty breakfast we get back on the gravel road this morning as we wend our way back to the capital.
Our journey takes us over high mountain passes with glorious views over Namibia's spectacular desert scenery before retracing our steps once more along the Trans Kalahari Highway to the Inn that bears its name.
Here you can relax on your last evening and enjoy a final sun downer on the terrace before heading off to the airport the next morning for your flights home
The mountain passes between Sossusvlei and Windhoek are spectacular - so make sure you have your camera ready!
