We are picked up at our accommodation and get a transfer to the Eros airport situated in Windhoek. Leaving Windhoek behind us, we fly in a south-westerly direction and along the edge of the Kalahari Desert to the spectacular Nama Karoo. Southern Namibia is part of a 4-desert biome, accentuated with harsh, yet awesome landscape vistas that send our imagination hurtling through time. Our lodge for the night is set amidst huge granite boulder in close vicinity to the Fish River Canyon, the second largest of its kind on earth.
This morning we visit the Fish River Canyon, a 550-meter deep chasm created by the shifting of tectonic plates and erosion. Enjoy the splendour of one of the oldest wilderness areas on earth. Thereafter we fly west towards the coastal Namib Desert and can enjoy a bird's eye view of the canyon. The Namib is the oldest desert on earth, accentuated by silent giants of gleaming sand. These star dunes, whose shapes can best be admired from the air, twist like tendrils towards the world's highest dunes that form the magnificent Sossusvlei.
An open vehicle excursion takes us to Sossusvlei, a symphony of sand turning into an orchestra of burnished colours as the gigantic desert waves are painted from red through orange by the rising sun. Clamber some of the world's highest dunes and experience this soulful, harsh yet liberating environment, before visiting Sesriem Canyon. Our journey proceeds along the Atlantic coastline to Swakopmund, a quaint coastal town nestled between the ocean and the Namib Desert.
After breakfast, we travel to Walvis Bay to enjoy a marine cruise. Compare the harsh, choppy water to the dry dune belt facing the ocean while enjoying cold sparkling wine and fresh Namibian oysters. Fur seals and aquatic birds will join us on board for a snack, but we may also see dolphins, leather backed turtles or even a seasonal whale. Our journey proceeds then into Damaraland, an area marked by steep mountain massifs that tower over meandering riverbeds and form the survival structure for Desert Elephant, Black Rhino and a myriad of free-roaming antelope species.
Today we visit one of the most spectacular outdoor art exhibitions in the world at the world heritage site of Twyfelfontein. Translated the word means "doubtful spring", which has brought life to this thirst land for thousands of years, attracting a large variety of game and subsequently hunter-gatherers such as the San, who left their paintings and engravings as long as 6000 years ago. Our visit is followed by a short flight to our next lodge, situated at the entrance of the Etosha National Park.
In the early morning we travel by open vehicle into the Etosha National Park, one of the most diverse game sanctuaries in Africa. The Etosha Pan, a vast saline desert that shimmers with terrestrial heat during the day, is surrounded by a number of waterholes that sustain over 114 different game as well as 340 different bird species. We may encounter 4 of the Big Five species as well as rare and endangered animals such as cheetah, Sable and the Damara Dik-Dik, Namibia's smallest antelope.
