Your guide will collect you at the Walvisbay Airport and after a short birding excursion to the Walvis Bay Lagoon you will be transferred to the Hotel Pension d'Avignon in Swakopmund.
Walvis Bay is blessed with a rich biodiversity which thrives in the scenic Namib Desert dunes and associated gravel plains, the Walvis Bay Lagoon, the ephemeral Kuiseb River Delta and other ecosystems.
The ideal time to visit Walvis Bay is from October to April, when the migrant birds have moved in from the northern hemisphere in their thousands. The sheer numbers of the birds around the lagoon are impressive and the area has the highest density of Chestnut-banded Plover in the world. The Lagoon happens to be one of Africa’s most important shorebird stopovers (it is a RAMSAR site), where you can see incredible numbers of Greater and Lesser Flamingos and some extremely localised species, such as the diminutive Damara Tern.
After dinner you will be collected for a guided Desert Night Walk on the gravel plains of the Namib Desert. Please follow the link for more info on the Night Walk: https://thenaturalistcollection.com/dt-night-walk-combo.php
Today you will be able to fully immerse yourself in our gorgeous desert with a full-day Desert Eco Tour Combo. During the morning you will learn all about the dune ecology while the afternoon takes you the Swakop River Valley, Moonlandscape, Welwitschia Plains, and salt pans. For more details visit https://thenaturalistcollection.com/dt-eco-combo.php
For dinner you can select any of the various restaurants Swakopmund has to offer. Please note that tonight's dinner will be on your own account.
Off we go to Damaraland, heading to Namibia's highest mountain, the Brandberg lying at 2573m above sea level. It comprises a large massive inselberg of granite and has numerous valleys and gorges which offer not only good reptiles and birding but also larger animals such as Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, Oryx, Springbok, Kudu, Klipspringer and Leopard. Desert-adapted Elephant also occur in the Ugab River at the foot of the northern section of the mountain. There is a rich diversity of reptiles, scorpions and plant life including Welwitschia plant, the only member in the family Welwitschiaceae and is one of the more bizarre plants on the planet, on the western foot of the mountain.
We will spend the day exploring the surrounding area in search of desert-adapted fauna and flora. Apart from the exciting desert-adapted megafauna, we will also look at some of the birds in the area. Raptors such as Verreaux's Eagle, Martial Eagle, Booted Eagle, Black-chested Snake Eagle as well as Lanner Falcon, Peregrine Falcon and Rock Kestrel are fairly common. The near endemic Herero Chat, Benguela Long-billed Lark and Rüppell's Korhaan can also be encountered at the foot of the mountain, other species such as Mountain Wheatear, Familiar and Karoo Chat, Pale-winged Starling, Rosy-faced Lovebird, Red-faced and White-backed Mousebird, Bokmakierie, Grey-backed Cisticola, Black-chested Prinia and Sabota Lark are common and after good rainfall thousands of Namaqua Sandgrouse can be found drinking at the many seeps and springs that run off the mountain.
After breakfast we will take a leisurely drive through Damaraland to Etosha National Park, one of Namibia's most iconic and significant conservation areas, spanning over 22,000 square kilometers. Established in 1907, it's renowned for its diverse wildlife and unique landscapes. The park's name, "Etosha," translates to "Great White Place," referencing the vast salt pan that forms the park's heart. This pan, which occasionally fills with water during the rainy season, attracts a myriad of wildlife, turning it into a vibrant, temporary lake.
Our time in the park will be spent driving slowly through the park visiting various waterholes and observing the magical wildlife sightings that Etosha is so famous for.
Etosha is home to a remarkable variety of animals, including elephants, lions, rhinos, and giraffes. Bird enthusiasts also flock to the park for its rich avian life, with over 340 bird species recorded.
We will slowly amble through the park to the eastern side. We will stop in at Halali Camp for lunch where we will do some birding in the gardens.
Etosha's breath-taking sunsets, abundant wildlife, and the stark beauty of the salt pan make it a must-visit destination for nature lovers and adventurers alike. Its unique blend of natural splendor and rich biodiversity ensures an unforgettable experience.
After a final game drive through the eastern part of Etosha park we will continue to our final destination, Waterberg Plateau National Park. We can look forward to a whole new landscape hosting a large variety of fauna and flora. We will spend our time here hiking in search for various species. It is here where we will have our best chances of finding Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis).
This park was created as a sanctuary for the rare and endangered species of the Caprivi. The table top mountain
plateau comprises a sandy plain flanked by 100 m high cliffs and scree slopes. The high diversity of birdlife in this
semi-arid region is due to the location of the Waterberg at the meeting point of broad-leafed woodland on northern
Kalahari sandveld on top of the plateau and mixed thorn bush savannah below, a third habitat is provided by the
cliffs and scree slopes. The Acacia savanna and woodland here abounds with birds and is one of the best sights in
the country to see near-endemics such as Hartlaub's Spurfowl, Rüppell’s and Meyer’s Parrot, Rosy-faced Lovebird, Violet Woodhoopoe, Monteiro’s Hornbill, Carp’s Tit and Rockrunner.
We will also have a chance to see Lesser Galago (also known as Lesser Bushbaby), Porcupine, Small-spotted Genet,
as well as several reptiles including the locally endemic Waterberg Sand Lizard (Pedioplanis waterbergensis) and
Waterberg Gecko (Pachydactylus waterbergensis), Boomslang (Dispholidus typus typus), African Flap-necked
Chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepis).
We will embark on an early morning walk before departing back to Hosea Kutako International Airport for your evening-departing flight.
