2023 - SCH 7 day Mesmerizing South (selected Fri departures)

Day 1 - Friday
Route:                                 Windhoek to Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

Distance:                            265 km

Journey:   Leaving Windhoek we head south passing through the town of Rehoboth, our destination for today is a private Reserve situated on the edge of the southern Kalahari are of Namibia, this is an area of mixed tree and shrub savannah crisscrossed by red sand dunes – quite different to the Namib Desert.  During the afternoon we will take an afternoon nature drive in the Reserve where we hope to see various antelope species, ostrich, zebra and if lucky meerkats. 

Day 2 - Saturday
Route:                                 Bagatelle to Canyon Road campsite

Distance:                            452 km

Journey:    An early morning start as we travel down to Keetmanshoop, the original population of the town by a Nama tribe reaches back to the end of the 18th century. We take a guided tour with the owner to explore the Mesosaurus Fossil site, Quiver trees and dolerite rock before heading back to town and on to the Fish River Canyon, the largest canyon in Africa and forms part of the Ai-Ais Richtersveld Tansfrontier Park.  Our campsite is situated in the Gondwana Reserve on the bank of a dry riverbed against a backdrop of rocky hills.    

Day 3 - Sunday

Route:                                 Canyon Road campsite to Luderitz

Distance:                            385 km

Journey:  This morning we enter the Fish River National Park near Hobas, the most northern viewpoint from where the canyon meanders into the distance. The geology of this area began over a billion years ago, more ‘recently’ with the separation of the continent Gondwana about 120 million years ago the gradient of the Fish River increased allowing it to erode deeper into the rock so as at today, the deepest point is around 549 metres.  Our travels today take us to the coastal town of Luderitz nestling between the Namib Desert and south Atlantic.  During 1908 a black worker Zacharias Lewala found a diamond during his work at the narrow-gauge railway, this led to a diamond rush which turned Lüderitz into a very wealthy town. As the diamonds petered out the town lost most of its importance and today Luderitz has a lucrative fishing industry.

Day 4 - Monday

Route:                                 Luderitz to Aus

Distance:                            125km

Journey:   Participate in an optional morning boat excursion to Halifax Island, home to a colony of African penguins.  This tour passes an old whaling station and goes around Diaz Point, one can expect to see a host of marine wildlife which may include heavy side dolphins, seals and on occasion, whales.  For those that decide against, there is the town to explore with its colonial buildings and the Lüderitz Museum which displays the town’s diamond-mining past as well as local and natural history. Mid-morning, we head to Kolmanskop Ghost Town – the area where the diamond rush started, an affluent town in its heyday today the desert encroaches the town.   

After a light lunch we take a drive out to Diaz Point to see the bird life, hopefully a few seals and the stone cross replica, originally erected by the Portuguese mariner Bartholomew Diaz.  Our campsite for tonight is a Klein Aus Vista where the sites are positioned under camelthorn trees in the Aus Mountain Range.   On the way we’ll stop at Garub in the hope of seeing some of the Namib Desert Horses.    

Day 5 - Tuesday

Route:                                 Aus to Namib Nauklfut Park – Sesriem area

Distance:                            345 km

Journey:  Today we’ll be spending time travelling through the southern Namib, passing rural communities on the way.  This is a bleak, harsh and forbidding landscape yet we come across some open savannah and farms before encountering the dunes of the Namib Desert.  In the town of Maltahohe we will stop to experience the Amaburuxa Cultural Choir which was started in 2001.  This is a group of learners that dance and sing, most of whom are orphans or vulnerable.  Set up camp in the Sesriem area and visit Elim dune – a great place for sundowners with the dunes behind us and the Naukluft Mountains in the distance.

Day 6 - Wednesday

Route:                                 Sesriem – Sossusvlei - Sesriem

Journey:  We’ll need to be on the move an hour before dawn as we make our way through a dry riverbed and across the gravel plains towards the Namib Dunes.  We’ll stop at Dune 45 before making our way to Sossusvlei with age old sands said to be around five million years old.  Dead Vlei with its white pan and contrasting black scorched trees is also on our visit list.  Whilst this region appears to be lifeless there are a variety of animal species that have adapted to these conditions and if we’re lucky may see Oryx antelope, ostrich, springbok and don’t forget about the birdlife and reptiles that inhabit the area.  Return to our campsite for lunch, late afternoon visit to the Sesriem Canyon where the ephemeral Tsauchab River has shaped the area over millions of years.

Day 7 - Thursday

Route:                                 Sesriem to Windhoek

Distance:                            335 km

Arrival in Windhoek:        Between 15h00 – 17h00

Journey:  Our route today takes us back towards Solitaire from where we travel to the town of Rehoboth, an area of natural hot water springs, before arriving back into the city of Windhoek, this will be late afternoon, please do not book any outbound flights for this afternoon.