You will be picked up from home and taken to the airport to join your traveling companions, and board your flight to Namibia. At Walvis Bay airport you will meet your guide, and set off along the scenic desert coastline to nearby Swakopmund to check into our hotel. This colourful town dates from the German colonial, and there is opportunity to stroll and enjoy the sights.
We head northward up the Skeleton Coast to Terrace Bay, driving on a salt-sealed road, sandwiched between the icy Atlantic Ocean and the sandy wastes of the Namib Desert. Our route takes us through the fishing town of Henties Bay, and past the Cape Cross seal colony, where a breeding colony of over 300 000 Cape fur seals has been proclaimed a seal reserve. Rock and surf angling is very popular along these beaches, and Terrace Bay has been a perennial favourite for years.
We continue along the coast and then swing inland, heading for Kaokoland - a huge tract of unspoilt wilderness, and traditional stronghold of the Himba people. Palmwag is our first port of call, an oasis in an otherwise barren but harshly beautiful landscape. Equally remote is Sesfontein, a colonial German fort that from 1896, served as a disease control post, military garrison, police outpost, and is now a well appointed tourist destination. Our home base for tonight is near the Hoanib River, and strategically situated for excursions to seek the enigmatic desert elephants and to visit local Himba settlements. Other optional activities include a game drive to look for desert rhino and a rock art excursion.
We now head for Opuwo, to check in at a comfortable lodge for our overnight stay. We will take a guided safari to learn more about the culture, traditions and folklore of the nomadic Himba people - proud pastoralists who have maintained their traditional lifestyle - largely unaffected by the trappings of modern living. Many Himba now live on conservancies that give them control over wildlife and tourism on their lands. Women take care of the children, and perform more labour intensive work than men do, such as carrying water to the village and building homes. Men handle the political tasks and legal trials. Himba women are famous for their intricate hairstyles, and for covering themselves with a mixture of butter fat and ocher.
Heading ever deeper into Kaokoland we take the main route northward from Opuwo, traveling on scenic back roads, and passing through hamlets with fascinating names such as Oukongo, Epembe, Omuhonga and Okongwati, leaving us in no doubt that we are deep inside tribal land, and civilisation as we know it is a remote memory. Our destination tonight is Omarunga Lodge near Epupa Falls in the Kunene River - the border between Angola and Namibia. The name "Epupa" is a Herero word for "foam", referring to the foam created by falling water. The lodge complex is delightfully located in the shade of picturesque Makalani Palms, with comfortable accommodation in luxury en-suite tents on the banks of the Kunene - one of Namibia's best-kept secrets!
We now head eastward, bound for picturesque Ruacana Falls in the Kunene River. When in full flow, the falls reach a height of 120m and a breadth of 700m, making this a sight never to be forgotten. We head for Owamboland, a region endowed with abundant rainfall, rich and arable soils and many rivers - a stark contrast to the more arid areas in the south of Namibia. The Owambo people are adept at farming and tilling the land, with major crops being maize, millet, melons and a wide variety of other vegetables. Our destination is Ondangwa, formerly a large South African military base, now a typical rural Namibian town, growing and developing along with the rest of the country.
To Etosha now, Namibia’s largest and most famous national park. We enter the park through the King Nehale Gate, and take a slow game drive to our rest camp. At the time of its proclamation in 1907, Etosha was the world’s largest game reserve. Today, with a surface area of just over 22 000 km², which exceeds that of Israel, it remains a significant wildlife refuge, preserving a unique habitat. Lion, leopard and cheetah top the predator list, and elephant, black rhino, springbok, giraffe, blue wildebeest and oryx, among others, are plentiful. Black-faced impala and the diminutive Damara Dik-Dik are Etosha “specials”, and a “must see” for wildlife lovers. The bird list numbers 340, including an impressive list of raptors
We leave Etosha and head southward for Windhoek. Time permitting, we will stop at the Okahandja Woodcarvers’ Market, where artisans and craftsmen from Namibia’s far north create a variety of carvings, using the most rudimentary of tools and implements. We overnight at a comfortable lodge, close to the airport.
After a relaxed breakfast, we leave for Hosea Kutako International Airport to check in for our return flight. On arrival back in South Africa, Landscape representatives will be on hand to see you safely home.
