Namibia In Focus | Namibia | Damaraland

Our own escorted tour is designed to not only visit Namibia's highlights such as the Namib Desert, Sossusvlei, Swakopmund and Etosha National Park, but also to explore some of the further reaches of Damaraland, where you might not venture with a rental car. Here you may be lucky to encounter desert adapted elephant or rhino or perhaps visit the remore semi-nomadic Himba people. We use upmarket and charming accommodation and our own highly praised guides.

Meals	Full Board
Accommodation	Mostly Premier accommodation with 2 nights in comfortable restcamps and guestfarms
Departure Dates	On Request - price for 2 people and price for 4 people or more
Transport	Specially modified VW microbus or 4x4 landrover
Price Includes	Meals and accommodation as shown in text, transport, services of a guide, all park and entrance fees
Price Excludes	International flights, visas, items of a personal nature, meals not specified
Minimum Number	2 or 4
Climate	Desert climate with hot summers and warm winters, summer afternoon rains from December to March
Best time to go	From April to October
Health Requirements	Anti-Malarial precautions essential north of Windhoek
Combines well with	Cape Town
Other Ideas	Hot air ballooning from N$2 800 per person. Not operational between 1 Dec and 15 Feb.
Notes	Direct Air Namibia flights on Saturday, returning Friday. Via Frankfurt on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday

Day 1 : Arrive Windhoek, 1 night, Olive Grove, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast
On arrival at Windhoek Airport you proceed to the Arrivals hall. Here you are met by our guide for the start of your Namibian tour. You are transferred to Olive Grove for your overnight stay and dinner. Olive Grove is a contemporary 11 room guest house in a quiet location close to the centre of Windhoek. Rooms in the main house are spacious with a North African influence and earthy décor. Some have funky bathrooms incorporating organic oversize baths. Others are smaller with more classically elegant furnishings. All have spacious verandas with their own garden furniture. There's a pool, terrace and secluded jacuzzi.

Day 2 : 2 nights, Kulala Desert Lodge, Namib Desert, Full Board
Today the adventure begins! Our guide will collect you and you will set off across an extraordinary range of desert habitats and "moonscapes" on your way to the famous dunes at Sossusvlei for your two night stay at the delightful Kulala Desert Lodge. Kulala Desert Lodge is a small and intimate lodge with only 13 rooms and particularly fine cuisine. The lodge is 30km south of Sesriem but their private entrance to the Park is the closest to Sossusvlei, with some of the highest sand dunes in the world, and is used for their 4x4 guided dune excursions. Nature walks and sundowner drives are also offered, with horse riding and hot-air ballooning optional extras. Sossusvlei in the Namib Desert rivals Etosha as the highlight of a Namibian holiday.

Day 3 : Sossusvlei Pan and Sesriem Canyon, Full Board
You rise with the sun to see one of the most exhilarating sights in Namibia - the towering dunes of Sossusvlei, some of the largest in the world, rising more than 1000 feet above the desert. Many of our visitors lose their hearts to Namibia after seeing Sossusvlei. This is paradise for the photographer, as the shadows create a magnificent contrast of colours. Marvel at the gemsbok and other animals that manage to survive in these dry conditions. The energetic can climb one of the dunes for a panorama of the endless dune landscape and the changing play of light.

Day 4 : 2 nights, Hansa Hotel or the Stiltz, Full Board
You leave the Namib Naukluft after breakfast and travel to the German colonial resort of Swakopmund. The drive over the gravel plains of the northern Namib Desert is another long drive. But as you travel across the stark and hauntingly beautiful desert plains you will note that, although seemingly barren, this area is home to a surprising number of animals, including, ostrich, oryx and springbok. The sea breezes of Swakopmund make a refreshing change in the early afternoon, and on your way into town you can briefly tour the Bay, with its squawking flocks of flamingos and seabirds.

Day 5 : Tour of Moon Valley or Walvis Lagoon
Today, depending on your interests, you can visit Sandwich Bay inhabited by Flamingos and waders, or visit the Welwitschia 'forest' and the surreal landscape of the 'Moon Mountains', an area of deep chasms and interesting geological features. Alternatively Swakopmund provides a welcome resting place where you can meander along the beach, enjoy superb seafood or marvel at the High German architecture.

Day 6 : 1 night, Mowani Mountain Camp, Damaraland, Full Board
Journey up the coast, via Africa's largest seal colony at Cape Cross, seeing a little of the infamous Skeleton Coast en route. Imagine the horror of early explorers whose shipwrecks lie strewn along the shore, doomed by treacherous fogs and currents. Then cut inland towards the Burnt Mountain, Twyffelfontein and the Petrified Forest. Stay overnight at Mowani Mountain Camp.

Mowani Mountain Camp, meaning 'place of god', lies amongst rugged boulders with sweeping panoramic views over Damaraland. Styled as an African village, a cluster of six thatched dome-shaped structures echo the surrounding boulders. The sides of the bar, lounge and dining areas are open giving a cool feel even on the hottest day. 12 elegantly decorated safari tents, built on raised wooden platforms, each have a covered veranda with spectacular views and en suite facilities. There is also an exquisitely furnished and secluded suite with a deck, lounge area, outside bathroom with a huge stone bath and shower, indoor bathroom with a shower, basins and toilet and a bedroom with a double bed. Tucked away amongst giant boulders, the plunge pool is perfect for hot days. Activities include nature drives, guided excursions to Twyfelfontein Engravings and hot air ballooning.

Day 7 : 2 nights, Palmwag Lodge, Damaraland, Full Board
Head further north into Damaraland, to the Palmwag Lodge for your two night stay and game walk in the afternoon. Damaraland is one of our favourite areas of Namibia - its innate beauty intensified by the solitude and the sense of freedom it engenders. This rugged mountain wilderness to the west of Etosha offers great photographic opportunities with its imposing granite domes and dramatic flat-topped mountains. Here you may be lucky enough to encounter some of the desert-dwelling elephant, the rare black rhino and other game which migrates across Damaraland according to the rains.

Day 8 : Game tracking for desert adapted elephant
This morning, you enjoy a morning game drive in open top 4x4 vehicles through the concession area for the rare desert dwelling elephant. The afternoon is at leisure.

Day 9 : 1 night, Ongava Lodge, Full Board
Today you continue to Ongava. Ongava Main Lodge lies in the private 30,000 hectare Ongava Game Reserve on the southern boundary of Etosha. The luxurious lodge has a magnificent setting, perched on a koppie overlooking an active floodlit waterhole and the African plains below. The twelve air-conditioned thatch and stone chalets are beautifully furnished, with a spacious bathroom, (bath and shower), and a secluded veranda and viewing deck.

Activities include game drives in open 4x4 vehicles into Etosha, as well as night drives and nature walks in their private reserve. With its resident White and Black Rhino, rhino tracking on foot is one of the most popular activities at Ongava. Guests also have the chance to see elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah and the plains species. Keen birders may see various species from a Pygmy Falcon to some of Namibia's endemic species such as Hartlaub's Francolin, the Barecheeked Babbler or Ruppel's Parrot.

Day 10 : Game Viewing in Etosha, 2 nights Mushara Lodge, Full Board
Continue to the Etosha National Park.

Mushara Lodge has a lovely position 8km from Etosha and is known for its delicious Namibian cuisine. Named after the puple pod tree which is called Mushara in Ovambo, lodge has 13 spacious en suite thatched chalets (including one family suite, two single rooms) each have air-conditioning, mosquito nets, minibar and telephone. The main lodge is very spacious with high ceilings. The expanse of space has now been effectively furnished using wooden screens to create cozy seating areas with leather sofas, kilims, throws and Namibian paintings. There's a welcoming pool to cool off and their morning and afternoon guided game drives into Etosha are very popular.

Day 12 : Return to Windhoek
After a last game drive this morning, you head south back to Windhoek in time for your onward flight.

	1 Jan 2008 to 31 May 2008	1 Jun 2008 to 30 Nov 2008	1 Dec 2008 to 31 Dec 2008
Per person sharing	ZAR R 35,290	ZAR R 37,280	ZAR R 36,450

Prices may be based on current exchange rates and are subject to change prior to booking.

Contact us for more information or book your trip by clicking on the appropriate button below. One of our consultants will gladly help you with any questions you may have.