Namibian Discovery Self Drive & Fly In

Ask our expert Jackie Sheehan about this destination

Click on an image below to enlarge

Day 1

Windhoek
Meet your representative at the international airport and drive to town for a night in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, at the Olive Grove Hotel. If your flight arrives in the early morning you may be able to transfer straight to Okonjima.

Day 2

Windhoek - Okonjima
After breakfast at the hotel head to the Avis car rental office to pick up your hire car and travel to Okonjima. Stop at Okahandja on the way, a village famous in Namibia for its woodcarving market. Okonjima Bush Camp is home to the Africat Foundation, which helps to rehabilitate leopard, cheetah and lion back into the wild. Okonjima is an intimate camp of just eight chalets, and activities on offer include bird watching, game watching hides, guided walks and self-guided trails to follow. All meals are included.

Day 3

Okonjima - Etosha National Park
Drive via Otjiwarongo, Otavi and Tsumeb to the east side of Etosha National Park to arrive at Onguma Tented Camp. It is just eight kilometres from the park’s eastern gate. Have lunch and join activities from the camp in the afternoon (additional charge). Dinner at the camp is included.

Day 4

Etosha National Park
After breakfast at Onguma drive into Etosha National Park to spend the day on the lookout for its abundant wildlife. Take a packed lunch from the camp or stop at one of the park’s rest camps. You might choose to take a guided tour at an extra charge, although it is perfectly safe to use your own transport on the park’s excellent roads. Etosha is one of Africa’s largest wildlife areas, and covers more than 22,000 square kilometres, covering woodlands, savannah and the Etosha Pan depression. Rare wildlife sighting include black rhino and black-faced impala. The local elephants are also said to be among the largest in Africa. (Lunch and entrance to the park no included.) Spend a second night and dinner at Onguma.

Day 5

Etosha National Park - Eagle Tented Camp
Drive through Etosha to arrive at the private Ongava Game Reserve, spotting wildlife along the way. Ongava covers 30,000 hectares and you’ll stay within it at Eagle Tented Camp. The camp’s 10 well-appointed, air-conditioned chalets have great views from their private decks, while the main lodge building houses a bar and lounge. There is also a swimming pool and a main open-air deck for starlit dinners, overlooking the floodlit waterhole. Game drives in Ongava offer the chance to see both the white and balck rhino and many more species besides. Night drives can show you the world of nocturnal creatures that also live there. (Lunch, entrance fees and optional game and night drives are at an additional charge.)

Day 6

Eagle Tented - Damaraland
Head out after breakfast to drive to the Twyfelfontein Conservancy for a stay at Mowani Mountain Camp. It is an utterly charming spot, set between the Ugab and Huab rivers, and you will find total peace, with luxury safari tents blending into the environment and are raised on stilts to avoid the need for excessive damage to the ground. The central lodge features thatched domes blending with the boulder-strewn landscape. There is a pool deck where you can soak up the African sun after a day in the conservancy. (Lunch and activities at an additional charge.)

Day 7

Damaraland
Discover the mountainous landscape of Twyfelfontein and see rock art sites like the White Lady. The Burnt Mountain is also a spectacular local sight. Enjoy an included lunch at the camp and an afternoon spent relaxing around the pool. (Activities are at an additional charge.)

Day 8

Damaraland - Swakopmund
The next stage of your journey will take you to the coast, and the old-world atmosphere of Swakopmund, a city founded by German settlers in 1892 and main harbour for the area. The city has good restaurants, bars and shopping opportunities, with plenty of arts, crafts and hand-made jewellery stores and street stalls. You’ll stay at the Beach Lodge on bed and breakfast basis.

Day 9

Swakopmund - Sossusvlei
A recommended trip is the Dolphin Cruise on Walvis Bay, accompanied by champagne and oysters to make for a memorable day (additional charge). Back at Swakopmund you will drop your car off at the airport and catch a dunehopper flight south the fly above unforgettable desert scenery to land at Sossusvlei. (Luggage is restricted to 10kg per person in soft bags on the flight and the rest of your luggage will be taken to Windhoek for you to pick up at the end of your trip.) Transfer to the full-board LE Mirage Desert Lodge where you will spend the night.

Day 10

Sossusvlei - NamibRand Nature Reserve
Get the Wilderness Shuttle early this morning to head for Sossusvlei’s huge sand dunes, the highest in the world, rising hundreds of metres from the desert. Cool off back at the lodge at the pool and enjoy lunch before a scenic drive to Wolwedans Dunes Lodge in the interior of the Namib-Rand Nature Reserve. Check into your chalet, which will have its own private verandah overlooking the dunes, backed by stunning mountains. Socialise over a sundowner drink before a gourmet dinner under the starry night. (Alternatively you can stay at the more rustic Dune Camp.)

Day 11

NamibRand Nature Reserve
Spend the day on safari in the NamibRand, stopping for a picnic lunch in the bush. There will be 4WD drives in the morning and afternoon taking in the dunes and spotting desert wildlife on the way and seeing the hunting grounds of the region’s Bushmen inhabitants. You could alternatively just spend the morning on a drive around the reserve to return to the lodge for lunch and a leisurely afternoon. Whatever you choose, you can enjoy an afternoon tea at the lodge before evening sundowners and dinner.

Day 12

NamibRand Nature Reserve
Spend the day on activities from the lodge or just relax at the lodge. A balloon trip is a popular choice, where you can head for the skies in the early morning for a champagne breakfast over the NamibRand. You’ll stay at Wolwedan Dunes Lodge for your final night, with full-board and activities included (ballooning extra charge).

Day 13

NamibRand Nature Reserve - Windhoek
After your last breakfast in the desert transfer back to the airstrip to fly to Windhoek at arrive around 11am in time to catch your onward flight.