A Spectacular Namibian Desert Safari
We can fly you in a small plane into the forbidding Skeleton Coast over shipwrecks and giant seal colonies, and book a stay at Shipwreck Lodge where you can find elephant, giraffe and baboon as well as Namibia’s only other population of lion outside of Etosha National Park.
All in a vibrant range of colours — an ancient empty land of limitless horizons. We can arrange for your family to fly between a series of superb small lodges set in contrasting scenery where you can enjoy a variety of activities.
Or you can set off in a fully equipped private land rover with an expert guide experiencing this magnificent country at ground level.
Afterwards, we can fly you down to Cape Town for a few days in a totally different environment, or across to Victoria falls to relax and enjoy river adventures beside the mighty Zambezi.
Travelling through Namibia, the scenery is ever-changing, each diverse landscape as impressive as the last. The country is known for huge red sand dunes in Sossusvlei, but there are many other iconic landscapes.
Here’s our list of ten wonderful experiences to consider including in your Namibia safari.Travelling through Namibia, the scenery is ever-changing, each diverse landscape as impressive as the last. The country is known for huge red sand dunes in Sossusvlei, but there are many other iconic landscapes.
Here’s our list of ten wonderful experiences to consider including in your Namibia safari.
Unaffected by light pollution, Namibia’s night sky is astonishingly beautiful. An enchanting inky blanket, aglow with the light of thousands of sparkling stars. Stargazing allows us to reconnect with the natural world and there’s no better place for it than the NamibRand Reserve, Africa’s only Gold Tier Dark Sky Reserve and one of the darkest places on the planet.
Sossusvlei Desert Lodge even has its own observatory, telescope and resident astronomer who will share their knowledge of the night skies with you. With a skylight directly above your bed too, the celestial experience will continue all night.
Nothing prepares you for the visceral sensation of standing on the Skeleton Coast, a place that local Bushmen call “The Land God Made in Anger”. Fog-shrouded Atlantic breakers crash against the shore, and the beaches are littered with the carcasses of whales and shipwrecks.
But it’s also the place of the living, of immense seal colonies and skulking jackal waiting to pick off the young, the weak and the old. It’s desolate, hard to reach, and rarely visited by tourists, but for us, that adds to the appeal and makes it even more atmospheric. We’ll arrange a fly-in safari where you’ll explore on foot, hiking across coastal plains, in a vehicle, or even from the skies.
Towering red sand dunes, dry cracked earth, and ghostly trunks of dead trees form the stark beauty of Sossusvlei, one of Namibia’s most spectacular and best known attractions. The sand here is five million years old, tinged red by its iron oxide content and heaped to heights of over 80m.
To walk up famous Dune 45, the most photographically reproduced dune in the world, is strenuous but you are rewarded by panoramic vistas of the surrounding dune valley. These are some of the tallest dunes in the world, and yet they are soft and ever-shifting, as is the glorious light that illuminates them.
The rocky deserts of Damaraland are home to the largest number of free-roaming black rhino in the world.
Working with Save The Rhino Trust, we can arrange for you to spend time tracking these incredible and critically endangered animals on foot as you join the rhino rangers on their patrols. And, as well as enjoying this heart-pumping, and privileged experience you will be contributing to the protection of black rhino in Namibia as funds raised through this unique activity supports the work of Save The Rhino.
From the aerial perspective of a plane over the Namib Desert, along the Skeleton Coast, or through the Great Escarpment, you will come to know the country’s complex geology and fantastical landscapes in a way that’s impossible on the ground.
We work with experienced aviator brothers Bertus and Andre Schoeman who grew up introducing visitors to the wonders of Namibia by air alongside their father. They fly their small planes from Windhoek to some of the most alluring and remote bush camps and landscape locations, specialising in a four-day tour that is packed full of the best that Namibia has to offer.
In the extreme north west of Namibia, Serra Cafema camp sits on the banks of the Kunene River as it passes through the Marienfluss Conservancy. This is Himba land, and Serra Cafema Camp exists by the permission of these custodians, along with a continually growing partnership and shared responsibility.
As a visitor, you will have a chance to spend time with Himba people, to learn some of their desert secrets and to hear their stories and folklore whilst staring into the flames of a campfire. Humanity is built and maintained by connections; this experience of embracing another culture can be life-changing.
For more than a century, the Etosha National Park has been a protected area on the rebound from the ravages of big-game hunting in the 19th century. Now largely recovered, its landscape is dominated by the Etosha Pan, the vast salt pan which forms part of the Kalahari Basin.
Dotted with waterholes, Etosha supports populations of elephant, giraffe, lion and leopard, alongside white rhino and black rhino and a variety of plains game. We recommend staying on some of the excellent private reserves bordering the national park where you can enjoy the most exclusive wildlife encounters.
The name Namibia may be synonymous with the Namib desert, but don’t let that fact obscure your appreciation of the equally fascinating environment that lies on its western side; the coast and the abundant waters of the Benguela Current.
The area between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay is one of the best places in the world to see three different species of dolphins and, if you are visiting between July and November, you will also be able to see whales. There’s so much more than marine mammals too; huge leatherback turtles, sharks, orca, sunfish, seals and penguins.
At 160km long, as deep as 550m, and up to 27km wide in places, Fish River Canyon is the largest in Africa. Carved by the once mighty Fish River, the canyon is a maze of twisting gorges, incised plateaus and majestic rock formations.
For the most serious adventurers, we recommend that you take a specialist hiking guide who will organise camps and supplies along the way. Otherwise, there’s Fish River Lodge, perched on the rim of the canyon and open all year. From the deck of the lodge, you can gaze into the abyss and take walks into the surrounding 45,000 hectares of wilderness atop this marvel of the landscape.
The desire to produce art is one of the things that has defined us as a species and in Damaraland, you have the chance to engage with the humanity of the people who produced more than 5,000 petroglyphs and paintings at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Twyfelfontein.
Dating from as long ago as 4000BC, many images depict animals, but some are more mysterious, such as humans morphing into animals and are open to multiple interpretations. In the company of your expert guide you will learn about the paintings’ cultural significance to the local Himba people.
Etosha is a unique safari location in the heart of Namibia. The 1,900 square-mile Etosha salt pan is vast and extremely flat, creating an otherworldly landscape and one-of-a-kind location for spotting wildlife.
Damaraland is a glorious mix of Namibia’s diverse and dramatic landscapes. Take in the vast deserts, flat-topped mountains, wide canyons and classic savannahs, each proffering its own array of highly adapted wildlife.
Kunene, in northwestern Namibia, is among the most remote areas of the country. The Kunene River flows south through undulating dunescapes and rocky ridges, creating an unbelievable landscape flanked by golden-green grasslands.
Skeleton Coast’s ominous name comes from the shipwrecks and whale bones that litter the shore. An estimated 500 ships rest here, having long ago met their end against the harsh breaks of the Atlantic Ocean.
The giant red dunes of Sossusvlei are a quintessential sight on a Namibia safari. Landscapes here are surreal, with multicoloured sand formations and dramatic canyons, along with a surprising array of plant and animal life.
Swakopmund looks more like a village in Germany than a Namibian seaside town, but it’s a lovely stopover for boating and seal watching during your overland safari.
Sculpted by its namesake river, Namibia’s Fish River Canyon is the second-largest canyon in the world. Enjoy breathtaking views during guided day or multi-day hikes along the canyon’s edge.
The Caprivi Strip is the part that juts out from the north of Namibia over the top of Botswana. It’s a fertile, lush area unlike the rest of this spectacularly desert-covered country.
Embark on a journey through the wild terrains of Botswana and Namibia, experiencing the epitome of a luxury safari. Encounter majestic wildlife in the Okavango Delta, traverse the surreal landscapes of Namibia's deserts, and unwind in opulent lodges amidst nature's grandeur.
Here’s our list of ten wonderful experiences to consider including in your Namibia safari:
Namibia has a diverse cultural heritage and is home to one of the most distinct African tribes — the Himba — a group of semi-nomads who live in the Kunene region.