Namibia – 6-day Taste of Namibia – Group camping

You'll be picked up at your accommodation within city limits or at the airport by 7.00 am for a pre-departure meeting. There is lovely mountain scenery on your drive to Sesriem. You'll stop at Rehoboth for essential supplies and get back on the road passing by the small community at BűellsPort. From here, you'll continue through the desert landscape, aiming to arrive at Sesriem at around lunchtime and make your campsite under an ancient camelthorn tree from where you can glimpse the red dunes of the world’s oldest desert. Enjoy a late afternoon picnic-style lunch after.
In the late afternoon, there is the option for a short drive will take you to Elim Dune, for the best golden light before sunset. It is a relatively short walk back, through the desert, to your camp.

Driving time: ~4-5 hours.

Sunrise in the Dunes is the game's name this morning, which means a pre-dawn start. Your first stop will be at Dune 45. The best time to photograph the dunes is at sunrise and sunset. After a quick breakfast, you'll carry on for the last few kilometers before entering the ancient Tsauchab Riverbed. The Tsauchab River is ephemeral, it only flows seasonally when there is enough rain, and for the most part, the riverbed is dry. There is a 4×4 shuttle service that will transport you through the sandy terrain of the riverbed. You will visit Dead Vlei, an ancient pan entirely surrounded by sand, strikingly populated with dead, skeletal camelthorn trees. You will have time to explore the area on foot and to climb one of the highest dunes in the world, some towering 300 m above us, the views are breathtaking.
You will drive back to Sesriem for lunch and perhaps a dip in the swimming pool. In the afternoon, you'll take a short excursion to see the Sesriem Canyon.

After an early breakfast, you will depart into the desert. Cross the Namib gravel plains. Your first stop is the tiny town of Solitaire. Sample the apple pie that has made this homestead famous. You will cross the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 south degrees. You have two mountain passes to traverse this morning. We have lunch at Walvis Bay lagoon and complete the final leg of our journey into Swakopmund. Our accommodation tonight is at Amanpuri Travellers Lodge. Swakopmund offers many opportunities to keep you busy. Scenic flights over the desert are very popular and for the more adventurous, perhaps you can try skydiving or quad biking over and in the Namib dunes. Your guide will discuss all the options with you in advance and will be able to facilitate any bookings that you would like to make. Dinner tonight are for your own account.

Driving time: ~5 hours

After breakfast, we aim to be on the road from 09h00 today. Heading on the main scenic road, passing the small town of Outjo, and onwards to Etosha National Park. You will be introduced to the park with a short game drive between the main entrance gate and Okaukuejo Camp with a good chance to spot big game from the very start. Etosha is just over 22,000 square km in size and home to 114 species of mammals and 350 bird species of bird.
After setting up the campsite (time permitting), we will head out for a short afternoon game drive in search of big game. Elephant, rhino, giraffe and the big cats are often seen in the area.
All visitors must be back in camp at sunset, but the ‘game show’ doesn’t stop when the sun goes down. Okaukuejo is famous for its flood-lit waterhole where we are afforded the chance to see all of Etosha’s treasures.

Driving time: ~6 hours

We have the whole day to explore Etosha, and we want to make the most of it. The park gates open at sunrise and after a quick cup of coffee and a snack we will aim to be on our way as the sun breaches the horizon. We head to the gate where we meet our local guide for today. We will explore Etosha with him and our guide on an open game viewer today. Early morning is usually a productive time for game viewing, and first thing in the morning is a good time to catch big cats returning from the hunt.

Etosha is a desert landscape and water is the most scarce natural resource. There are, however, numerous waterholes here, and our game-driving technique is to take in as many as possible.
Along the way, we will make a stop at a designated picnic area for a quick breakfast before continuing our game drive en-route to the camp at Halalif or lunch. There will also be time for a swim in the pool. 
On our way back to Okaukuejo we will stop to have a closer look at the Etosha Pan. The over 4,700 square km of white mineral pan is so big that it can be seen from space. We wind our way back to Okaukuejo, we aim to arrive back at our campsite just before sunset.