Cheetahs & Dunes

Typical Itinerary

1. Day 1: Depart UK

   Fly from London via Frankfurt or Johannesburg to Windhoek on an overnight flight.

2. Day 2: Arrive Windhoek

   Arrive at Windhoek International Airport and transfer to the hotel. Depending on your flight schedule, it may be possible to collect your self-drive vehicle today and spend the rest of the day at leisure or exploring the town.

3. Day 3: Namib Desert via Solitaire village

   Drive south towards the Naukluft Mountains and head towards the Namib Desert. After the mountains, reach open plains and stop at the tiny town of Solitare, from where it is a short distance to your camp in Sesriem.

4. Day 4: Sossusvlei, explore the dunes & Sesriem Canyon walk

   Drive into the heart of the dune field and take a walk through the dunes to reach Sossusvlei and the central dunes including 'Big Daddy', where you’ll spend the rest of the morning admiring the views. Then visit the Sesriem Canyon before returning to camp.

5. Day 5: Namib Desert Research

   Today's drive crosses the Tropic of Capricorn, which provides a good photograph opportunity! You continue through Kuiseb Canyon, turning west to cross the ancient and desolate ‘Namib gravel plains’ before the northern dune belt re-appears, and you reach Gobabeb, where you embark on a desert night walk with researchers.

6. Day 6: Walvis Bay

   Having spent an early morning in the dunes with the desert researchers of Gobabeb, you drive to the coastal lagoons of Walvis Bay where you can watch dolphin, flamingo and Cape fur seals.

7. Days 7-8 : Swakopmund, Skeleton Coast

   This morning you have two optional excursions - a cruise with dolphins at Walvis Bay or a kayaking excursion to the seal colony at Cape Cross.

   On the dolphin watching trip, you board your catamaran from Walvis Bay Waterfont and learn about the Walvis Bay cultivated oysters, which you’ll be able to taste during the tour. As you sail around Pelican Point, you can look out for three different types of dolphins and leatherback turtles. The seal kayaking excursion offers the opportunity to get close to Cape fur seals who frolic in the waves.

   Next you drive to the next coastal town of Swakopmund where you can opt to join a sand dune-boarding activity.

8. Day 9: Visit seal colony at Cape Cross & transfer to Damaraland

   Leaving Swakopmund, you take the northern coastal road to visit the seal colony at Cape Cross, where it is possible to see thousands of Cape fur seals in the water and on the surrounding rocks and beaches.

   You then travel inland to the small town of Uis, a small mining town and one of the best places to buy semi-precious stones. Here you can visit the ancient Bushman rock engravings at Twyfelfontein and the famous ‘White Lady’ rock painting, believed by some to be over 20,000 years old.

9. Days 10-11 : Wildlife viewing in Etosha National Park

   Go on wildlife safaris, visiting some of the numerous waterholes in the area to spot some of Etosha’s wildlife and enjoy great views of the massive Etosha Pan. Visit Okaukeujo’s famous waterhole, described as one of the best game viewing opportunities in Southern Africa, for ‘after hours’ wildlife watching, where lion, elephant, black rhino and antelope are often seen.

10. Day 12: Visit to Cheetah Conservation Fund

    Continuing the game-viewing, you drive to the Cheetah Conservation Fund, where you have the opportunity to watch feeding time and learn about the conservation of cheetahs, with opportunities to observe a number of these predators at close quarters.

11. Day 13: Waterberg Plateau

    Today you visit the Waterberg Plateau, declared a nature reserve in 1972 and home to 25 mammals and over 200 bird species. Largely inaccessible, several of Namibia's endangered species have been relocated here to protect them from illegal hunting – including rhino.

12. Day 14: Transfer to Windhoek & depart Namibia

    Leaving Waterberg, a tarred road takes you all the way back to Windhoek Airport.

13. Day 15: Arrive UK