Compare Wonders of Namibia by G Adventures vs 8-Day Classic Namibia Special Safari by Nature Travel Namibia

Day 1 Windhoek

Arrive at any time. Arrival transfer is included.

Day 2 Windhoek/Sesriem

Set off from the Namibian capital towards Sesriem, the gateway to jaw-dropping Namib-Naukluft National Park. Drive past red-hued desertscapes, stark camel thorn trees, and dramatic curved dunes while keeping an eye out for the astonishing creatures that call these arid lands home—the oryx, springbok, jackal, hyena, and more. Settle in to our lodge and relax poolside, watching a fiery crimson sunset over the desert.

Enjoy postcard perfect desert scenery around Sesriem and Sossusvlei - vast desertscapes of reds and orange, stark camel thorn trees and towering dunes with dramatic curved ridges. Also keep an eye out for the surprising amount of wildlife that call this area home such as oryx, springbok, jackal, ground squirrel and hyena.

Day 3 Sesriem

Embark on a thrilling excursion into one of Africa’s largest national parks. Explore the Namib desert, the oldest desert in the world; and venture to the massive dunes at Sossusvlei and the white clay pan of Deadvlei. Capture dramatic images of dead camel thorn trees against a backdrop of orange dunes and a crisp blue sky. Then visit the Sesriem Canyon, a natural gorge carved out by the Tsauchab River over millions of years.

Day 4 Sesriem/Swakopmund

Continue by road through changing desert landscapes towards the coastal city of Swakopmund. Look out for roaming zebra, kudu, springbok, and oryx on the way, and take a break in the quirky town of Solitaire before heading into the countryside. Here, we meet a local for a 4x4 drive through the desert, learning about the survival strategies of bushmen who lived in this inhospitable area thousands of years ago. We also search for the smaller wildlife that has managed to survive here, such as snakes, geckos, spiders, and an array of insects.

Day 5 Swakopmund

Enjoy a free morning in Swakopmund, getting a taste of the town’s unique Afro-German culture; or opt for sandboarding in the Namib desert. This afternoon, take a tour of Mondesa township with a local guide, learning about its people and history. Visit the local market for an introduction to traditional foods such as wild spinach, mopane worms, and dried sardines or kapenta. Stop by an arts and crafts shop; chat with the locals; and round off the day with dinner and a performance at a cozy family-run establishment.

Explore the town's unique mix of German and African culture and opt to visit curio shops, the museum and restaurants. Optional activities include sandboarding.

Day 6 Swakopmund/Damaraland

Make your way to Twyfelfontein—Namibia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site—to see some of Africa’s largest concentrations of petroglyphs. Marvel at these remarkable engravings, carved by prehistoric hunter-gatherers and depicting rhinos, elephants, and ostriches, as well as human and animal footprints. Then continue to our lodge on the heart of the Damaraland area. Enjoy some free time to swim in the pool or admire a colourful sunset from the deck.

Day 7 Damaraland/Etosha National Park Area

Enjoy a relaxed morning at our lodge and explore the rich sandstone treasure of Damaraland. In the afternoon, travel towards Etosha National Park, arguably Namibia’s most spectacular wildlife sanctuary. Settle into our lodge, located outside of the park.

Day 8 Etosha National Park Area

Spend a full day on safari in Etosha National Park, where open grasslands converge on a massive salt pan. Etosha harbours some of the largest populations of lions, elephants, and other endangered species, so keep your camera on the ready as you explore in your open vehicle. Enjoy lunch at one of the park’s rest areas, where you can also take a swim; and sit back and watch all manner of creatures—including hundreds of species of birds—flock to the nearby watering hole.

After the vast desert, Etosha National Park, offers a contrast of wide open grasslands, a massive salt pan that covers 4731km² and tall camel thorn trees intermixed with Mopani trees. With a combination of natural waterholes, and diverse vegetation, wildlife flock to the park. Some of the largest elephants in Africa can be found in areas of thicker vegetation, as well as leopards. Lions, giraffe, ostrich and many antelope species can be found in the grasslands, while birders will love the salt pans which attract flamingos in the rainy season. More than 340 bird species have been counted in Etosha National Park including the European bee-eater, the kori bustard and numerous migratory birds.

Day 9 Etosha National Park Area/Windhoek

After breakfast, visit the Cheetah Conservation Fund, a global research and education center founded by National Geographic Grantee Dr Laurie Marker. Tour the facility to learn about the important conservation and community outreach work they do to protect the world’s fastest land animal, and enjoy a talk by one of the researchers. Then head out on a drive through the grounds to meet some of the center’s rescued and rehabilitated cheetahs. Continue to Windhoek for our final evening.

Day 10 Windhoek

Depart at any time.

Day 1: Sossusvlei, Namib Desert

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation: Sossusvlei Lodge; Mid-range lodge bordering Namib-Naukluft NP without fences

Main Destination: Sossusvlei (Namib-Naukluft NP)

After breakfast and meeting your guide for the safari you will depart for Sossusvlei. We will drive through the Khomas Hochland and down the escarpment via one of the scenic mountain passes into the Namib Desert. This journey will take about 4 hours depending on the number of stops for photographs. After lunch and settling in at the lodge we will depart for a late afternoon scenic nature drive or an excursion to Sesriem Canyon. Dinner and accommodation will be at one of the best lodges in the area perfectly situated to explore the surrounding desert and its attractions.

Drinks not included

Day 2: Swakopmund

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Sandfields Guesthouse; Mid-range guest house located in or near Namib-Naukluft NP

Main Destination: Swakopmund

After an early breakfast and coffee, we will depart for a morning excursion to Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei. We will stop at the scenic Dune 45 along the way and spend a couple of hours at both Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei. Some of the dunes in the area are a few hundred meters high but the view from the top for those that dare is one you will never forget. After lunch we will depart for Swakopmund via the Namib Naukluft National Park. We will spend the night at a guesthouse and have dinner at one of the top restaurants in Swakopmund. Please note that dinner tonight is not included and for your own account.

Swakopmund is a very popular holiday destination for many Namibians and will probably be the only place that you will visit on the Namibian safari that has a real town feel to it. Wedged between the Namib Desert and the cold Atlantic Ocean.

Drinks not included

Day 3: Swakopmund

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Sandfields Guesthouse; Mid-range guest house located in or near Namib-Naukluft NP

Main Destination: Swakopmund

After breakfast you will have the whole day to explore this lovely town and its surroundings. Swakopmund which is known for its very relaxed atmosphere, has something for everybody. There are plenty of great restaurants and bars, good shopping opportunities and fascinating architecture. We can also assist in arranging some optional activities for you. If you are up for an adventure then there is Quad Biking, Sand boarding or for just an wonderful outdoors experience there is a living desert tour or kayaking around pelican point. Other optional activities that could be arranged include scenic flights over the coast and dunes or a scenic catamaran sailing tour.

Day 4: Damaraland

Meals: Breakfast  and Dinner

Accommodation: Brandberg White Lady Lodge; Mid-range lodge bordering Namib-Naukluft NP without fences

Main Destination: Damaraland (Kunene Region)

Best Time to Visit: May to September (Animals are easier to see)

High Season: July to November (Some places can get quite busy)

Best Weather: May to August (Less hot during the day)

Then we continue our safari northwards along the Skeleton Coast. After visiting a shipwreck and the massive Cape Fur Seal colony at Cape Cross Seal Reserve we will turn inland towards Damaraland. We will drive past the Brandberg, Namibia’s highest mountain with the highest peak at 2573 meters. We will be at our lodge in time for a sun-downer drink while we enjoy the view over this beautiful landscape.

Drinks not included

 Day 5: Etosha National Park

Meals : Breakfast  and Dinner

Accommodation: Mopane Village; Budget lodge located just outside Namib-Naukluft NP

Main Destination: Etosha National Park

Best Time to Visit: July to September (Animals come to water)

High Season: July to November (The park gets crowded)

Best Weather: May to August (Less hot during the day)

After breakfast we will visit the Twyfelfontein rock engravings (Namibia’s only world heritage site), burnt mountain and organ pipes rock formation and the Petrified Forest en route to Etosha National Park where will spend the next 3 nights. Etosha is one of Africa’s biggest and best National Parks and one of the main tourist attractions in Namibia. It is 22 912 km 2 in size of which the Etosha Pan, a shallow depression that only holds water after good rainy seasons, is 5000 km 2 in size. Etosha is known for its spectacular game viewing and the waterholes attract huge numbers of game in the dry season when all the open water has dried up. During the rainy season the park is transformed into a green oasis and this is the time you find young of various animal species in huge numbers.

Drinks not included

 Day 6: Etosha National Park

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation: Mopane Village; Budget lodge located just outside Namib-Naukluft NP

Main Destination: Etosha National Park

We will do morning and afternoon games drives and relax at the pool or camp waterhole between drives. The area and vegetation is very different to the south-eastern and eastern part of the park and the Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra can be found here.

In this area and with a more undulating landscape, it makes for a very different wildlife experience. White dust and clay which makes up the Etosha Pan turns to a reddish brown soil during this time which may lead you to believe you have entered an entirely new park when you visit.

Drinks not included

 Day 7: Etosha National Park

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Main Destination: Etosha National Park

Accommodation: Namutoni Resort, Etosha National Park; Mid-range resort located inside Namib-Naukluft NP

From here we will make our way across the park in a full morning game drive to Namutoni on the eastern boundary where we will spend the next night. In the vast arid space of Northern Namibia lies one of Southern Africa’s best loved wildlife sanctuaries. The Etosha National Park offers excellent game viewing in one of Africa’s most accessible venues. Zebra and springbok are scattered across the endless horizon, while the many waterholes attract endangered black rhinoceros, lion, elephant and large numbers of antelope.

Etosha, meaning ‘place of dry water’, is encloses a huge, flat calcrete depression (or pan) of about 5000km². The ‘Pan’ provides a great, parched, silver-white backdrop of shimmering mirages to an area of semi-arid Savannah grassland and thorn scrub. The pan itself contains water only after very good rains and sometimes for only a few days each year, but is enough to stimulate the growth of a blue-green algae which lures thousands of flamingos.

Drinks not included

 Day 8: Windhoek

Meals: Breakfast

Main Destination: Windhoek

After an early morning breakfast, we will depart for Windhoek where you will catch your connecting flight.

Drinks not included

End of tour (See Getting There for more details)

Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.

A transfer back to the airport (or hotel) can be arranged for an extra cost.