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Namib Desert
& Wildlife Safari
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Accommodations and Cuisine
Namibian Maps
Information on
Namibia
Terms and Conditions
Booking Form
Complete List of
Eco-Safaris
Enjoy the
Diversity
of Great Experiences on our 14-Day Desert and Wildife Safari
"All
of a sudden you turn a corner or come up over a hill and you are in a
different world. This is
what our reaction was at Sossusvlei: mountains
in the background and desert in the foreground when all of a sudden we
saw HUGE sand dunes, mirages, dry riverbeds and (oh yeah) a bus stuck in
the sand. Kent and I climbed up
one of the dunes at Sossusvlei itself (there were a couple of rest
stops on the way up). After taking in the view and recording same
for posterity, we ran down the front of the
dune."
Kathy
L.
Dunes at Sossusvlei
"We
arrived at Wolwedans in the late afternoon and were shown to our
tent. WOW!! Who would think that sleeping in a tent, set up
on some boards stuck in the sand, would be such a terrific
experience. As usual, we did not expect the high level of comfort
and great food we got."
Kathy L.
Scenery and Game Drive at Wolwedans
Optional Balloon trip at
the Sossusvlei Lodge
Semi-Precious Gemstones from Namibia,
available in Swakopmund and Windhoek
"At times, there were more
opportunities to photograph animals than I could absorb.
The excitement of suddenly spotting a single unsuspecting animal
or watching various herds adjust to our presence and then go on about
their lives exceeded my expectations.
At many times, I felt like an active participant in their
experience rather than a passive spectator at a distance."
John H.
"Blue" Bull Eland, the largest wild antelope,
in eastern Etosha Park
Roadblock in Etosha Park
Another Roadblock in Etosha Park
"For total enjoyment, Okonjima /AfriCat was the top. The range of (environments for) cats
was fascinating. Getting within 10-15 yards of a wild cat (who kills for
food) was the absolute highlight!!"
Hugo Y.
Out for a Stroll at Okonjima
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Luxury
Eco-Safaris to the Namib Desert,
Sossusvlei
Sand Dunes, Swakopmund, Etosha Park,
Kavita Lion
Lodge, and Okonjima Resort
Day-By-Day Itinerary
FOR MORE INFORMATION
PLEASE CONTACT US:
tours@ecovitality.org
info@ecovitality.org
727-593-5878 (Phone & Fax)
This Safari in
Namibia Runs for 14 Fascinating Days, with Two Initial Days for International
Air Travel.
Day 1.
Friday: Depart on your African eco-safari adventure. Travel from the US to
Namibia requires an overnight flight and then an overnight stay in South
Africa before connecting to your morning flight to Namibia.
Day 2. Saturday: Land
in Johannesburg, South Africa, and rejuvenate
yourself overnight at the International Airport Holiday Inn Hotel.
The Holiday Inn is on the airport grounds, a 3-minute courtesy van ride
away from the terminal. The hotel stay including dinner at the Holiday
Inn and breakfast the next morning are covered in the safari price.
Day 3.
Sunday: After a relaxing evening in Johannesburg, board an early
morning flight to Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, where you will be met by
your tour guide. Drive
from Windhoek to
the first great destination, the stunning Namib Desert setting of
the Sossusvlei Lodge. The Lodge is located in
the Namib-Naukluft National Park, one of
Africa's largest desert conservation areas. The desert is covered by
wind-sculpted dunes, sand with a high iron-oxide content imparting a
lovely reddish hue, and 700-million year-old mountains.
Day 4. Monday:
Visit Sossusvlei, the site of the
world's highest dunes, where many dunes surround a seasonally-dry pond
(pan) in
windswept splendor. You may choose to climb all the way or partly up
one of the high Sossusvlei sand dunes, where you will be rewarded by a fabulous view
of the corrugated dunes and desert sands rolling into the mirage-obscured
distance. After leaving Sossusvlei, you will visit Sesriem Canyon
with eroded, striated rock formations.
Then you'll drive the 80 km to the
unique Wolwedans Dune Camp, situated on top of sand dunes with
exceptional views in all directions. Virtually all facets of the Namib are
represented here: Mountains yield to endless grassy plains, which are
interspersed with red vegetated dunes, creating a living tapestry of
colors and shapes that make it a visual utopia for artists and
photographers.
Day 5. Tuesday:
The Wolwedans staff will take you on morning and afternoon game and desert
scenery drives in their 4x4 vehicles and will explain many features of the Namib Desert's
unique ecosystems and geology. Overnight at Wolwedans again.
Day
6. Wednesday: After lunch, drive through the Namib Desert
to the unusual Rostock Ritz Desert Lodge, with rooms and common areas that
have been designed to fit perfectly into the scenic desert terrain.
The night skies in the desert are stunning beyond
description.
Day 7. Thursday:
In the morning you
will drive north through the desert to
Swakopmund, a large resort town on the
Atlantic coast that has retained much of its German heritage, historic
architecture, and fine European food. Along the way, you will see the Welwitschias, the world's oldest plants, as well as other
distinctive vegetation
of the central Namib desert.
Swakopmund is a shopping mecca for great buys
on precious and semi-precious gems, finished jewelry and handicrafts
created by Namibian artisans. You will
lunch in a leading local restaurant, and later you will overnight and dine in luxury at the historic Hansa Hotel,
one of Namibia’s highest-rated hotels.
Day
8. Friday:
A day of contrasts. Journey to the Cape Cross seal colony,
one of the world's largest colonies of pinnipeds. Then leave the coast
and approach the Brandberg, Namibia's highest mountain, where you will see
striking desert scenery and unusual desert-adapted plants
on the way to the Damaraland region. Stay at the scenic
Mowani Mountain Camp
Day 9. Saturday:
While driving through the Damaraland region, you will
pass by the Brandberg and can view Southern
Africa's largest collection of ancient petroglyphs (rock engravings), many
of them more than 6000 years old.
Our destination, the Kavita Lion Lodge, is a
private game reserve that also serves as the home of the Afri-Leo
Foundation of Namibia. Kavita is also a sanctuary for lions unable to
survive in the wild, and the staff will introduce you to the lions the Afri-Leo
Foundation is protecting. They have constructed a new "hide" that will
allow you to take photos of the lions without any obstructions.
Kavita
Lion Lodge provides comfortable accommodations in private cabanas and
excellent European-style food.
Day 10. Sunday: Kavita Lion Lodge is located just below the western entrance to
world-famous Etosha National Park.
Today, we will enter the Park from its
western side, which only a few registered Namibian guides are authorized
to visit. You have a chance to view eland, rhinos, and often lions
while driving through the drier, undeveloped western-half of Etosha Park.
You will be
driving east toward Okaukuejo Camp in central Etosha,
where you will overnight in a very comfortable bungalow near the
illuminated waterhole and camp restaurant. The Okaukeujo waterhole
is world-famous for nighttime elephant and rhino sightings.
Day 11.
Monday: All of this day will be devoted to game drives in the
central region of Etosha Park.
Many of the best wildlife photos in
EcoVitality's
Namibian PHOTO GALLERY were taken in this area. Be sure
to pause at the edge of the vast Etosha Pan, where you can hear the winds
blow over the limitless parched, salt-white, flat-as-a-pancake
earth. It seems impossible that life could survive here, and yet
wildlife is teeming around the Pan during Etosha's dry season.
We will spend the night either in Okaukeujo Camp or in the newer
Halali Camp a short distance further east. Halali also has a
waterhole for outstanding game viewing in daytime and nighttime.
Day 12.
Tuesday:
Following another morning game drive around the central Etosha region, you will
travel slowly through the park toward its
eastern boundary, viewing wildlife along the way. Because of its
relatively higher rainfall, the eastern region probably has the highest
density of animals in Etosha Park. You will stay overnight at the small but
comfortable Mushara Lodge. You have a chance
to see all of the major predator species here: lions, leopards, cheetahs, and
hyenas, as well as many elephants and diverse antelope species.
The giraffes and zebras are almost too common.
Day 13.
Wednesday: After
a morning game drive, you'll leave Etosha Park and drive south to Okonjima, an
exceptional luxury resort and predator rehabilitation center.
Okonjima serves as a sanctuary for cheetahs and lions that cannot
safely be returned to the wild, and the resort is the home base for the AfriCat
Foundation of Namibia. Close-up sightings of lions and cheetahs
will provide you with great photographic opportunities,
and there is also a good chance to see leopards.
Day 14.
Thursday: Enjoy
new Okonjima activities, including game walks in the cheetah enclosure and
possible leopard sightings at an enclosed feeding ground. You will overnight
again at the luxurious Okonjima
Resort.
Day 15.
Friday: After the morning activities at Okonjima, you
will head for
Windhoek and the fantastic Hotel Castle Heinitzburg. Along the way
you will stop at handicraft and jewelry markets where you can buy a wide range
of distinctive Namibian and African gifts. The Hotel Castle Heinitzburg,
is widely-recognized as the best hotel in Namibia, and you will dine in Leo's at the Castle, the
highest-rated restaurant in the country.
Day 16.
Saturday: After a
delicious breakfast at the Hotel Castle Heinitzburg, you'll take a short
tour of Windhoek and then will have time to shop in the capital's finest
handicraft and gem stores. You'll eat a picnic lunch on the
road to the airport and will catch your afternoon flight to Johannesburg
before the evening flight back home.
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The flight routing is flexible and clients may choose to travel via Cape Town
on their way
to Windhoek, or they may choose to spend the first Saturday night in Windhoek
rather than Johannesburg.
Highlights . . . . . .
Ø Experience
the stunning beauty of the Namib Desert
Ø Enjoy incredibly
striking desert vistas and awesome nighttime skies at remote Wolwedans
Dune Camp
Ø Explore the
Namib Desert at the Sossusvlei Mountain Lodge, the most luxurious hotel in
the Namib Desert Region
Ø
Climb a high sand dune at Sossusvlei if you wish, with incredible views of the
surrounding "sand ocean"
Ø
Visit Swakopmund, a town with Germanic Culture, Excellent Food, and Great
Shopping
Ø Enjoy a congenial night at the vintage Hansa Hotel in
Swakopmund, and shop for Namibian bargains
Ø Visit Kavita Lion
Lodge, a fine resort and sanctuary for
lions unable
to survive in the wild. Kavita is the home of the Afri-Leo
Foundation
Ø Be
among the few groups authorized to visit western
Etosha Park with its different
ecosystems and wildlife
Ø
Explore famous Etosha National Park, Africa’s largest wildlife park and
one of the greatest in species diversity and numbers
Ø
Visit Okonjima, a luxury resort and a
rehabilitation center for big cats & home of the AfriCat Foundation
Ø
Stay at the truly fabulous Hotel Castle Heinitzburg
and
shop in Windhoek for great buys on Namibian handicrafts,
jewelry, and gemstones before your return flight
Iron-oxide sands of the
Namib Desert
"Namibia is unspoiled, not "touristy."
On this tour, I felt guided versus regimented. The guides made us feel
like a family."
Hugo Y.
Lioness in western Etosha Park
We spend most of four days in world-famous Etosha
National Park, Africa's largest wildlife park with an amazing abundance
and diversity of animals. The wildlife here are used to vehicles and
this acclimatization enables our guests to take many close-up photographs.
"For a novice like me, the tour was a
wonderful introduction to African wildlife. The guides were terrific. I
loved the challenge of spotting animals in the wild."
Norman C.
"I think it is important for visitors,
who have come because of their fascination with African wildlife, to see
what concerned and dedicated Namibians are doing to improve wildlife
conservation in their country."
Harriette F.
Guests can safely get close to
some predators at Okonjima
Two Herero Women
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