Incentive 03 Namibia

Namib Naukluft - Sossusvlei - Sesriem Canyon - Walwis Bay - Swakopmund - Skeleton Coast - Twyfelfontein - Petrified Forest - Etosha National Park - Otjiwarongo

    DAY 1 - Arrival in Windhoek, short sightseeing of the city and departure through Namib Naukluft Park (thought to be the oldest desert in the world). The Namib Naukluft Park is the largest conservation area in Namibia and one of the largest in the world. Parts of this park resemble a lunar landscape while other places rise with the purple-hued rocky mountains of the Naukluft Mountain massif. The famous, stunning orange sand dunes blown into razor sharp ridges and peaks along the road to Sossusvlei are certainly impressive just as watching the sunset on the Elim dune with the view on the Naukluft Mountains. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

     DAY 2 - Early morning drive to Sossusvlei to watch the spectacular sunrise over the dunes around the vlei. On request a drive to Sossusvlei can be replaced by the balloon safari. Game drive and photo sessions at the dunes. After lunch visit to Sesriem Canyon. Walking through this incredible canyon takes you on a journey back 10-20 million years when sedimentary layers of gravel and sand were deposited and cemented together by lime. The ledges are now inhabited by pigeons, raucous pied crows and chattering starlings. But look a little higher and you might see a lanner falcon or the soaring spread of a lappet faced vulture with a wingspan of 2.6m. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

     DAY 3 - Departure from the lodge into the Naukluft Desert. Game viewing and stop over at Kuiseb Pass and the Canyon. Watching of incredible rock formations along the road. Late afternoon arrival at Walvis Bay - main Namibian harbour and also a big colony of aquatic birds gathering in the lagoon. The harbour town of Walvis Bay stands on flat land beside a wide bay and tidal lagoon, sheltered from the open ocean behind a spit of sand with a lighthouse at its tip. The site does not rise much above sea level, but high dunes crowd together on the landward side of town, where desert sands spill into the streets. We take a scenic drive along the dunes to Swakopmund where we will have an elegant dinner at the hotel.

     DAY 4 - A short sightseeing of this picturesque Germanic town enclosed between Atlantic ocean and Namib Desert. Visit to a historic museum, Kristall Galerie, old railway station and aquarium. In the afternoon time for the optional activities like: quad biking on the vast dunes, kayak trip around the harbor and waching flamingo colony, exciting sand boarding, parachuting or horse riding. In the evening a candle light dinner out of town on the dunes with an African dancers and music. Overnight in the hotel.

     DAY 5 - Early morning drive through the National Park of the Skeleton Coast to the Cape Cross with a huge seals colony. Days along the coast are often windy and shrouded in fog. Numerous shipwrecks litter the treacherous coastline, which gained its name from the dismal fate of castaways lost in the unfriendly terrain. After visiting the cape return inland towards the Brandberg Mountain. We visit Twyfelfontein with its prehistoric rock paintings which are one of the most prolific occurrence of rock engravings in the world. The current estimated numbers of the engravings is more than two thousand. Short drive North - West will take us to the Petrified Forest. Here we can see how the antediluvian flood deposited gaint treetrunks, some up to 30 m long. The age of these fossil trunks is estimated to be 200 million years. Dinner and overnight at the Khorixas lodge.

     DAY 6 - Departure from the lodge for a few-hour drive to the Etosha Park. Afternoon game drive through the park to the rest camp. The Etosha National Park is one of the major sanctuaries of wildlife in Africa and was proclaimed a game reserve by German Governer von Lindequist in 1907. The heart of the park is the Etosha Pan, meaning 'place of dry water', an extensive, flat depression of about 5 000 sq km. This great, white expanse is a place of shimmering mirages, and seeing large herds of game in this setting makes Etosha a unique experience in Africa. Dinner and overnight in one of the camps in the reserve.

     DAY 7 - Sunrise departure from the camp for morning game drive. Transit across the park visiting various waterholes along the way. Visit to one of the camps for lunch and time to relax around the swimming pool to escape the midday heat. Afternoon game drive via the edge of Etosha Pan to the camp where, after dinner, evening is spent around the flood lit waterhole visited by scores of animals.

     DAY 8 - Early morning departure from the park and drive towards Windhoek. Our route runs through Otjiwarongo, famous for the unusually dressed Herero women. A short stop over at Okahandja at the large African art market gives opportunity to admire talent of African people. Late evening departure from Windhoek.

To the top