Our Safari begins in Swakopmund, a quaint coastal town, which still exhibits many signs of its German colonial past. This evening you meet your guide in the lounge of the Strand Hotel (meeting time is 18.00). Your meeting will give you the chance to meet your fellow travellers, and your guide will brief you fully on the safari. You will enjoy dinner at one of the many local restaurants (dinner is for own account).


The journey continues up the coast to Cape Cross, for a visit to the well-known Cape Fur Seal colony, numbering some 80 000 to 100 000 individuals. Heading inland, you travel into Northern Damaraland, via the Skeleton Coast. Northern Damaraland still has a significant population of lion, elephant, leopard, large antelope, giraffe, Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, and, the last free ranging black rhino population in the world, which you track on extensive game and nature drives. En route you will stop at a hidden waterfall with its crystal clear natural pool, allowing us time for a cooling swim.


Kaokoland is one of Africa's last wilderness areas. It stretches from the coastal desert plain and rises slowly into a wild and rugged landscape. It is here that slow-growing trees cling to rocky outcrops, and the elusive desert-adapted elephant has made its home. A number of other mammal species may also be encountered, such as the giraffe, oryx, and springbok. You camp wild on the banks of the seasonal Hoanib River, west of Sesfontein.


After breakfast your Safari continues up the course of the Hoanib River, before turning to the north, via Otjomatemba, and Okatumba. This is your first opportunity to experience the way of life of the nomadic Himba people of the area, who still lead a traditional pastoral way of life.


Travelling northwards, you make your way to Opuwo, the capital of the Kaokoveld. En route you pass through Kaoko-Otavi where the ruins of a church built by the "Dorsland Trekkers" can be seen. After your brief encounter with civilisation you head north again to the Kunene River. Tonight you overnight at a rustic community run campsite on the banks of the Kunene River under tall Makalani palm trees a few metres from the Falls. This area is a stunning contrast to the otherwise stark surroundings. The Kunene River flows strongly all year round, and has its source in the Angolan Highlands.


After breakfast you go on an excursion to an Ovahimba village east of the falls and here you have the opportunity to meet a family and to learn more about their culture, tradition and how they survive in such a harsh environment. Late afternoon you go for an easy hike along the banks of the river in search of the endemic bird species such as the Cinderella waxbill, and rufous-tailed palmthrush.


Today you leave the Falls, and head south via Opuwo and along the western border of Etosha National Park. You camp wild in the dry Otjivosandu River bed, where the scenery is spectacular, and majestic leadwood trees line the river bank. The local Herero and Himba people believe that these leadwood trees contain the souls of their ancestors.


The safari continues via the mountainous Khowarib Schlucht (canyon), a breathtakingly beautiful area of sheer cliff-faces towering above, and home to black eagles. You camp wild in this ancient volcanic landscape.


Early this morning you head out into the Huab River valley, via Twyfelfontein, which is famous for it's numerous rock engravings and paintings, attributed to the San (Bushmen). It is in this area where you will be able to explore the seasonal Huab River with the possibility of encountering several species of game, including the desert-adapted elephant.


After breakfast you make your way via Henties Bay, for your return to Swakopmund and the Strand Hotel, where you expect to arrive in the late afternoon. You enjoy a farewell dinner tonight at one of Swakopmund's seafood restaurants.


Our safari ends after breakfast this morning. A transfer is included from the Strand Hotel to Walvis Bay airport.

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