Намибия 24 — w-expeditions.ca

Africa

Namibia

Dear friends, we invite you to Namibia, an amazing country of constantly changing landscapes. We have generously seasoned this trip with impressions that will not leave you indifferent. Photographers will get a complete delight from epic landscapes, colorful outfits, unusual hairstyles of local tribes and an incredible starry sky. Wildlife lovers will enjoy the opportunity to observe amazing animals in the natural environment: elephants, giraffes, saber-horned oryx, Hartman’s zebra or desert rhinos and how well they have adapted to survival in the desert.

During the trip, we will overcome more than 3,500 km of Namibian roads, visit the edge of the largest canyon in Africa, climb the tops of the red dunes of Sossuflei, watch wild animals at a watering hole in Etosha Park, explore the arid plains and rocky mountains of Damaraland, admire rock art, get acquainted with bushmen and Himba, visit the famous Skeleton Coast and swim in the Atlantic Ocean.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Type of expedition

Route

Difficulty level

Duration

Participants

Habitation

Additional information

Travel experts

How much is it?

The cost of participation is 5000 USD

The price includes

services of W-Expeditions travel experts
transfers to/from the airport (if you arrive and depart in accordance with our program)
accommodation in comfortable hotels of level 3 * along the route
car rental, car insurance and fuel
full camping equipment: tents, dishes, kitchen appliances, stove, gas, tables/chairst
entrance tickets and permits
breakfast in hotels

Paid separately

travel dates

from 08 to 22.12.2024 г.

8 seats

Four steps to travel!

Application

Write your name, a convenient way of communication and your wishes

Contract

Download, review, add personal data and send it to us

Prepayment

Make an advance payment of 10%, the remaining amount two weeks before departure

Let's fly!

We will arrange all the necessary documents for you: tickets, accommodation reservations, permits, etc.

Expedition route

The first day of the trip

Welcome to Namibia! At the airport of Windhoek Hosea Kutako (WDH) you will be met by the staff of W-Expeditions (we recommend you to arrive on a morning flight), after receiving your luggage, we get to know each other, change money, buy SIM cards for the Internet and go to our hotel in a comfortable minibus.

The capital of Namibia, Windhoek, is not like the pictures that many people have in their heads when they hear the words «African city». It is a comfortable and safe center of a rich country. Surrounded by high mountains and located at an altitude of 1650m above ocean level.

After a rest and a joint lunch, we will divide into two groups. The first part will go for a walk around the city, and the drivers will go to get our four-wheel drive SUVs with full camping equipment. It is important to make sure that everything is in place: tents, refrigerator, frying pans, plates, forks, lanterns, etc. all this works and is easily laid out.

In the evening, a general gathering — we will discuss the upcoming route, pressing issues, check the maps, make sure that all the crews are mentally ready and in the right mood. Rest, dinner.

Included: airport transfer, overnight at the hotel

The second day of the trip

We do not lie in beds, have a quick breakfast, rent rooms, load into our Toyotas and go on the road. On the way, we drop into the nearest supermarket, buy goodies and drinks for the road. Next, we will have about a 5 – 6 hour drive through a picturesque area and a good road with lunch in one of the authentic cafes.

Arriving at the destination, we set up a hiking camp. We open the tents, set up tables, chairs, take out dishes and other accessories. The most skillful ones light the grill and start cooking steaks, and their assistants open the wine and actively help with advice 😊

After dinner and rest, we go to shoot the starry sky of Africa, and the entourage is more than suitable for this – in the middle of the «cubes» of granite multi–ton megaliths there is a grove of so-called dichotomous aloe — phantasmagoric plants. Bushmen call this giant shrub a «quiver tree» – its branches are great for making quivers. It is to this «grove» that we will go when it gets dark to make the first series of incredible shots.

You will be surprised at how incredibly beautiful the night sky is here with billions of sparkling diamonds at the top! Fans of stargazing come here and for a reason.

Included: breakfast, camping site rental, night photo shoot

The third day of the trip

In the morning we set off on a journey – to surf the expanses of Namibia. In about an hour and a half. we arrive at one of the main natural attractions of the country — the Fish River Canyon – the largest in Africa! The canyon is a giant ravine, about 160 km long, up to 27 km wide and almost 550 meters deep.

The view is amazing. The complex tectonics of the ancient continent of Gondwana and the small Fish River formed a colossal gorge with a double bottom. Here you can wander along the cliffs for a long time, watch the sun wash the rocks in orange light.

After walking enough, we will go further, through the steppes and veldt to the Atlantic Ocean. In the middle of the way we will come across herds of wild animals and semi-wild horses. These friendly creatures graze in the fields in the middle of the savannah. There are no large predators here, hunting is prohibited, which allows them to exist peacefully and not be afraid of humans, some can even be approached almost closely and take an excellent photo.

In the late afternoon we will arrive at a cozy place in the middle of the sunlit wastelands. A corner of civilization – Aus, with snow-white sheets and cool white wine, it will become our home for the next two nights.

Included: breakfast, canyon trekking, overnight at the hotel

The fourth day of the trip

Immediately after breakfast we will go to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, take a walk through the oasis of German prosperity, the city of Luderitz, sandwiched between two elements – the desert on the one hand and the ocean on the other, and then look into the real ghost town of Kolmanskop.

Luderitz was founded by colonists from Germany at the end of the 19th century to extract guano, which was used for the manufacture of fertilizers and gunpowder. However, after the discovery of diamond deposits nearby, all the attention of the settlers was turned to them.

Thanks to the efforts of the first settlers, a colonial city was erected, and modern descendants dressed it in an elegant frame of modernity, nevertheless, the breath of the century before last is still felt in it, and hotels, bars and restaurants are filled with attributes from old Europe. We will definitely look into one of them to have a cup of coffee and feel the atmosphere.

We will walk along the embankment, there is a chance to meet flamingos, fur seals and pelicans, but the delightful seascapes, the panorama of the harsh rocky shores, Cape Diasha will be a pleasant bonus during our walk.

On the way back we will look into an unusual ghost town. The diamond mine, which once flourished and turned into a small but richly landscaped settlement, was abandoned more than half a century ago. Diamond barons, following the extraction, moved further and further south, eventually reaching the border with South Africa.

As soon as a person left the city, the desert began to slowly but inexorably absorb it. Before the elements, everything is the same – both workers’ apartment buildings and superiors’ residences, restaurants, bars. Sand seeped through the broken windows, rose through the drying floorboards, turning the once thriving city into the scenery for a movie about the apocalypse. In the evening we will return to the hotel in Aus and spend the evening having dinner with a view of the falling asleep desert with a glass of wine and conversations about the discoverers of Africa.

Included: breakfast, city tour and Kolmanskop, overnight at the hotel

The fifth day of the trip

Today it will be possible to sleep longer, have a leisurely breakfast and then go on the road. Our path lies along the conditional border of the most ancient desert in the world with high sand dunes reaching 350m and stretching to the horizon.

We will arrive at the Sosufley oasis around lunchtime. Sprawling tamarisk and acacia trees feed from the underground waters that approach here closer to the surface. The shade of the groves saves the antelopes roaming here from the scorching heat of the day. We’ll check into the hotel, have lunch and rest from the road.

Later in the evening we will go to the national park, it is forbidden to live or hunt on its territory, and entry is only by passes. In the valley of the drying Tsauchab River there are the famous Dunes 45 and 38, we will climb to their peaks to enjoy the incredible views of the red Namib desert. Such places are etched into the memory immediately and for life. Here you involuntarily forget about everything, because you can look at this “ocean” of sand endlessly.

Included: breakfast, entrance tickets to the park, overnight at the hotel

The sixth day of the trip

Today we wake up before dawn. We quickly gather, have breakfast and drive up to the gate to the National Park. At dawn, we are launched, and we rush 60 km along an asphalt road, and then we lower the tires and quietly steer through the sands to the equipped platform.

Morning Sossuflei pleases us with incredible landscapes. The dunes turn blood-red. The play of light and shadow is impressive. We walk for about 20 minutes to the point of attraction – Deadfly, which in the language of the Afrikaans region means «dead swamp». This unique place has become the most famous in Namibia. From the once rich green oasis, only a lake of frozen and cracked white salty clay and the blackened trunks of dead acacias remained, which died when the channel of the underground river that fed the roots of the trees changed its direction. The surreal landscape is completed by high orange dunes, from the crests of which the wind blows away the smallest sand dust.

Those who want to climb the Big Daddy dune to take pictures of the incredible beauty of the views from above, and the female part of the team, meanwhile, in beautiful outfits and hats, will arrange a wonderful photo shoot. We will wait out the midday heat in our hotel, and after lunch and rest we will go for a photo walk along the picturesque Sesriem Canyon.

We’ll have a desert party under the stars tonight. We will cook delicious steaks, learn to dance local dances and sing songs in Afrikaans.

Included: breakfast, entrance tickets to the park, overnight at the hotel

The seventh day of the journey

We get up early, have a hearty breakfast, pack our things and again set off on a scenic road through the desert and canyons to the coast – in the vicinity of the town of Wolfish Bay.

After lunch and a short rest, we will go to an amazing place where sand dunes and the Atlantic Ocean meet. According to the established tradition, we will be treated to oysters, champagne and other Namibian goodies. On the way back we will visit the flamingo colony. Pink herons «graze» in shallow water, foraging for their food. It has long been one of the favorite places of pink birds.

We will spend the evening in Swakopmund. Cozy «Bavarian» half-timbered quarters, sandwiched between majestic dunes, rocky wastelands and the open ocean, seem to further emphasize the grotesque of a man’s hectic existence, arranging his corner on the vast and indifferent to his existence expanses of the planet.

If we still have the strength, we can walk around the city or go for dinner to the famous local seafood restaurants.

Included: breakfast at the hotel, dune tour, overnight at the hotel

The eighth day of the trip

We do not lie in bed, because the earlier we get up, the more time we can spend on studying the beauties, and there is even something to look at! To the north of the Namib desert lies the stone wasteland of Damaraland. There are huge megaliths that seem to have fallen from the sky and scattered over the surface of the earth, and the amazing landscape is completed by Mount Bradenberg – a lonely black stone mass in the middle of the wasteland.

On the way, we will see Himba selling all sorts of things by the road in a half-naked state and, of course, the Herero aunts, who attract with their unusual hats and attire. They live in the places where we follow, selling all sorts of crafts in their shops.

First of all, we will look into the Living Museum of the Damara tribe, where we will be shown all sorts of interesting tricks from the life of one of the most authentic tribes of Namibia. We’ll sing together, dance. Let’s learn how to light a fire and learn about the medicinal properties of elephant poop.

Then we will look into the town of Spitzkopp. Many millennia ago, there were Stone Age human encampments here. For centuries, this valley has been used by indigenous tribes engaged in hunting and gathering to perform rituals. At various times, more than 2500 drawings were created. Basically, these are images of animals. The most ancient of them appeared 5,000 years ago, and the last about 500 years. In 1952, the valley was declared a «National Monument of Namibia», and in 2007 it was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We will check into our lodge, wait out the heat, and then go to the place where amazing desert elephants live, of which only about 400 individuals have been preserved on the planet. Let’s look for elephants, giraffes, maybe even meet antelopes Somewhere. The screw horns of males are a great acoustic resonator, they catch and realize any minute movement. They also detect the movement of the earth’s crust (Kudu in Africa is considered the best predictors of mudslides, earthquakes and such a natural disaster common only in Africa as electric storms). We will ride along the dunes, dunes and canyons of the dried riverbed, where these amazing animals live.

Returning back, we will have dinner, and then we will go to rest and wait for it to finally get dark to go shoot the most beautiful sky in Africa. The nearest town is several tens of kilometers away, because the air is so clean and transparent. The deep sky shines with myriads of stars, silhouettes of Arches, rocks and huge boulders are visible.

Included: breakfast, entrance tickets to the park, overnight at the camp

The ninth day of the journey

The North is the most populated region of Namibia. Here deserts and savannas turn into relatively green landscapes, well suited for a semi-sedentary lifestyle. About half of the population of the whole country lives on a narrow green strip of the north of Namibia. The Bantu–speaking peoples of Shivambo, Herero and Himba live here — the latter are deservedly considered one of the most beautiful ethnic groups on the entire continent.

Himba are the real “stars” among all African tribes. Unlike most others, they are rarely tempted by the benefits of civilization, preferring a traditional, time-tested way of life. Apparently, this is partly due to the special charm and peculiar beauty of the traditions of this ethnic group. In any case, now we have the opportunity to admire this bright and original people, who have practically not changed their way of life or appearance over the past centuries.

Unlike many other tribes that support the ancient way of life partly for commercial purposes, the life of the Himba is unfeigned. Of course, we do not go to the tribe empty-handed, we bring food to the leader and the women of the tribe as a gift, we buy their crafts, jewelry made by their hands. But you will feel inside the tribe how sincere these people are, how pristine their morals are.

In the evening we will gather at the common table, we will celebrate another wonderful day. If desired, we will continue to talk about Africa and the amazing peoples inhabiting this continent.

Included: breakfast at the hotel, trekking, overnight at the camp

Tenth day of the trip

Today we will go to another amazing place for the whole day – the Skeleton Coast. It stretches for 500 km south of the Kunene River on the border of Namibia and Angola to the Ugab River. The total area of 2 million hectares is a memorable landscape, sand dunes, canyons and mountain ranges. One of the most inhospitable and least visited places on the planet.

The coast is famous for the numerous remains of shipwrecks. Fogs, storms and the cold Bengal current create dangerous conditions for the movement of ships in this region.

The climate here, unlike arid deserts, is also amazing. Dense fogs and cold sea breezes, the result of the Benguela current, when faced with the extreme heat of the Namib desert, lead to sharp temperature contrasts. However, a surprisingly large number of plants and animals survive in such conditions – oryx antelopes, elephants, desert giraffes, jackals, hyenas, lions, black rhinos.

The southern part of the Skeleton Coast is included in the National Tourist Zone of the West Coast. The fish-rich sea attracts numerous fishermen here, who organize crowded fishing camps. One of these camps then turned into a real city — Huntis Bay, an hour’s drive north of Swakopmund. The northern part of the Skeleton Coast from Torra Bay to the border with Angola is covered by a national park, access to which is limited, there are only a few small camps and lodges.

In the evening we will gather for a joint dinner under the stars. We will eat delicious steaks and exchange impressions.

Included: breakfast, excursion to the Skeleton Park, overnight at the camp

The eleventh day of the journey

Today you can sleep longer, have a leisurely breakfast and go on your way. We are going to have a tireless move to the area of Etosha Park.

We will stop for photo sessions on the way. We will arrive at the hotel after lunch, check in, rest from the road, and in the evening we will gather for a joint dinner under the stars. We will eat delicious steaks and exchange impressions.

Included: breakfast, overnight at the hotel

The twelfth day of the journey

We wake up before dawn. Packing up. We’re having breakfast. We leave for the gate to the Etosha National Park. Right at sunrise, the park opens, and we begin our game drive safari for the whole day.

We try not to get very close to elephants and giraffes, so as not to get a kick on the jeep. There are great chances to meet cats. For example, we often came across prides of lions.

It is also strictly forbidden to get out of the jeep for selfies with lions or leopards, because you are one of the links in the food chain for them. They define a car as a kind of safe creature, which you can completely ignore and come close. This is very convenient for photographers, and we, of course, will make a bunch of beautiful pictures that half of Facebook will envy.

Our plan for today is to cross the Etosha National Park and explore all the watering holes along the way to see the maximum number of African wildlife. On the way, we can stop for lunch inside the park at the Okaukuejo Lodge.

In the evening, having rolled enough, we leave Etosha, drive a little more and settle into a cozy comfortable lodge located in a beautiful place from where you can watch a beautiful African sunset under a glass of South African white wine.

Included: breakfast, entrance tickets to the park, overnight at the camp

The thirteenth day of the journey

We’ll have a good night’s sleep, have a leisurely breakfast, drink a cup of coffee and go on our way. Today we have a big move of 425 km. Don’t forget to refuel along the way. We stop for a snack and drink coffee.

Upon arrival, we quickly settle into our lodges and go for a walk on the plateau. From the place of our overnight stay today there are several trails, following which you can find yourself at the very top of the rocky Waterberg plateau.

It offers a magnificent view of the surrounding area, and the tracking itself is not particularly difficult. Before going out on tracking, we lock the cars, we bring things into the houses. Baboons live here, who will gladly drag away everything that is bad. On our return, we light barbecues, cook dinner for ourselves, visit each other, relax and just enjoy life.

Included: breakfast, overnight at the lodge

The fourteenth day of the journey

In the morning we leave in the direction of Windhoek. We arrive in the middle of the day in the city. We check into a cozy 4-star hotel. Drivers are going to take our loyal Toyotas to a rental office. The rest are resting after a long journey.

After the rest, you will be able to walk around the city and buy souvenirs for your family and friends. Fortunately, the choice is quite large, past the traditional magnets and mugs, you can buy masks, antelope skin, ancient bushmen weapons, a beautiful photo album or the famous dried game «biltong». In the evening, we will gather together in the famous Joe’s pub and arrange a farewell party.

Included: breakfast, overnight at the hotel

The fifteenth day of the journey

Yes, it’s time to go home today, of course, it’s a little sad, but there are also joyful moments — you can start preparing for the next trip! At parting, traditional friendly hugs and wishes for speedy meetings!

Included: breakfast, airport transfer

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what else needs to be considered

The majority of expenses for organizing the trip, such as transportation tickets, accommodation, excursions, services of local guides, etc., are handled by us well in advance of the journey. The prepayment or payment made by you is non-refundable in the event of your cancellation. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to refund it.

Transfer

Clothing and equipment

a small backpack, for water, snacks and documents
lightweight hiking trousers, shirts/t-shirts, shorts, swimsuit, towel
protective cream, sun protection glasses, hygienic lipstick and headdress
comfortable hiking shoes: trekking boots, sneakers
a patch, iodine and necessarily a set of personal medicines for your specific cases
you will receive a complete list of necessary equipment and clothing from the personal manager of w-expeditions

Covid-19

Visa

Vaccinations

Additionally

We reserve the right to skip any event due to insurmountable circumstances
The start and end times of services specified in the program may vary depending on traffic and other unforeseen circumstances
You will receive detailed instructions, recommendations on equipment and priority items immediately after connecting you to a closed chat