NAMIBIA: FLYING SAFARI

Arrive in Johannesburg at 07.25 hrs and connect to British Airways BA 6307 departing at 10.40 hrs arriving Windhoek at 12.50 hrs. Group transfer to the Weinberg Hotel where one night is spent. The hotel’s elegant architecture wraps around a heritage building, which forms the heart of the Am Weinberg Estate. It also features restaurants of different culinary styles and a spa. Dinner at the hotel.

Transfer to Windhoek’s Eros Airport for the start of the flying safari. Meet your pilot and board your Desert Air privately chartered small plane to take to the skies for the flight to Kwessi Dunes in the striking NamibRand Nature Reserve in Sossusvlei. As you near the reserve, fly over the iconic, blood-red dunes stretching for as far as the eye can see. Check in at Kwessi Dunes where two nights are spent. This is a classic canvas-and-thatch lodge in the heart of the reserve. Africa’s very first designated International Dark Sky Reserve, the stargazing opportunities in the NamibRand are simply sensational. Each of the twelve chalets has its own open-to-the-sky ‘stargazer’ room just for admiring the constellations, as well as a vintage four-poster bed, outdoor shower and shaded veranda where you can take in the stunning desert vistas. The lodge has a refreshing pool, spa, a well-stocked bar and library.

Lunch at the lodge. Enjoy the activities available at the lodge. Dinner at the lodge.

Enjoy the activities the lodge has to offer including, morning and afternoon scenic drives and walks in the NamibRand Nature Reserve, horse riding, quad biking, hot air ballooning (at an extra cost) and a day trip to the dunes of Sossusvlei (at an extra cost) and star gazing. Keep your eyes peeled all the while for a glimpse of gemsbok, bat-eared foxes and other unique, desert-adapted wildlife.

Lunch and dinner at the Lodge.

This morning, board the plane for a scenic flight northbound over the Atlantic Coast, passing the famous Eduard Bohlen shipwreck (1909), Conception Bay and Sandwich Harbour. Land briefly in Swakopmund for refuelling before continuing north in the plane over the dramatic rocky coastline, nicknamed the ‘gates to hell’ by Portuguese sailors attempting to round the Cape of Good Hope, glimpsing remnants of shipwrecks, before turning inland toward the Hoanib Valley Camp.

Lunch on arrival and transfer to Hoanib Valley Camp where two nights are spent. This tented eco-camp is located amongst the towering mountains and sand dunes of Kaokoland in north-western Namibia – a remote wilderness defined by sweeping desert, rolling sand dunes and dramatic jagged mountains. Accommodation consists of just six guest tents, all with private verandas and en suite bathrooms. The camp is a joint venture between the local communities, and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Remainder of the afternoon at enjoy the activities available at the camp. Dinner at the camp.

Full day for activities which focus primarily on the region’s unique, desert wildlife. Game drives along dry riverbeds take you in search of desert-adapted lion, giraffe and elephant, as well as kudu, springbok, oryx, hornbills, eagles and the endangered black rhino. Guided nature walks allow you to experience the region’s smaller species. Visits to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation field-base enable you to see its cutting-edge research. For those interested in culture, visits to local nomadic Himba communities are a great way of getting an insight into life in this remote region.

Lunch and dinner at the camp.

Today, take a full-day, spectacular drive to the Skeleton Coast along the ephemeral Hoanib River, home to large herds of elephant, and the Hoarusib River, where dry plains give way to a clay-baked landscape, and as you reach the Atlantic Sea, so the landscape turns to white sand dunes. Check in at the award-winning Shipwreck Lodge, in the Skeleton Coast National Park, where two nights are spent. The lodge is located in the Skeleton Coast Central Concession Area, a critically important piece of land for protecting vulnerable wildlife species. Each of its ten striking, solar[1]powered chalets have been designed to mimic the shipwrecks dramatically strewn along the hauntingly beautiful Skeleton Coast. Step inside, however, and you are welcomed by modern, well-appointed interiors with ensuite bathrooms and cosy, wood-burning stoves. At the heart of the lodge lies the attractive lounge and restaurant, complete with wraparound deck where you can take in views that stretch out towards the shimmering ocean, and a swimming pool.

Lunch at the lodge. Enjoy the activities at the lodge. Dinner at the lodge.

Choose from the activities on offer at the lodge which include trips to the Mowe Bay seal colony, including stops at the Suiderkus and Karimona shipwrecks, Westies diamond mine, and the remains of the Ventura Bomber; sundowner drives to the roaring dunes; full day 4×4 Hoarusib River excursions, including the remarkable Clay Castles and wildlife spotting in search of desert-adapted elephants, lion and kudu; beach lunches; quad biking and sand boarding.

Lunch and dinner at the lodge.

This morning board the plane once more for a flight inland toward Etosha and check in at the Safarihoek Lodge where two nights are spent. The lodge is located in the Etosha Heights Private Reserve, a 60,000-hectare private reserve, an epic wilderness of vast savannah dotted with scatterings of mopane woodland and dolomite hills. Perched atop a hill overlooking a large waterhole and with far-reaching views across the flat savannah, the lodge has 11 well-appointed chalets on wooden platforms, with private verandas, writing desks and air[1]conditioned ensuites with indoor showers. It has a double-tiered photography hide offering close-ups of the region’s diverse wildlife and a swimming pool with panoramic views.

Lunch at the lodge. Enjoy activities at the lodge. Dinner at the lodge.

Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives in the Etosha Heights Private Reserve where wildlife roams undisturbed and you can expect amazing encounters with a variety of species including mountain zebra, lion, cheetah elephant, giraffe, antelope and both white and black rhinos. Alternatively, spend the morning or afternoon in the unique, double-tiered photography hide which will get you closer than ever to Namibia’s giants. It is also possible to experience the bush after dark on an exciting night game drive.

Lunch and dinner at the lodge including the possibility of a picnic out in the bush.

Morning to enjoy activities at the lodge.

Lunch at the lodge. Return by private charter plane to Windhoek where a further night is spent at the Weinberg Hotel. Dinner at Joe’s Beer House.

Group transfer to Windhoek International Airport. Suggested flight (not included in the cost of the tour) British Airways BA 6236 departing Windhoek at 13.35 hrs arriving Johannesburg at 15.25 hrs connecting to BA 56 departing at 18.45 hrs.

Arrive London Heathrow at 06.00 hrs.

The tour will be limited to a maximum of 8 people travelling in one privately chartered Cessna Grand Caravan small plane.