The Spirit of The Namib Safari

The Spirit Of The Namib Safari photo gallery

click image to enlarge

photo: M Myers©

photo: M Myers©

photo: D Allen©

photo: D Allen©

photo: Wilderness©

The Spirit of The Namib Safari

A 9 night/10day Adventurer Exploration

Adventurer Explorations combine unique mobile camps with a variety of other locations and accommodation, to provide an intimate, insightful encounter with the country or region.
For the Adventurer Explorations, we utilise a spacious walk-in dome tent. The comfortable interior has canvas bedrolls, crisp cotton sheets and duvets set out on GI stretchers, complemented with old-fashioned tin finishes, recreating a sense of simple style under canvas. Shared toilets and bucket shower enclosures open to the sky and inviting dining areas offer an atmosphere of understated, serviced camping.
These camps are erected prior to our guests' arrival. This, coupled with the wildlife-rich areas visited and the easy mobility of the camps, allow us to explore the most remote areas of the subcontinent.

Adventurer camping features lively campfires, camps lit by hurricane lanterns and a range of exciting and diverse activities, creating a pure wilderness camping experience with a warm atmosphere and camaraderie. High standards in mobile safaris are to be found on Adventurer Explorations, as comfort and experience are redefined.

Meet the Namib: the oldest desert in the world; Damaraland: where the largest free-roaming population of black rhino resides; Cape Cross: a bewildering cacophony of Cape fur seals; Etosha: a blinding whiteness that is home to a surprising variety of wildlife. This is an all-encompassing safari that explores the spirit of this wide-open land - Namibia's most special wild places, its people and culture. Exposed and diverse landscapes, desert wildlife, scenic, jagged mountains, endless skies, and so-called 'barren' deserts all reveal a multitude and variety of life. On this journey there is also an excellent opportunity to find even the largest of mammals surviving here - the desert-adapted black rhino and elephant.

Itinery

Days 1 and 2:Andersson's Camp, Etosha Region

Transfer by comfortable charter flight to Namibia's big game country: Etosha and its environs. Here, the diverse flora and fauna is experienced in a variety of activities, from game walks to game drives and visits to hides both on the property and in the famous Etosha National Park.
Andersson's Camp is surrounded by plains teeming with wildlife and situated close to Etosha (the vast expanse of savannah and salt pan, the largest in Africa, 'discovered' by Sir Francis Galton and Charles Andersson in 1851), the Discoverer atmosphere of the camp makes for a much more comfortable modern-day exploration of this landscape. The resurrected farmstead now forms the anchor fronting onto a thriving waterhole and the 20 tented guest units, each with en-suite bathroom, are raised on decks for an enhanced view. This model of eco-sensitive lodging provides an authentic, safe and down-to-earth experience for small groups, families and independent travellers to Etosha. Within Etosha, on game drive we'll visit numerous springs and pans, in search of lion, leopard, elephant and black rhino, as well as plains game.

Day 3: Palmwag Lodge, Palmwag Concession

After an early breakfast, we travel to the Palmwag concession. Here, on the concession and in the surrounding areas the desert-adapted elephant and elusive black rhino can be found. The camp consists of 5 Meru-style tents, built on individual, wooden platforms and offering a great scenic view of the surroundings and also the desert-adapted elephants when they visit the area. Situated about 600 metres away from the restaurant and secluded from the rest of Palmwag Lodge. The tents are tastefully furnished, with en-suite facilities, solar power and a wonderful atmosphere.
Over the course of the next four nights in the enormous wilderness areas of Damaraland and Palmwag our guides expose the sheer magnificence of nature's survival strategies in this arid environment, through walks, tracking and game drives concentrating on a variety of topics from birds to insects, medicinal uses of plants and viewing wildlife. In addition, we travel through regions with an exciting array of exposed geological sequences, ranging in age from "young" 130 million-year-old igneous shale through to 850 million-year-old schist formations.

Days 4 and 5: Hoanib Camp, Kaokoland

With an early start, our journey continues by road towards the ephemeral river of the Hoanib Valley. Please note that this is a long nature transfer, giving guests a unique opportunity to see some of the most rugged and "hard to get to" areas within Namibia's remote North West. Here, in an area seemingly parched and desolate, we enter one of Namibia's richest desert wildlife areas.
The rugged mountains and canyons of the Hoanib River provide a last refuge for some of the continent's most unique wildlife; this is the home of the legendary desert-adapted elephant and the last free-roaming black rhino population on Earth. While here, we have the opportunity to explore this area on game drives and walks. Possibly, we can visit one of the nomadic Himba villages if they are in the region at the time.
Our Discoverer-styled tented camp close to the Hoanib River is a relaxed haven from which we explore this wild land on foot, or from the comfort of one of our safari vehicles. The camp is powered by solar-powered inverter systems and there are no generators or pumps running whilst guests are in camp. There are 5 guest walk-in hexagonal Meru-style tents with en-suite and flush toilet and bucket shower bathrooms in a separate portion of the tent. Each tent is furnished with necessary comforts and styled with burnt orange interiors, wood and brass, effectively recreating a sense of the early explorers.

Day 6: Damaraland Camp, Damaraland

Departing early, we travel east to Sesfontein and we end this road journey at the award-winning Damaraland Camp.
Damaraland Camp is situated on the northern face of the Huab River valley and looking south toward the imposing Brandberg Mountain. The camp accommodates guests in 10 comfortable tented rooms (with en-suite facilities including flush toilets and showers) with endless vistas as views. The dining room and pub are combined under canvas, and an open fire is enjoyed on calm evenings.
Early morning mists generated by the clash between the icy Atlantic Ocean and the warm desert air of the Skeleton Coast, drift inland along the river sand canyon, providing sustenance to the flora and fauna of the region. Although wildlife is not concentrated, we are situated where the rare desert-adapted elephant roams, alongside gemsbok (oryx), springbok, Ostrich and other hardy desert animals. Rare succulent plants eke out an existence in this harsh countryside.

Day 7: The Stiltz Lodge, Swakopmund

After an early breakfast, we travel to Twyfelfontein where we take a guided walk with local Damara guides to view the San petroglyphs - prehistoric rock etchings, strewn over the rock face.
After lunch we continue our journey travelling south via Uis en route to Swakopmund. Closer to the coast there are lichen fields strewn over the gravel plains, one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth.
After a packed lunch en route, we make for The Stiltz Lodge in the quaint, charming town of Swakopmund, arriving in the late afternoon. Swakopmund, with its unique urban atmosphere that is a vibrant combination of Africa and Europe, is a wonderful town in which to end a safari after the experiences of the northern Namibian bush.
The Stiltz, as its name implies, is built on stilts, providing breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean, the red iron-rich beach dunes and also the Swakopmund River mouth. Each of the 8 minimalist yet elegantly furnished thatched bungalows is linked by wooden walkways to the main restaurant. The lodge is sited close to the central part of town, allowing for easy access to enjoy the special hospitality, history and cuisine.

Days 8 and 9: Kulala Adventurer Camp, Sossusvlei

After an early breakfast, we drive southwards to Walvis Bay Lagoon. Here in a protected bay, many flamingos, pelicans and other waterbirds amass. On the calm waters of the bay, we experience sea kayaking, a spectacular activity that allows us to approach seals, dolphins and birds at a respectable distance and in their habitat, allowing for some unique photographic opportunities.
Afterwards, we drive inland to the Kulala Adventurer Camp in our private Sossusvlei concession. Here we enjoy access to the Sossusvlei dunes, for walks in the immense moving sands of the Namib, game drives on our concession and stargazing. Photography in the early morning of the dunes is particularly stunning with rich reds and dark shadows completing the extraordinary vista that is the enormity of the Namib Desert.

Day 10: Transfer to Windhoek

After breakfast we transfer by road, including lunch overlooking the view of the plains nearby, to Windhoek and bid farewell to the adventure.

End of safari

This Exploration has the following unique features:

Sossusvlei, Etosha, Atlantic Ocean, Walvis Bay Lagoon and Damaraland are explored via a range of private areas, campsites, flights and lodges
Impressive range of activities, whether by day or night, sea or land, by air or vehicle - as well as meeting local Damara and
Himba people(dependent on their movements) - reveal the encompassing beauty of Namibia's people and land
Wonderful variety of accommodation, from an old-style farmhouse to trails camps, Wilderness camps and small lodge in Swakopmund.

Safari Notes

International air connection onto the safari: If arrival is planned for the day of the safari’s departure, please ensure that this arrival is with the earliest possible flight from Johannesburg. Arrival on a later flight may necessitate additional road or air transfers (as departure for the first camp/lodge will already have taken place), subject to extra cost.

International air connections leaving the safari: Please confirm best departure time with your safari consultant before confirming your onward flight. For earlier international departure flights, an additional transfer will be required to arrive for this connection, subject to an extra cost.

Dietary requirements and special occasions: Due to remote locality of camps, please ensure that full dietary requirements and special occasions are advised at the time of your booking confirmation.

The Spirit of the Namib operates with a minimum of 2 confirmed guests and operates with a maximum of 8 guests.
For Spirit of the Namib Exploration safaris, guests need to arrive in Windhoek no later than 09h00 on the day of departure. If guests arrive after this time, they will need to be chartered to their first camp, at an extra cost. The safari also ends in Windhoek on the last day at approximately 15h00. Please ensure that the international flights connect.
Should all other bookings on an Exploration cancel below the minimum number of guests required to guarantee the departure, we will convert the booking to an FIT package, which is in all likelihood subject to a higher price.
Included is accommodation on a sharing basis, all meals from lunch on day 1, drinks (except premium brands) while at Palmwag Lodge; Hoanib Camp; Damaraland Camp & Kulala Adventurer Camp, national park fees, activities and all internal charters as specified in the detailed itinerary.
Excluded are flights (other than specified in the detailed safari itinerary), visas, compulsory insurance, laundry, all relevant entry and departure government taxes, all drinks while in Swakopmund (and at The Stiltz), all personal purchases (including curios, spirit liquors, telephone calls etc.), gratuities, optional extra activities, pre and post safari tours and meals or accommodation before or after the safari.
Age Limits – Children from the age of 12 are welcome on all scheduled departures. For groups with children under 12, we can create a tailor-made safari, on request and at a different cost. For guests over the age of 75, a medical certificate of full health must be provided.
Our Operators reserve the right, due to situations beyond our control, to substitute a lodge or location with another of comparable quality.
If a guest is willing to share and we can match with another guest of the same gender, the single supplement will not be charged. However, if there is no suitable match, the single supplement surcharge will apply.

Package price:

07 January – 30 June 2009
US$ 4,050 per person sharing
US$ 238 single supplement

01 July – 10 November 2009
US$ 4,250 per person sharing
US$ 238 single supplement

11 November - 20 December 2009
US$ 4,050 per person sharing
US$ 238 single supplement

21 – 31 December 2009
US$ 4,250 per person sharing
US$ 238 single supplement