6 Day Namibia Camping Safari: Etosha, Himba & Skeleton…

Day 1: Windhoek to Okonjati Nature Reserve – Namibia

You will be collected from your accommodation in Windhoek city at 7:15 and driven to a backpackers lodge in Windhoek for a short pre-tour meeting. From here, we start our 6-day Namibia Camping Safari adventure heading north towards Okonjati Nature Reserve. Along the way, we will stop in the small town of Okahandja to visit the Mbangura Woodcarver’s Craft Market, hosting the largest collection of wood carvings in Namibia. Here, craftsmen from across Namibia showcase their beautiful creations, large and small. At the market, you can choose an authentic Namibian souvenir whilst supporting the local artists and communities.

We move on to our overnight camp at Mt. Etjo, located next to the private Okonjati Game Reserve. After setting up our camp and enjoying lunch, we’ll drive to the nearby lodge to explore the gardens and have a refreshing swim in the pool. The Mount Etjo Safari Lodge, built in an attractive Moroccan style, has beautiful views of the Etjo mountains, a real oasis with palm trees and sprawling green lawns. The main lodge area is set amid small lakes that are home to a small bloat of hippos, a rare sight as hippos are not natural inhabitants of this semi-desert part of Namibia. It provides the fun opportunity to see and photograph this iconic African species without having to travel to the northern reaches of Namibia.

Time for our first afternoon game drive of about three hours to explore the reserve in an open 4x4 safari vehicle – driven by our experienced local guide. The 36,000-hectare reserve is home to about 6,000 animals and offers beautiful scenery. The terrain of the reserve is dotted with massive red and grey termite mounds. The area is rich in indigenous vegetation, primarily Vachellia (formerly Acacia), thorn scrub, and mopane woodlands. Okonjati Nature Reserve is largely free of invasive vegetation, which the resident shrub-browsing species graze on.

We’ll see typical Namibian wildlife - kudu, gemsbok, springbok, and the stately impala. Rare species like black rhino, sable, roan, lechwe, and nyala can also be seen. Open landscapes with grassland savanna, crisscrossed with many dry streams and riverbeds, allow for the perfect game viewing experience and make photographing wildlife a pleasure. We might encounter elephants and rhinos, as well as giraffes, wildebeests, warthogs, steenbok, and the charming damara dik-dik (a tiny antelope). Animals and birds are plentiful and easy to spot in the bush and at the seasonal waterholes.

Pristine bush and wildlife under the iconic African big skies, it doesn’t get much better than this. Late afternoon, we’ll stop to enjoy a magical Namibian sunset with drinks and snacks, before returning to our campsite to relax and enjoy a mouthwatering dinner, cooked by our guide over an open fire under the stars.

After dinner, we return to the lodge to see the resident lions up close. These big cats live in a large enclosure where they are able to hunt, and we get to watch them from a secure hide. This close-up view offers a fantastic opportunity to photograph the lions having an extra snack. From here, we drive back to our camp for a well-deserved rest. After an active and satisfying day, we spend our first peaceful night in Namibia sleeping under the stars.

• Accommodation: Twin-share tents, shared ablution at campsite
• Meals: Lunch & Dinner
• Distance traveled: 235 km

Day 2: Mt. Etjo to Okaukuejo, Etosha National Park - Namibia

Today, we depart from camp after breakfast, driving north towards Etosha National Park. We make a short stop for fresh supplies in the small town of Otjiwarongo before continuing on to the main camp in Etosha, Okaukuejo. The Etosha National Park (established in 1907) is one of Namibia’s premier tourist destinations and is one of the largest national parks in Africa. Etosha also boasts the biggest population of black rhinos in the world.

Our wildlife adventure begins as we enter the park and take a short game drive to Okaukuejo Camp. We are likely to spot some of the megaherbivores like elephants, rhinos, and giraffes right from the very start. Impalas, springbok, and other antelope are plentiful. Etosha covers a huge area, just over 22,000 square km, and is home to 114 species of mammal, 110 species of reptile, and even a species of fish.

After setting up our camp and enjoying a delicious lunch, we head out into Etosha on an afternoon game drive in search of big game - elephant, rhino, giraffe, and the big cats are often seen in this area. Leopards are very elusive and usually frequent the densely vegetated areas. We drive from waterhole to waterhole, where the best game viewing is. We search for predators while we observe large herds of plains game like zebra and springbok. Other rare species like the black-faced impala and cheetah can be seen if you’re lucky.

We return to camp just before sunset, and while dinner’s being prepared, we take a short walk to the famous flood-lit waterhole where we are fortunate to see all of Etosha’s treasures. Lions, elephants, giraffes, hyenas, and the whole spectrum of smaller game come to have a drink. A rare opportunity to get up close to the precious black rhino, a critically endangered species, but here at Okaukuejo, they are regular visitors. After this highlight, we tuck into another tasty dinner, expertly cooked over the campfire by our guide. Relax and soak up the night sounds of the bush that will lull you to sleep.

• Accommodation: Twin-share tents, shared ablution at campsite
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
• Distance travelled: 280 km

Day 3: Okaukuejo & Halali, Etosha National Park – Namibia

We have the whole day to explore Etosha National Park, and we want to make the most of it. The early morning is a very productive time for game viewing, so we set off at sunrise after a quick cup of coffee and a rusk, hoping to glimpse predators returning after a night of hunting.

Etosha hosts a desert landscape where water is a very scarce natural resource. We pause at numerous waterholes (both natural and man-made) to watch for wildlife and birds that come for an early morning drink. Along the way, we will make a stop at a designated picnic site for breakfast in the bush before continuing our game drive east, searching for the many wild animals living in Etosha.

We’ll have lunch at Halali Camp, and there will also be time for a swim in the pool and a visit to the Halali camp waterhole before we head back out into the park to visit the Etosha Pan. The national park was named after the Etosha Pan - the name Etosha translates as ‘great white space’, but this name doesn’t do justice to the immensity of the pan. Over 4,500 square km of dazzling white saline desert, so big that it can be seen from space. After the rainy season, the pan becomes a lake, 10 cm deep, that draws thousands of migrating flamingos. After exploring the biggest salt pan in Africa on foot, we return to Okaukuejo camp. Keeping a sharp lookout for animals as we wind our way back. We aim to arrive back at our camp just before sunset, just in time for the best hour of the day at the Okaukuejo floodlit waterhole. We settle in for our last night of camping under the stars, savoring the adventures of the day.

• Accommodation: Twin-share tents, shared ablution at campsite
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
• Distance traveled: Game drives in Etosha

Day 4: Okaukuejo to Palmwag – Namibia

Time to move on from Etosha National Park and explore some of Namibia’s other highlights. After an early breakfast, we do our last game drive on our way out of the park and get back onto the main road.

The Otjikandero Himba Cultural Village near the small town of Kamanjab is our first stop. The Himba people traditionally settled in the very remote north, a beautiful part of Namibia. Living so isolated, they could adhere to their traditional lifestyle with no modern world influences. Many Himba people still follow their traditional lifestyle to this day. In the Otjikandero Himba Village, people still follow their traditional way of life to a large extent, such as their beliefs about the sacred fire and the red ochre covering that the women use on their bodies and hair to give them a striking appearance. This is a rare privilege to learn more about the last traditional tribe of Namibia.

After our fascinating visit to Otjikandero, we will have a short stop in Kamanjab before we leave the Kunene region and head west on a journey of spectacular scenery towards the majestic Etendeka Mountains and the Grootberg Pass. Etendeka means ‘flat top’, and many of the surrounding mountains have flat tops indeed. The landscape of the Damaraland region is endless and surreal, a red carpet of small boulders, created by massive magma eruptions that took place about 125 million years ago, when Africa and South America still existed as the coherent land mass of Gondwana. An unforgettable, rugged landscape of an ancient land.

Our next destination, Palmwag campsite, is set along the Uniab River under tall makalani palm trees, which provide a refuge for Namibia’s unique desert-adapted elephants. The elephants will sometimes come into the camp for a friendly visit, and they have been known to drink water from the swimming pools. We arrive in the late afternoon to set up camp in this peaceful campsite, a nature lover’s paradise. Time to relax and enjoy a cool sundowner before a tasty dinner, and hopefully we’ll see some of the resident elephant herds.

• Accommodation: Twin-share tents, shared ablutions at the campsite.
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
• Distance traveled: 320 km

Day 5: Palmwag to Cape Cross & Spitzkoppe - Namibia

We’ve reached the furthest extent of our northern journey. Today takes us westward to the Atlantic, then along the dramatic Skeleton Coast heading southward toward Cape Cross and, finally, inland to the spectacular Spitzkoppe.

Our journey begins across stark desert plains dotted with remarkable vegetation, including the ancient Welwitschia mirabilis — a hardy, endemic plant that can live for over 1,500 years.

Entering Skeleton Coast National Park via the remote Springbokwasser Gate, we meet the cold Atlantic and its haunting shoreline. Shipwrecks litter this coast, once a graveyard for sailors stranded without hope of rescue. Along the way, we pass the relics of failed oil and diamond ventures from the 1960s, their rusting remains now part of the landscape’s story.

After leaving the park, we stop at Cape Cross, home to over 100,000 Cape fur seals — an unforgettable sight (and smell!). Nearby stand two replica crosses marking the 1486 landing of Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão.

By late afternoon, we head inland to the dramatic granite peaks of Spitzkoppe, famed for its sunsets, starlit skies, and striking silhouettes. We set up camp and enjoy the sunset in the mountains before dinner.

• Accommodation: Twin-share tents, shared ablutions at the campsite.
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
• Distance traveled: 420 km

Day 6: Spitzkoppe to Swakopmund - Namibia

We have a more leisurely start today, and after a hearty, cooked breakfast, we drive south along the coast to Swakopmund, the top adventure and seaside destination in Namibia.

Heading south on the coastal road, we stop at a relatively recent shipwreck, 15 km south of the small fishing village of Henties Bay. The Zeila, a fishing trawler, was beached as recently as 2008. Continuing south along the coast road, there is another interesting stop to make - Namibia is home to a world-record number of lichens, and along the coast are vast lichen fields. Lichens of this nature and scale are very rare worldwide. Lichen is often mistaken for a plant, but it is a composite organism.

It hardly ever rains on the Skeleton Coast, but the region is known for its fog that shrouds the beaches in an air of mystery. Heavy mist is common, occurring up to 250 days of the year, and all the organisms, including the lichen, are specially adapted to utilize fog as their main source of water. Lichen is extremely fragile, grows 1 mm per year, and it is very easily damaged. Off-road driving is a major problem for the conservation of these unique lichen fields, and even walking on them can damage it.

We arrive in Swakopmund, which is surrounded by the mighty sand dunes of the Namib Desert and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Colonial German architecture speaks of the past, and the German language is still widely used. The town was founded by Captain Kurt von François in 1892. The quaint town is easily explored on foot, and for the more adventurous, there are exciting optional activities available, such as scenic flights over the Namib desert, sky diving, sand surfing or quad biking in the Namib dunes. For the more leisurely-minded minded there are bicycle tours and dolphin cruises, or maybe climbing the highest dune in the area, Dune 7, for a breathtaking view of the desert along the coastline. Another popular option is joining a ‘living desert’ excursion with a group, accompanied by an expert guide who will take you into the sand dunes to see some of the amazing creatures and plants that survive in one of the toughest environments on the planet.

Lunch, dinner, and accommodation tonight are for your own account. Your guide can assist you in advance with choosing and booking accommodation and restaurants for the remainder of your stay, or one of our consultants can assist you when you book this safari. Swakopmund offers some excellent restaurants for memorable dining. After dinner, you’ll be dropped off at your accommodation anywhere within the city limits of Swakopmund.

• Accommodation: For own account
• Meals: Breakfast
• Distance traveled: 420 km
  

Namibia Safari Note:

Single travelers will be matched with another traveler of the same sex on a twin-share basis