CLASSIC – SOSSUSVLEI, , DAMARALAND, ETOSHA

10 nights / 11 days Tented Adventure

THE ADVENTURE

Our adventure starts off in the magical Desert in Southern Namibia. Sossus vlei is one of the highlights of any visit to Namibia. We get to see the sunrise over the Namib Desert from the famous 45, visit well known Sesriem canyon and take a walk through the to Deadvlei, all in the first 2 days of our tour! After 2 nights at Sesriem we make our way to the adventure capital of Namibia, Swakopmund, but not before we grab a piece of famous apple pie in Solitaire! We spend a full day in Swakopmund enjoying some of the many extreme adventure activities on offer. From here we head north up towards the Skeleton coast, past Henties Bay and on to Cape Cross. Today Cape Cross is a protected area owned by the government of Namibia under the name Cape Cross Seal Reserve. The reserve is the home of one of the largest colonies of Cape fur seals in the world.

After a short visit and some lunch at Cape Cross we head inland via The Messum Crater to Brandberg where we visit the controversial “White Lady” of Brandberg. We spend the 2 nights at Brandberg and then for 2 nights at Twyfelfontein. An area famous for its engravings and petrified forest.

Around Twyfelfontein we follow the Huab River into desolation valley, while keeping a lookout for desert elephants. We have now entered Damaraland, one of the most scenic areas in Namibia, prehistoric watercourses with open plains and grassland, massive koppies and distant mountains create the Damaraland landscape. Game species in this area include desert elephant, black rhino, gemsbok and ostrich.

From Damaraland, we head north east toward . Etosha National Park spans an area of 22,270 square kilometers and gets its name from the large Etosha pan which is almost entirely within the park. The park is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and endangered species such as the black rhinoceros. We get to spend 2 magical nights in the National park, doing game drives in the early morning, relaxing at the swimming pool during mid-afternoon and visiting the flood lit watering holes in the camp at night. We finish our tour in Etosha after 11 days of unbelievable scenery, adventure, game viewing and brilliant evenings under the Namibian stars.

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Your tour leader is an experienced nature conservationist and adventure guide. He will be in radio contact with you always and impart a wealth of biological, cultural, historic and four-wheel drive knowledge. Three meals a day will be prepared by our experienced bush chef in his mobile kitchen, with fresh salads, potjiekos, braais and many other surprises appearing on the menu. The good old “koffie pot” will be on the fire from six till late. Our logistics crew will pitch and take down the camps at all the overnight stops we visit.

ITINERARY

Day 1 – Sesriem Camp Once we arrive at Sesriem campsite camp and have unpacked our vehicles after the long journey to Namibia, we get to stretch our legs with a late afternoon visit to Sesriem canyon. Sesriem Canyon, about 4 km from Sesriem is a natural canyon carved by the river in the local sedimentary rock. The name Sesriem is Afrikaans and means “six belts”, given by settlers on the Dorsland Trek, who had to attach six belts (made of oryx hides) to reach buckets down into the canyon to scoop up water. After our visit to the canyon, we get to relax around the fire, meet our fellow travelers and listen as our guide tells us all about what we can expect to see and do over the next twelve days. Day 2 – Sesriem Camp Our second day starts with a pre-sunrise cup of coffee and rusks and some cereal before we head into the National park for a morning full of adventure. We drive to Dune 45, where we can climb the dune to watch the magnificent sunrise over the Namib desert, we then make our way down to the 4x2 parking for Sossus vlei where the Unbounded team has prepared a delicious brunch to fuel us for our visit to Sossus vlei and a hike to Dead Vlei. After an eventful morning, we head back to camp where we can take a swim, read our books or just relax with a nice afternoon nap. Day 3 – Tiger Reef Camp After an early breakfast, we start making our way North towards Swakopmund, on our way we will stop at a small town called Solitaire where we can visit their famous bakery for some delicious apple pie and a lovely cappuccino. We drive through the moon landscape of the Namib Naukluft park and eventually arrive in the coastal town of Swakopmund in the afternoon Day 4 – Tiger Reef Camp We spend today exploring the town of Swakopmund. There are many activities to choose from which include skydiving and sand-boarding, dolphin and whale watching and the all-time favorite, quad biking in the desert. Your tour leader will provide you with all the relevant information and make the necessary arrangements. (Please note: all extra activities are for your own cost). Tonight, our crew will be preparing some freshly caught fish for a sumptuous dinner.

WWW.BHEJANE.COM | GUIDED SELF DRIVE TOURS Day 5 – Brandberg White Lady camp After a leisurely breakfast, we leave Swakopmund and head for the Brandberg region via the Cape Fur Seal colony at Seal Point where we enjoy a picnic lunch En route. We then make our way inland and head for the Messum crater, the area is desolate, lonely and dry with some of the most beautiful landscapes and oldest plants on our planet, the Welwitschia Mirabilis. The Messum crater was not an impact crater as many be- lieve. It was an active volcano, (130 million years ago) probably the biggest in the world with a diameter of about 18km. We reach Brandberg in the late afternoon, our camp already setup by the crew and the bread in the oven! Day 6 – Brandberg White Lady After an early breakfast, we take a guided walk up into the Brandberg Mountain to visit the famous “White Lady” and the numerous other bushman paintings that can be seen in this sacred canyon. Day 7, 8 – Twyfelfontein Camp After breakfast, we head to visit Twyfelfontein, well known for its prehistoric paintings and rock engravings. The site has been inhabited for 6,000 years, first by hunter-gatherers and later by Khoikhoi herders. Both eth- nic groups used it as a place of worship and a site to conduct shamanist rituals. In the process of these rituals at least 2,500 items of rock carvings have been created, as well as a few rock paintings, displaying one of the largest concentrations of rock petroglyphs in Africa. From Brandberg we head into the for 14km and climb out the river, we cover a very rocky section on the east side of the Doros Crater and then go up the Goantagab river. Out of the Goantagab we will follow a 2-spoor road until we reached the Organ Pipes, Burnt Mountain up to Twyfelfontein. This drive is full of spectacular geological and archeological features. On route, we will visit the Burnt Moun- tain with its eerie charred mound of volcanic debris and the bizarre volcanic rock formation known as the Organ Pipes. The next day we will also get the opportunity to explore the Huab River and looking for the Desert Elephants. We get back to camp where the crew has prepared another great meal for all our intrepid adventurers. Day 9 – Halali Camp After Breakfast we will make our way to Outjo, where we refuel, and there will also be “shopping time” at the well-stocked supermarket via the Petrified Forest. The name is a bit misleading as it is not exactly a forest, which turned to stone, but rather an accumulation of enormous fossilized tree trunks about 280 million years old. Scientist found out that these trunks haven’t grown in today’s Namibia but were washed down a river in ancient times when one of the many Ice Ages ended on the Gondwanan continent. There must have been a huge flood that carried along the trunks to where they lie today. And then on to Etosha! Once again, the Unbounded Namibia crew will be waiting to welcome us. In the late afternoon, we leave camp to test our game viewing skills, either at a waterhole or on a drive around the edge of the pan. Back in camp we spend the remainder of the evening observing the nocturnal activities at the floodlit waterhole in the camp.

WWW.BHEJANE.COM | GUIDED SELF DRIVE TOURS Days 10 – Halali camp Early to rise, and we wake up to another hearty breakfast as the sun rises over Etosha. We can either spend the morning waiting for the action to come to us, whilst we park comfortably in the shade at a waterhole, or drive around the park’s excellent road system, to test our game viewing skills. This is last full day of the trip and, with Etosha being so vast, everybody has the chance to go off on their own on some game viewing experience. By now you will know which part of the park is your favorite and where you have had the most success. Bird life is exceptional with 325 species identified, and the animals which live permanently around the pan number approximately 30 000 blue wildebeest, 25 000 , 23 000 zebra, 5 000 kudu, 3 000 harte- beest, 2 600 eland, 3 000 oryx, 450 giraffe, 2 000 elephant, 260 lions, 200 black rhinos, and numerous smaller creatures. Back in camp, and after enjoying another of our chef’s culinary surprises, we once again spend the remainder of the evening observing the nocturnal activities at the floodlit waterhole. Day 11 After a lavish breakfast, we must sadly say goodbye to our new friends and travel companions as we pack up and head for home.

WWW.BHEJANE.COM | GUIDED SELF DRIVE TOURS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Countries Visited Namibia

Total Kms from start to finish 1 800kms

Ablutions At all the camps

Electricity At all camps

Wi-Fi Only in Swakopmund

Visas Not required for South African passport holders

4x4 a necessity (lots of sand driving & river bed driving)

SUV’s with high clearance and 4wd capabilities should be fine Vehicle Info High-profile tyres

Good Shock absorbers

Trailers Yes

Roof Top Tents Yes

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