Namibia Explorer Tour
This overland group tour departs from Windhoek in Namibia and also ends in Windhoek, Namibia. The Namibia Explorer tour offers a great combination of wildlife safaris, pure nature and diverse cultures.
The 12 day Namibia Explorer Tour is a very popular tour as it starts and ends in the capital city, Windhoek.
This overland group tour departs from Windhoek in Namibia and ends there too. This tour offers a great combination of wildlife safaris, pure nature and diverse cultures. It covers all the highlights that Namibia has to offer and an ideal tour if you have limited time to see as much as possible on the Namibia Explorer Tour.
Highlights of the Namibia Explorer Tour include: Swakopmund, Spitzkoppe, the world famous Sossusvlei, The Skeleton Coast, safaris in Etosha National Park and a visit to the Bushmen tribes still living in Namibia.
This tour has endless options to add additional activities such as Dune Surfing, Quad-biking and Skydiving.
The Namibia Explorer Tour is easy to combine with our tours departing from Namibia towards Victoria Falls, tours like our Namibia and Botswana Tour
This tour is offered in two travel styles:
1. Camping: Clients mostly overnight in comfortable two-man dome tents, with built in mosquito nets and of course a mattress… and a couple of nights are upgraded to budget rooms.
2. Accommodated (hotels/ lodges): Clients overnight in a comfortable twin rooms or permanent safari tents, mostly with en-suite bathrooms.
Reference #: 12SSNE
| Tour price: | ZAR 36 950 |
| Single supplement (optional): | ZAR 1 950 |
| How long: | 12 days |
| Group size: | 20 clients max |
| Start point (North): | Windhoek, Namibia |
| End point (North): | Windhoek, Namibia |
| Meals: | Breakfast x 11, Lunch x 12, Dinner x 11 |
| Countries: | Namibia |
Included: Accommodation and meals as indicated in the itinerary, transport, registered guides and selected activities as per itinerary.
Excluded: flights, all items of a personal nature, alcohol, snacks, souvenirs, tips and optional activities etc.
Day 1 – Windhoek to Keetmanshoop
Welcome to Namibia and its capital, Windhoek. This morning, after meeting your crew, we pack our bags into our vehicle and head south through the Kalahari Desert towards the town of Keetmanshoop into the llKaras Region of Namibia. We spend the afternoon in awe of the famous Quiver Tree Forest and enjoy the desert sunset amongst these incredibly unique trees.
Accommodation: Schutzenhaus Guesthouse
Facilities: Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathrooms
Camping: Campsite with Shared Ablutions
Meals Lunch, Dinner
Day 2 – Keetmanshoop to Ais-Ais
Our morning will be spent meandering The Giants Playground – named for the way in which the massive dolerite boulders have been placed on each other – creating rock formations and a series of mazes.
Accommodation NWR: Ai Ais Resort
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Campsite with Shared Ablutions
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3 – Ais-Ais to Luderitz
We rise early this morning and drive to the rim of the Fish River Canyon. We will have time to watch the morning sunrays filter through the canyon. After stretching our legs with a gentle walk along the rim of the canyon, we turn west for the harbour town of Luderitz.
Accommodation Obelix Guesthouse
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4 – Luderitz to Sesriem
Every overland journey has some long travelling days and today is one of those as we venture deeper into the Namib Desert. Our destination is the dune fields that cover the western reaches of the desert. But before we leave the coast, we visit the fabled ghost town of Kolmanskop where the desert has reclaimed the old abandoned mining town, leaving a unique frame of colourful peeled wallpaper and buried in desert sands. We carry on our adventure along long dusty roads and sparsely populated farmlands offer us an insight into the vastness of rural Namibia. From the grasslands in the east to the red dunes of the west the slowly changing landscapes represents the many faces of this desert country. Our overnight stop is on the doorstep of the dune fields and we fall asleep to the unique calls of the elusive Barking Gecko.
Accommodation Taleni Desert Quiver Camp
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5 – Sossusvlei
Today we will rise early for our drive to the Namib-Naukluft National Park. We will enter the park just after sunrise and travel through to the famous Dune 45. A brisk climb up Dune 45 offers us the perfect vantage point to marvel at the changing colours of the desert. Once satisfied we descend this famous dune and enjoy a hearty breakfast before catching a 4×4 transfer into Sossusvlei, here we will spend time on foot visiting the pans at Sossusvlei and Deadvlei. Tonight we empty the red sand from our shoes and spend the night under the magnificent desert stars, knowing that we have spent a full-day enjoying the wonders of this harsh land.
Accommodation Taleni Desert Quiver Camp
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6 – Sesriem to Swakopmund
We leave the Namib behind and after a stop to mark our crossing of the Tropic of Capricorn, we continue to the Atlantic coastline. Before reaching the coastal town of Swakopmund, we drive through the Lunar Landscape, so named for its resemblance to the surface of the moon. We will stop at several viewpoints overlooking the landscape – a great opportunity for the photography enthusiasts to capture this wonderfully unique scenery. A visit to Namibia is not complete without a stop to view the iconic Welwitchia plant, endemic to Namibia and said to live up to 2,000 years. Tonight we spend the evening in Swakopmund and enjoy a meal out together in a local restaurant..
Accommodation Haus Garnison
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7 – Swakopmund to Skeleton Coast
Our exploration of the desert continues with a trip up the fabled Skeleton Coast National Park, where the hot desert sands meet the cold waves of the Atlantic Ocean. We visit the renowned Seal Colony at Cape Cross, known as the largest in the world with over 200,000 Cape Fur Seals hugging the shore. Cape Cross marks the spot where the first European explorer set foot on the coast of Namibia in 1486, and was erected in honour of the then king of Portugal by explorer Diego Cao. Tonight we overnight in the Skeleton Coast National Park. Please note that the Cape Cross Colony may be inaccessible at times which means that we will not be able to visit the seals.
Accommodation NWR: Terrace Bay Resort
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8 – Skeleton Coast to Khorixas
The road today leads way from the coast and takes us towards the Khorixas area. Today we will explore the Twyfelfontein Rock Engravings and the Petrified Forest in the Kunene Region. This area has been inhabited for 6000 years by the Khoi San. These inhabitants used the site to conduct shamanist rituals. In the process, 2500 rock paintings were created. This site displays one of the largest concentrations of rock petroglyphs in Africa. Also on route, we visit the Petrified Forest, a national monument, comprising of prehistoric tree trunks now fossilised. In prehistoric times huge tree trunks were washed down a river and deposited in alluvial sands, creating this relic.
Accommodation NWR: Khorixas
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Campsite with Shared Ablutions
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 9 – Khorixas to Etosha National Park
After breakfast, we leave Khorixas for Etosha National Park. With vast salt pans, savanna and woodland, Etosha is one of Africa’s finest game parks. At 18 000 sq km, it is one of the biggest Parks in Southern Africa. Etosha means “great white area”, which refers to the large dried pan in the middle of the Park. We will spend the afternoon exploring the park in the Truck.
Accommodation NWR: Okuakuejo
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Campsite with Shared Ablutions
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 10 – Etosha National Park
Today is all about game driving and going in search of the abundant wildlife in the park. Our afternoon will include a stop at the Etosha Pan and many waterholes. This evening you can relax at the floodlit waterhole as the animals make their way to drink after dark.
Accommodation NWR: Okuakuejo
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Campsite with Shared Ablutions
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 11 – Etosha to Waterberg Plateau National park
We depart Etosha and set off for The Waterberg Plateau National Park. Arriving in the early afternoon, our game viewing experience starts immediately with our game drive through the Waterberg Plateau National Park. The Waterberg Plateau is an impressive sandstone table-top mountain that rises 200m above the surrounding bushveld providing a home to more than 25 species of game and at least 200 bird species.Accommodation NWR: Waterberg Resort
Facilities Accommodated: Two per room with en-suite bathroom
Camping: Campsite with Shared Ablutions
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 12 – Windhoek
Today our tour comes to an end. After breakfast we head back to Windhoek where upon arrival we will take a short walk through the city centre and have the opportunity to view some of its better known landmarks. Our tour concludes after the city tour and those staying the night in Windhoek have the option of experiencing the legendary Joe’s Beerhouse.
Accommodation Own Arrangements / Post tour accommodation can be booked through ShapShap travel
Meals Breakfast, Lunch
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