Namibian safaris, Lichen safari
| country: | Namibia |
| departures: | 2008: 10 Sep, 24 Sep, 8 Oct, 22 Oct, 12 Nov, 17 Dec |
| price: | From £1491 - £1934 (17 days) including flights from the UK. This trip can also be booked without flights |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Combining classic Namibian highlights with seldom-seen areas of the north where you’ll be almost pioneering, this is an excellent trip for free-spirited adventurers. You’ll experience the spectacular scenery of the Namib-Naukluft Park and the remarkable wildlife of Etosha, and have the chance to raft down one of Africa’s most exciting rivers.
Scattered throughout are sensitive, insightful introductions to people in a cross-section of Namibia’s traditional communities: the Bushman, Owambo, Himba and Damara people. It’s a trip to get you involved; one where you can really get to grips with Namibia and its cultures and people. Each trip is led by a professional guide, who also acts as your driver and helps around the camp. The other vital person on these trips is the camp assistant. It’s his/her job to do most of the camp chores. Whilst you will help to put up and take down your tent (it’s very easy!), you need not worry about cooking or washing up. This leaves you and your guide more time to relax and chat about the country and your experiences.
Scattered throughout are sensitive, insightful introductions to people in a cross-section of Namibia’s traditional communities: the Bushman, Owambo, Himba and Damara people. It’s a trip to get you involved; one where you can really get to grips with Namibia and its cultures and people. Each trip is led by a professional guide, who also acts as your driver and helps around the camp. The other vital person on these trips is the camp assistant. It’s his/her job to do most of the camp chores. Whilst you will help to put up and take down your tent (it’s very easy!), you need not worry about cooking or washing up. This leaves you and your guide more time to relax and chat about the country and your experiences.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Flight to Namibia: Scheduled overnight flight from London Gatwick to Windhoek with Air Namibia.(D) |
| Day 2: | Windhoek: On arrival in Windhoek, you are transferred to a comfortable guesthouse. The afternoon is free. Relax by the pool, or wander into town to explore. Dinner is at your own expense as there are plenty of good restaurants to choose from. Alternatively, you can dine at the guesthouse. You will find your hosts there helpful and friendly, and our Namibian team is easily contactable and happy to answer any queries you might have. (B) |
| Day 3: | Namib Naukluft Park: After breakfast, your guide collects you between 09.00 and 09.30 to begin your drive southwestward over the Eros Mountains and Khomas Hochland Highlands. Pausing briefly to enjoy spectacular views over the Namib Desert, you then wind down through the escarpment and on to the Namib’s coastal plain. Unbelievably, this harsh environment is home to many different animals and birds, which your guide helps you to see and understand. Although it almost never rains here, thick sea mists do penetrate over 100km inland and sustain a remarkable variety of life. You’ll stop for tea, coffee and homemade apple crumble at the atmospheric little desert outpost of Solitaire, from where it’s only a short drive to your campsite at the edge of the desert. Arriving there by late afternoon, you’re in time to watch the evening colours glow and change on the distant mountains to the east. Windhoek to Namib Desert Camp: approx 5 hours (350km). (BLD) |
| Day 4: | Namib Naukluft Park: Rising well before the sun, you drive into the heart of the Great Dune Sea, where the dawn light spreading on the dunes is usually an amazing sight. You’ll walk the last 5km into the dunes with your guide, who shows you the best spots in and around Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei and points out some of the more interesting flora and fauna. At about 300 metres, these dunes are amongst the world’s highest, and there’s time to climb one if you have the energy: the views are spectacular. You travel back to Sesriem for a leisurely lunch during the heat of the day; then, as you return to your camp, take a short diversion to explore Sesriem Canyon with its amazing rock formations. Desert Camp to Sossusvlei to Desert Camp: approx 2 hours (150kms). (BLD) |
| Day 5: | Swakopmund: After breakfast, you break camp and then watch the desert slowly change as you travel first north and then west. There are deeply incised canyons (the Gaub and the Kuiseb) to cross on the way to the Atlantic Ocean and the scenery is superb. In dramatic contrast to the desert, you stop for lunch by the Walvis Bay lagoon, where you’ll often find yourself in the company of hundreds of flamingos and other waders. Just a short drive north takes you to Swakopmund, where you stay at a restcamp in shared chalets. The afternoon and evening are free for you to explore this pleasant town, with its art galleries and curio shops, and perhaps take part in some of Swakopmund’s many optional activities from scenic flights to quad-biking: your guide will help you to organise and book these (they are payable locally and undertaken at your own risk). Swakopmund also has great seafood restaurants, so dinner is at your own choice and expense, although the group and guide will often arrange to meet up. Desert Camp to Swakopmund: approx 6 hours (300km). (BL) |
| Day 6: | Damaraland: Travel north along the desolate Skeleton Coast, before stopping at the Cape Cross seal colony, where tens of thousands of fur seals congregate to breed. Then, heading inland, you’ll cross a forbidding stretch of amazingly flat and empty desert before circumnavigating the spectacular 2,573m Brandberg Massif, Namibia’s highest mountain and a National Monument. After setting up camp you make the most of the cooler afternoon air to take a 90-minute, relatively easy hike into the mountain to view the world-famous ‘White Lady’ rock painting. Attributed to the Bushman artists, it is believed by some to be more than 20,000 years old. Swakopmund to Brandberg: approx 4 hours (250km). (BLD) |
| Day 7: | Kamanjab: Continue north through Damaraland’s sandstone mountains to the outpost of Khorixas and the softer, greener farmlands of Kamanjab. Then, close by Kamanjab, you reach your campsite, before heading out to the nearby Himba Village where you spend the afternoon. These tribes-people have migrated here, lifestyle and customs intact, and are following their traditional way of life in their village located on a farm. A local guide introduces you to their alternative lifestyle, and helps you to understand their background and culture. Oase village is the only traditionally functioning Himba community outside the far north Kaokoland region of Namibia. Brandberg to Kamanjab: approx 5 hours (400km). (BLD) |
| Day 8: | Kunene River: This morning you head to Namibia’s northern border, passing more Himba villages the further north you travel. The Himba people are, in fact, part of the Herero clan, sharing a common language and heritage. The original people were nomadic pastoralists, settling in one area only long enough to harvest a crop before herding their cattle and families onward in search of more fruitful pastures. Whilst globalisation has caught up with most traditional groups in Africa, the Himba in this area of Namibia still retain many of their traditional ways; you will see evidence of this as you pass through Kaokoland, their home region. After a short stop in the small, dusty, frontier town of Opuwo you continue to the northernmost border of Namibia, the remote Kunene River; you will spend the next two nights camping under lush palm forest on its banks. The birdlife here is prolific, including palmnut vultures and endemic rarities like the rufous-tailed palm thrush. The Kunene is one of the most remote rivers in southern Africa and certainly one of the most beautiful: like a thin, verdantly green oasis snaking its way between dry, craggy mountains. Kamanjab to Kunene: approx 5½ hours (400km). (BLD) |
| Day 9: | Kunene River: With a full day to enjoy this special corner of Namibia, you’ve a choice of great optional activities (payable locally and undertaken at your own risk). Boat trips on this stunning river are superb; gentle birding walks through the palm forest are easy and rewarding; there are endless tougher hiking possibilities into the adjacent Zebra Mountains; the quad-bike trips are exhilarating; and most people try the terrific white-water river rafting (Grade 2). If you’re feeling less energetic, then the campsite is a good place to relax and just enjoy the surroundings. (BLD) |
| Day 10: | Olukonda Village, Owamboland: A short drive along the Kunene River leads to the small town of Ruacana before you continue east into Owamboland where the majority of Namibia’s population lives. This is totally different from the areas that you’ve seen so far: it’s a lively, well watered corner of Africa with many small-scale farms, but very few visitors. Along the way you will stop to see the famous hollow baobab tree in the Ombalantu community. The town is located at an old and long-abandoned South African military base but the baobab in question has had a much longer history than that. Previously the tree has been used as a house, a prison and a church. Your final destination is Olukonda Village where you set up camp near the local community. The facilities at the campsite here are fairly rustic. Kunene to Olukonda Village: approx 3 hours (250km). (BLD) |
| Day 11: | Okangororosa Village, Owamboland: Before leaving Olukonda Village you have time to visit the church where a there is an interesting local craft project set up by the community. Nearby, the local Owambo people have created a traditional Owambo village museum, to preserve their traditions and allow visitors to experience their way of life. From here it is only a short drive to Okangororosa Village where you will set up camp near the community. There is time in the afternoon to meet with the headman and some of the villagers and to muck in with some of their daily chores such as bringing the livestock in to the kraal for the night. Olukonda Village to Okangororosa Village: approx 2 hours (150km). (BLD) |
| Day 12: | Tsintsabis: Wake as the village comes to life. You have the chance to spend time at the school and converse with the village elders before heading south to Treesleeper Camp, a community-based tourism enterprise in the Tsintsabis area. The word ‘Treesleeper’ is derived from the biggest ethnic group in the village of Tsintsabis, the Hei//omn Bushmen. When the Hei//omn still hunted in the area they competed with lions for food and were occasionally forced to flee into the trees to escape. The camp is built around tree decks, which make spectacular viewing platforms or a great place to erect your tent! Throughout the ages the bushmen have used the simple act of singing and dancing for a range of purposes: whether for spiritual reasons (praying to the bushmen god Mantis), for practical reasons (ensuring the next day’s hunt was properly sanctioned by the spirits of their ancestors), or just as a form of celebration such as welcoming the rains. This evening the community members will treat you to a bushman-style show. Okangororosa Village to Tsintsabis: approx 3½ hours (300km). (BLD) |
| Day 13: | Etosha National Park: After breakfast you set off to the nearby Ombili Bushman Project. The village here provides a real insight into the San (Bushmen) of today. You learn about their history and their traditions, and how these communities are changing to adapt to the 21st century. Then you head for today’s final destination, the fabulous Etosha National Park, where you will camp by the eastern boundaries for the next two nights. Tsintsabis to eastern Etosha: approx 2½ hours (200km). (BLD) |
| Day 14: | Etosha National Park: You rise early to enjoy a full day of game viewing, whether following the animals between the surrounding waterholes or else just sitting by the busiest and watching the action. The game drives around the eastern side of Etosha are thought to be some of the best in the park due to the numerous waterholes found here. In your search for wildlife you will cover several different types of terrain, from wooded areas to open savannah. Arriving back at camp in the late morning you’ve time to relax and enjoy a leisurely lunch during the heat of the day before embarking on a shorter game drive in the afternoon. Game drives. (BLD) |
| Day 15: | Etosha National Park: After breakfast you head west across Etosha. A vast swathe of the centre of the park consists of the enormous Etosha Pan – a shallow depression of silvery-white salts that fills with water only in exceptionally wet years. Normally it’s bone dry, but around it are numerous perennial springs that can attract great concentrations of wildlife. Stop in the Halali area for lunch, a rest and perhaps a swim. Then drive to your campsite in Etosha’s south western region, detouring frequently to follow the game and stopping at many of the waterholes. You will arrive at your camp in time for a cool drink before sunset followed by a delicious fireside dinner. Game drives. (BLD) |
| Day 16: | Windhoek / Flight to London: After breaking camp, you’ve a short game drive en route to the park gate. You will pause in the small town of Outjo for coffee before continuing to Okahandja, where you can make a short stop at the terrific market: a great place to buy last-minute curios and carvings. Arrive in Windhoek later in the afternoon, in time for a quick freshen up before your scheduled flight to London. South west Etosha to Windhoek: approx 5½ hours (450km). (BLD) |
| Day 19: | Arrive in London. (B) |
how this holiday makes a difference
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In line with our strong stance on responsible tourism, all guides on this trip are local Namibians, picked for their excellent indigenous knowledge of the area and high degree of training. Their understanding of the country’s flora, fauna and local culture will ensure a true insight into Namibian life.
Throughout the trip you will stay at community run campsites and visit community initiatives at various local sights. Spend a night by a kraal in Ovamboland and spend some time mucking in with the villagers daily chores. As well as getting a hands-on experience your visit there generates money for the community. The safari operator also supports the community in many other ways such as supplies for the local school which they otherwise wouldn’t have. You will also experience a taste of the nomadic Himba people in Damaraland, where a local farmer and village chief have formed a unique partnership which allows visitors to discover this intriguing culture in a sensitive and responsible manner. The trip also supports the Ombili Bushman Project and the newly established Treesleeper Camp. As well as learning about the bushmen’s history and traditions your visit here helps these projects create responsible and happy way for these communities to adapt to the 21st Century. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |