Namibia 24 days

Vic Falls to Capetown overland

Trip Cost - £350

(Local Payment - UK£ - 200) What's This?

New Year special - 25% off the trip cost for the January 4th, 2008 departure

Included

Entrance to Etosha National Park, Sossusvlei Sand Dunes and Entry to Fish River Canyon.

Highlights

Victoria Falls, Okavango Delta, Etosha Pan, Sossusvlei, Fish River Canyon, Skeleton Coast, Swakopmund.

Extras

Visas, Personal Insurance, Flights.

Optional Side Trips

Chobe National Park, Okavango Delta. Other side trips are available.

Namibia - Week One

We Start at Victoria Falls where the Zambezi River plunges 100 metres down a mile wide chasm, creating one of the most incredible natural wonders of the world. The local name for the falls is 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' which means 'the smoke that thunders' and you'll soon find out why. When the river is in full flow, the falling water causes a huge roar and sends a cloud of spray up to 500 metres into the air.

We stay in Victoria Falls Town in Zimbabwe above the falls where there is so much to see and do. Adventure activities abound - you can bungee jump, white water raft and go game-viewing on horse back. More sedate excursions include canoeing, light aircraft or helicopter flights over the Falls, and the sunset cruise on the Zambezi. Of course, the Victoria Falls themselves are the main attraction and you can walk through the rain forest along the cliff opposite for an excellent view.

We cross into Botswana and travel along the edge of the Kalahari Desert to Maun. A small town on the edge of the Okavango Delta, Maun is also the starting point for the Mokoro trip. A Mokoro is a traditional dugout canoe and your transport into the Delta. As you glide through the waterways, you will see a fantastic array of wetland wildlife, birds in particular, and you are also likely to come across hippos or elephants taking a drink from the shore. You can go on a walking safari to look for giraffe, buffalo and rare antelope. This overnight stay is a great wilderness experience.

Leaving the lush Delta behind we enter Namibia and spend the night on the Kavango River in the northwestern end on the Caprivi Strip.

Week Two

Next stop is Etosha Pan National Park. Thousands of years ago this vast saltpan was a lake, until the Kunene River changed course and deprived the lake of its water source. Now the pan and surrounding bush support large numbers and a wide range of wildlife. We spend a couple of day’s game viewing from the truck and spend the evenings around the floodlit water holes at the park's campsites. These water holes provide an excellent opportunity to observe animals that are hard to find during the day, particularly rhino and also smaller animals such as the genet. Elephant, lion, giraffe, zebra, oryx, ostrich, springbok, jackals, hyenas and meercats are also likely to be seen at Etosha.

From wild animals to tame ones, we spend a night at the Kamanjab Cheetah Farm where you can scratch the big cats behind the ears before watching them tuck in to their evening meal.

Namibia is a land of wide, open spaces and we pass few inhabited areas as we drive towards the Atlantic

We stop at Cape Cross where the first European explorers landed in the 15th century. It is now more famous for the Seal Reserve, a breeding ground for tens of thousands of cape fur seals. They occupy the beaches almost as far as the eye can see and you can watch them suckling their young, resting in the sun and fighting with their neighbours.

Week Three

Swakopmund is an old German colonial seaside resort with plenty of things to do for the energetic and plenty of beer halls for those after a more relaxing time. Horse-riding or sand boarding on the dunes, deep sea fishing in the Atlantic or scenic flights over the coastline - these are just a few of the activities on offer.

Heading inland, we journey to the Namib Desert, famous for its 300 metre high sand dunes; the highest in the world. It can be hard work climbing to the top but the view is worth all the effort as the dunes stretch before you into the distance and change colour in the setting sun.

After an overnight stay in the desert we drive south to Fish River Canyon, at 85km long and 400m deep it's second in size only to the Grand Canyon. You can trek along the rim of the canyon and, from the viewpoints at the top watch the setting sun. There is also the hot springs in the south at Ai Ais. Our last stop in Namibia is the Orange River, which forms the border with South Africa. You can spend an afternoon canoeing here.

Days 22 to 24

Crossing the river we arrive in South Africa and follow the farmland south through the sparsely populated areas of the Western Cape. We drive through mountain valleys and stony semi-desert before arriving in Stellenbosch, the centre of one of the Cape's many wine routes. A wine tour with plenty of tasting makes for a great day out.

We arrive at our journey's end. Cape Town is a beautiful city, nestled at the foot of Table Mountain and you'll find plenty of cafes, pubs, clubs, markets and sights to see. You can climb the mountain or take the cable car to the top for some wonderful views of the city and the Cape Peninsula. Nearby are several beaches where you may find yourself whale-watching from the shore or sharing your towel with a jackass penguin.

When we arrive in Cape Town on the last day of the tour, we take you to a hostel where you can book a dorm or a room, or you can arrange your own accommodation at one of the many other hostels or hotels. There are several operators who run excursions to the surrounding area and further afield to the Garden Route and beyond. There is an international airport as well as flight, train and bus connections to other South African cities.

Africa is an unpredictable continent. We do not have a fixed itinerary so please treat the information given as a guideline only. Although our information is written in good faith at the time of printing, our route may vary at any time due to weather, politics or road conditions.

OVERLAND PRE-DEPARTURE INFORMATION