A Meaningfully Desert, Dune And Wildlife Fly-in Safari

The ideal trip to some of Namibia’s finest features is this 7-Day Desert, Dune and Wildlife Fly-in Safari. See the “sea of dunes”—the Namib Desert, the spectacular Sossusvlei region, the barren Skeleton Coast, which includes a panoramic flight—and finish with the outstanding wildlife and game viewing in Etosha National Park.

The Namib Desert, with its magnificent sand sea at Sossusvlei, will be the first stop on your luxury safari in Namibia. The lone real African desert south of the equator. Then you will soar high along the Skeleton Coast to the town of Swakopmund, which appears to have fallen here. Strange in its location, a remote seaside town. It’s Etosha time, so first stop, the glittering beaches of Mowe Bay before a total gear change. There are plenty of animals to see. Go get your camera, binoculars, and khakis.

Highlights & Activities

What’s on offer whilst on this itinerary:

• Days spent on sand dunes in the Namib Desert. An endlessly dry emptiness. See Dead Vlei and the well-known Sossusvlei
• lonely beaches, shipwrecks, and dry riverbeds along the Skeleton Coast
• Etosha National Park large game safari. See the animals arrive and depart from the dry pan waterholes.

Dunes & Wildlife Tour Namibia (includes Etosha National Park, Sossusvlei & Skeleton Coast)

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 & 2: Sossusvlei

The oldest desert on Earth, the Namib Desert, will be your first stop on your opulent Namibia safari, a two-night flying package. Even with the passing rivers that run here, it has been dry for the last 15 million years. They might only run for a short while, but after that they store water under the riverbed. Maybe not quite as dry as it appears from the outside.

Travel documents will be handed to you and your NTS agent will meet you on route. The pilot will next greet you and you will check in for your flight and briefing. Put on your seatbelt, crosscheck. Windhoek to Sossusvlei by private charter takes one hour and ten minutes. Make time to fully appreciate it; it is really magnificent. Look out at the endless undulating sand dunes and the Namib Naukluft Mountain Range.

When there: Oh, the joy of a guided tour of Sossusvlei. Including a picnic lunch on the dunes with drinks carried by the local brand. Much valued, particularly in the intensely hot desert.

Star dunes, enormous pyramid piles, encircle Sossusvlei, the largest of four pans in the region. Dead Vlei is close by, older and deader (not a real term, but an appropriate one in this situation). The highest dunes in the world, some as tall as the Empire State Building, are yours with these pans. Once like Sossusvlei, Dead Vlei had a watercourse that supported desert life until the sand sea ultimately blocked the water 900 years ago. Highlights are Big Daddy, Elim Dune, Sesriem Canyon, and Dune 45. Five million years ago, Dune 45 stood 170 metres high. Not the oldest or the highest in the neighborhood. Fabulous.

The greatest times to explore the usually scorching hot desert, particularly in the summer, are at sunrise and dusk when vivid colors contrast. Included is a sundowner drive. Savor a breathtaking sunset that fades beyond the horizon of wide fields and soaring dunes. Pretty amazing.

You have two nights here, plenty of time to explore and enjoy one of the world’s darkest night sky.

Day 3 & 4: Skeleton Coast

My Trip to Namibia | Safari, Desert, and Coast

Skeleton Coast is next… Airborne, it appears to be pretty beautiful. A calm sea lapsing the coast. Magnificent dunes. When viewed from land, everything are different. Man and beast have struggled to survive here, as the evidence is overwhelming. This is still the desert, meeting the frigid Atlantic Ocean. Long, thin, hostile. You can view a lot of seals, shipwrecks, and clay castles in this 6,500 square mile national park.

Getting there: A private charter aircraft will take you out of Sossusvlei. As you fly high above those dunes you were amazed with yesterday, take in the breathtaking landscape. Historic shipwrecks and diamond mines. Here you are at the Skeleton Coast. You’ll land at Swakopmund to refuel after an hour and thirty minutes.

Would like to go on to the lodge farther down the coast? Perfectly fine. You refuel and head out. See Swakopmund? OK. Change over and go exploring. The joys of a private charter.

Swoboda. Seaside promenades with palm trees. Strange company for the Skeleton Coast. Definitely stroll down the main streets. Perhaps head out for lunch, or at the very least a decent cup of coffee and a piece of cake.

Northerly still. You fly along the coast. Watch out for Vlotskasbaken, a haphazard holiday community situated halfway between Swakop and Henties Bay. Keeping going north, a long way north (approximately a one and a half hour flight). A few shipwrecks should be visible as you proceed to Mowe Bay, where you will land.

There will be lovely nature drives on your way to the lodge. Go and you vanish into the barren Skeleton Coast National Park. There is just the lodge and unspoiled wilderness here.

When there, you’ll go on a game drive inside Skeleton Coast National Park. There are massive bleached whalebones, rusty ship hulls, parched riverbeds, and dead vegetation. Everything is about how nature struggles to live in this hostile setting. Though isolated, it is a beautiful location.

Sundowners and beach walks to take in the scenery are planned. In keeping with the shipwreck motif, you will see the remains of Karimona and Suiderkus. eerie to think about sailors trekking across the desert in quest of a chance at survival. Most unfortunate was Suiderkus. On her maiden trip, she ran aground in the 1970s… A 4×4 excursion to the Hoanib River Delta is scheduled. There are dozens of tens of thousands of year old “clay castles” here. En way to or from Mowe Bay, make time to visit the seal colony. The Mowe, a German ship, reported the first confirmed observations of cape fur seals in 1884. You can trace the desert-adapted elephant with a drive along the Hoarusib River. The odd giraffe will surely also be visible.

Day 5 & 6: Etosha National Park

It’s time to go to Etosha, just as those elephants have stoked your stomach, maybe along with desert lions and hyenas.

The travel from Mowe Bay to Ondangwa takes 1.5 hours and involves a drive to the airport. After refueling, the flight to the eastern side of Etosha takes half an hour. Your opulent safari lodge will be just a short drive away, giving you time to relax before you head into the bush for some of the best game viewing in Africa.

When you visit: Included are park fees, all meals, and locally branded beverages. As are daily sundowner drives on the private reserves and early and afternoon Etosha drives. Big mineral pan dominates Etosha, which meaning “Great White Place.” The fact that the creatures will essentially come to you rather than you having to really look for them is one of its greatest features. It is enormous—more than 20,000 square kilometers. Once parked at a waterhole, watch. May come to drink lions, elephants, rhinos, cheetahs, wildebeests, and leopards.

Day 7: Windhoek

It finishes today. Your lot, and it has been a lot! Following a morning exercise, you will be driven to the runway for your return charter flight to Windhoek.

Travelling by private charter from Etosha to Windhoek International Airport. Two hours before to foreign departures, you must be at the airport.

End of the 7 Days Desert, Dune & Wildlife Fly-in Safari Itinerary

Inclusions

• Accommodation
• Meals (details on request)
• Private charter flights
• Airport and airstrip transfers
• Activities as indicated including park entry fees
• Meet and Greet
• 24/7 in-country support
• Comprehensive travel diary with detailed itinerary, map, route descriptions, booking vouchers, contact numbers and useful information

Inclusions

• International flights
• Airport taxes
• Personal travel insurance
• Visas and visa applications
• All meals and drinks not specified
• Tips and gratuities
• Items of a personal nature

Want an in-depth insight into this 7 Days Desert, Dune and Wildlife Fly-in Safari? Essential Trip Information provides, visa info, How to get to Namibia, the Best Time to visit – pretty much everything you need to know about this adventure and more.