Namibia Desert, Dunes
and Mountain Trek

Suggested Itinerary

DAY 1 DEPART LONDON
Depart from London for the overnight to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia.

DAY 2 ARRIVE WINDHOEK - DRIVE TO DESERT CAMP
Windhoek Airport - Desert Camp, Namib Desert (300 km). You will be collected at Windhoek International Airport where we will meet our guides and board vehicles for the transfer to our trek area. We will pass through Windhoek city and then travel south-west across the Central Highlands of Namibia. The scenery is beautiful and there will be time for photo stops along the way. Our route takes us through the Khomas Hochland Mountains and over the massive Gamsberg Pass as we drop down from the Namibian central plateau and into the Namib Desert proper. From here it is only a short drive to our destination and the first night in this spectacular area. Tonight we camp in the grounds of a farmhouse in a pristine desert setting. The facilities are basic but suitable to make ourselves comfortable and we have time to explore the area on foot before sunset. Dinner will be cooked over an open fire and in the evening there will be an introduction to the hiking route we are to follow and a talk about safety aspects of the forthcoming trek. Hot showers available.

DAYS 3 -7 TREKKING DAYS
These days are all full day hiking over the varied terrain of the area. There are mountains, hills, valleys and plains. There is everything from rocky terrain to sand dunes, gravel plains and pans and everywhere the scenery is stunning, unspoiled, untouched pristine desert. Our guides are Namib Desert experts and will introduce you to the different habitats of both flora and fauna species found in the region, many of them peculiar to the area. In this waterless and seemingly harsh terrain there is, just below the surface, a huge diversity of life, a population that is easily at first glance completely overlooked. There are many different large animals present, Hartmann's mountain zebra, oryx, springbok, kudu and klipspringer to name but a few and there are literally hundreds of insect species thriving under the hot desert sun. Your guide has an intimate knowledge of the region and is an expert on all forms of life in the desert. He will be able to literally bring the desert alive for you. At the end of each day's hike our back-up crew will meet us at a pre-selected spot and our camp will be set up and organised before our arrival. Having vehicle support means that we only carry a minimum of supplies and equipment with us each day and ensures a good supply of fresh food. Dinner each night will be prepared over an open fire and we will be supplied with a packed lunch each morning after breakfast. No showers available.

DAY 8 TRAVEL TO SESRIEM
Our last hiking day will bring us back to our start point and the relative luxury of the farmhouse. We aim to arrive in time for lunch and we can shower and relax after the completion of our Namib Desert Experience. After lunch we will transfer in vehicles to Sesriem, a short drive away. Sesriem is the entrance to the Namib Naukluft National Park and the gateway to the main sand dune desert. We will camp in the Sesriem camp site tonight. The camp is on the edge of the main dune fields and you can relax in the late afternoon before dinner. There is a small shop, a swimming pool and a pub. Hot showers available.

DAY 9 SOSSUSVLEI DUNES
A pre-dawn start to see the sunrise in the dunes. We drive a further 60 km into the desert and have our breakfast as the colours grow across the landscape. To reach Sossusvlei itself we walk for the last 5 km through the dunes. The walk is like nothing else, in the cool of the morning, with soft sunlight just beginning to play over the dunes creating a sharp light and shadow contrast across the whole desert. Ancient mineral pans, stunted camel thorn trees and the chance of seeing a gemsbok or maybe an ostrich make the photo opportunities perfect. We spend the morning in and around Sossusvlei, also visiting Nara Vlei and Dead Vlei and dune 45, and as the day wears on we return to Sesriem for lunch and to escape the heat of the afternoon. Hot showers available.

DAY 10 SESRIEM - WINDHOEK
After breakfast we will make a short excursion to the Sesriem Canyon, a small but geologically very interesting canyon that was cut by the ancient ephemeral river that sometimes floods water into Sossusvlei itself. From here we begin our journey, over the mountains and along scenic roads, back to Windhoek. We will travel over the Naukluft Mountains and also, once again through the Khomas Hochland range and the beautiful Remhoogte Pass on our way back to civilization. Arriving in Windhoek in the middle afternoon with some time to see the city centre before heading out to the airport in time for your flight home.

DAY 11 LONDON
We arrive back into London in the morning