Namibia Custom Luxury Tours
Namibia is a starkly beautiful land created on a grand, sweeping scale over millennia. This country has some of the most imposing and other-worldly landscapes to be found anywhere. The famed Sossusvlei Dunes, a massive sea of shifting red sand, has created the tallest sand dunes in the world. Fish River Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world. The Namib Desert is the earth’s oldest desert. The coast at Cape Cross is the site of the largest seal colony in the southern hemisphere. In its glorious stubbornness, life persists even in the harshest realms of the vast Namib Desert, home to 70 reptile species, including the barking gecko as well as golden mole, jackal and sidewinder. Etosha Pan National Park supports vast herds of animals and rare plants that somehow manage to thrive here. Captivating ethnic groups, such as the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert and the Himba of the far north, strive to maintain their traditional tribal customs in the face of today’s modern pressures. On the Atlantic seashore are the infamous relics of shipwrecks of the Skeleton Coast and the community of Walvis Bay, which features a natural lagoon with an astounding abundance of seabirds. Some 120,000 birds, including flamingos and pelicans, were recently counted. They are joined each year by 200,000 migratory birds. Namibia luxury tours offer unique experiences not found in other African destinations.
Suggested Namibia Tour Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive Johannesburg, South Africa / Windhoek, Namibia
Day 2: Windhoek / Namib Desert – Sossusvlei Dunes
Day 3: Sossusvlei Dunes
Day 4: Sossusvlei Dunes / Swakopmund / Damaraland
Day 5: Damaraland
Day 6: Damaraland / Etosha National Park
Day 7: Etosha National Park
Day 8: Etosha National Park / Windhoek / Johannesburg
Custom Travel Options
Skeleton Coast (4 days)
On the bare fringes of the Atlantic Ocean, the Skeleton Coast gained its daunting name for bleached whale and seal bones as well as for the remains of more than 1,000 shipwrecks.
Serra Cafema (3 days)
In the extreme northwest of Namibia, Serra Cafema Camp is one of the most remote camps in all of Southern Africa.
About Namibia Travel
Windhoek: The capital and largest city of Namibia, Windhoek sits on a sloping plain on the northern side of the Khomas Highlands at an altitude of 5,463 feet. Originally inhabited by the Herero people, the region was occupied by Germany in 1885, and the city became the seat of colonial rule in 1892 as the capital of German South-West Africa. It retains an almost European feel in its colonial architecture and German-influenced cuisine. Christ Church dates from 1896. Two castles were built between 1913 and 1918. The 1912 Cape Dutch-style railroad station hosts the Trans Namib Transport Museum.
Sossusvlei Dunes: The Namib Desert stretches from the Orange River in the south into Angola in the north. Tsauchab River is a dry riverbed that only comes to life in years of exceptionally heavy rainfall, and provides just enough water to support the specially-adapted animals such as oryx, jackal, springbok, ostrich, spotted hyena and species of plants. Sossusvlei is renowned, however, for its physical beauty rather than game viewing. Its soaring red sand dunes are the tallest in the world.
Damaraland: Damaraland has amazing rock paintings that stand as testament to the stone-age artists who created them. This UNESCO World Heritage Site has thousands of engravings and some early paintings. Only here do desert-adapted elephant and rhino exist.
Etosha National Park: The famous park was established in 1907, when Namibia was a German colony known as South West Africa. Today, the park is only a quarter of its original size, but remains a significant wildlife sanctuary, almost 85,000 square miles. In the center, a vast saltpan is surrounded by grass and thorn savanna, Mopane bush in the west, and dry forest in the northeast. Life-sustaining waterholes are scattered in the southern sections of the park. Africa’s large animals are seen here, including lion, rhino, giraffe, zebra, elephant and large herds of springbok.
Skeleton Coast: Near the Angola border, the Bushman named this "The Land God Made in Anger" by the Bushmen of the interior. Skeleton Coast National Park is one of the most inhospitable but hauntingly beautiful places found anywhere. Its fantastic terrain ranges from towering canyons and mountainous dunes, to windswept plains and saltpans. Freshwater springs percolate down through barren sands creating pockets that sustain wildlife such as gemsbok, desert elephant and brown hyena. The Benguela current brings cold water and air from Antarctica that bumps into hot desert air along the coast, generating a cool mist with life-sustaining moisture. This is the homeland of the Himba people.
Serra Cafema: Surrounded by the stark landscapes of the Namib Desert, Serra Cafema is one of the most remote destinations in Africa. In the extreme northwest of Namibia, it is reached only by air. A small camp overlooks the Kunene River, with just eight canvas-and-thatch chalets. The river is the only permanent source of water. This is one of the driest desert environments in the world, with broad mountain expanses. Oryx, springbok, ostrich and Kunene crocodiles live here. Ovahimba families are some of the last semi-nomadic peoples in Africa.
Best Time to Travel to Namibia
Festivals & Special Events
• The desert is very dry yet pleasant throughout the year. April-May becomes increasingly dry and largely free of dust.
• June-August, Namibia cools off and dries out. Animals in the north migrate south for water.
• By September-October, it warms up; game viewing in good in most areas, although there is often much dust. Summer is November-February.
• Wika Carnival happens each April in Windhoek. The German carnival has been popular for nearly 50 years and includes cabarets and an all-night masked ball.
• Celebrated throughout the country, Oktoberfest begins in September and continues into October. This is a popular annual event that attracts a great variety of both visitors and locals.