Gallery

    • Depart the UK on an overnight flight via Johannesburg
    • On arrival at Windhoek we meet our tour leader at the airport and travel to our guesthouse in the city. There will be time to visit Windhoek Botanical Gardens in the afternoon.
    • Accommodation: Windhoek, guesthouse, 1-night with dinner.
    • After a leisurely breakfast we will leave Windhoek and head north towards the bushveld area of the Waterberg Plateau. These woodlands are a magnet for a variety of bird species otherwise not found in the drier parts of the country.
    • We spend the best part of the afternoon walking some of the many trails, birdwatching and botanising. 
    • The following morning we go for a pre-breakfast birdwatching walk on one of the many trails through the forest below the cliff face. Chacma baboons, Damara dik-dik, kudu, banded mongoose and slender mongoose can be seen on these trails, along with local endemic birds such as Ruppell's parrot and the white-tailed shrike. After lunch, we take a 4x4 vehicle to the top of the plateau, where we will be able to visit a few hides, hopefully seeing sable and roan antelope, Cape buffalo, eland, common duiker and white rhino. After dark, lesser galago (bushbaby), porcupine, and spotted genet can be seen with a torch.
    • Accommodation, Waterberg National Park Camp, 2-nights on full board basis.
    • After breakfast we enjoy a morning walk amongst the fig forests and reed beds around the main accommodation. These are usually excellent for most of the bird specialities, especially Ruppell's parrot and Bradfield's hornbill.
    • After a leisurely breakfast we will head north to Etosha National Park, one of Africa’s greatest wildlife parks and home to some 380 species of bird.  We enjoy a late afternoon safari around Namutoni Camp, which has a large floodlit waterhole which attracts a steady procession of wildlife during the course of the night.
    • Accommodation: Namutoni Camp, Etosha National Park, 2-nights on full board basis.
    • This morning we start the day with the birds and mammals at sunrise for a two hour local drive. Birds that we will be searching for include secretarybird, red-necked falcon, kori bustard and Ludwig’s bustard.
    • After breakfast we go for a wildlife safari around the local area, with a view to finding more mammal and bird species such as rhino, elephant, African wild cat, Burchell’s zebra and many buck species.
    • We will be heading west to Halali Camp for lunch, following the edge of the pan. The huge Etosha Pan is dry for most of the year, but in exceptional years when wet, it is spectacular and abounds with birds. Halali Camp is the best place in Etosha for bare-cheeked babbler and violet wood-hoopoe. 
    • Many mammals use the cool of the night to come to the camp’s floodlit waterhole, including rhino, elephant, lion and leopard. 
    • Accommodation: Halali Camp, Etosha National Park, 1-night on full board basis.
    • We start the day with an early morning birdwatching walk around the camp, before continuing west towards our next camp in Etosha National Park. After arriving at Okaukuejo Camp, the late afternoon sees us enjoying another safari drive, this time exploring the area south of the camp and hopefully chalking up some new sightings.
    • Our full day at Okaukuejo sees us following a similar pattern to our previous days. Hornbills, coursers, larks, raptors and finches are well represented in this area of the park and we will be looking to fill the gaps in our sightings list. 
    • Accommodation: Okaukuejo Camp, Etosha National Park, 2-nights on full board basis.
    • We start the day with an early morning birdwatching walk. Birds here could include secretary bird, red-necked falcon, Ludwig's bustard, yellow-throated sandgrouse and Bennett's woodpecker.
    • Our destination this afternoon is the Erongo Mountains, a range that stretches across the plains between the tours of Omaruru and Karibib, and is home to a remarkably rich natural heritage. This expanse of rugged wilderness is one of Namibia’s most spectacularly scenic landscapes, with magnificent caves and rock painting sites, along with an impressive array of wildlife species.
    • Accommodation: Erongo Mountains, 2-nights on full board basis.
    • During our full day here we take one of the numerous walking trails from the property. The San people, who lived in the rocky hills of the Erongo, left many rock paintings here. Dating back thousands of years, these paintings can still be seen. We also hope to see some of the more than 200 species of bird recorded here.
    • Early this morning we enjoy a walk around the grounds of our accommodation. Hartlaub’s spurfowl, Orange River francolin, Carp’s tit, rockrunner, violet wood-hoopoe, Monteiro’s hornbill, rosy-faced lovebird, Bradfield’s swift, chestnut weaver, white-tailed shrike and Ruppell’s parrot are all a possibility.
    • After breakfast, we drive to the coast and Swakopmund. This afternoon we spend time birdwatching around Walvis Bay Lagoon, which is regarded as one of the most important wetlands along the west coast of Southern Africa. Flamingos by the thousands can be observed and the area around the lagoon holds 90-95 percent of the worlds population of chestnut-banded plover.
    • Accommodation: Lagoon Lodge, 2-nights on full board basis.
    • Leaving Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, we head inland, into a unique ecosystem of gravel plains, sweeping dunes and river valleys. The first part of today focuses on a variety of classic dune formations, a fascinating insight into a world of reptiles, birds and insects living among the sand dunes, all uniquely adapted to desert survival.
    • We venture deeper into the desert and the massive Namib-Naukluft National Park - its 1,500 year old welwitschias, aloes, euphorbias, hoodias and mist-gathering lichens are all unforgettably strange. Its geological formations are stunningly beautiful, with marble, mica, spider-web dolorite and granite cliffs making for interesting walks and climbs.
    • There will be time to return to Walvis Bay Lagoon for a final morning of birdwatching, looking for any species that that have so far given us the slip from our lists. We then transfer to Walvis Bay for our overnight flight back to the UK via Johannesburg.
  1. Day 15 Arrive UK

All prices are per person and include:

  • Services of the naturalist leader
  • Flights
  • Transfers
  • Accommodation
  • All meals
  • Guided activities

Accommodation

We stay at a mixture of attractive private guesthouses and park lodges. Our park accommodation in Etosha and Waterberg is simple but adequate, and ideally placed for wildlife-viewing. Rooms everywhere are en suite.

Meals

All meals are included.

Birds

We will be looking out for Namibia’s endemic birds and specialities, including rosy-faced lovebird, Ludwig’s bustard and rockrunner.

  • Monteiro’s hornbill
  • White-tailed shrike
  • Burchell’s courser
  • Carp’s tit

Mammals

Namibia is rich in charismatic mammals, including desert-adapted African elephants, white rhinos and the largest population of the western subspecies of black rhino.

  • Red hartebeest
  • Lion
  • Gemsbok
  • Black-faced impala

Scenery

Namibia has rocky central uplands, coastal wetlands and spectacular desert scenery including some of the most dramatic dunes in the world. Etosha National Park is one of Africa’s finest and most strikingly harsh wildlife reserves.

Photography

The drive to Swakopmund focuses on a variety of classic desert formations, offering perfect photographic opportunities.

Flights

Cost includes return flights: London – Windhoek.

Ground transport

Ground transportation is by minibus, with driver.

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