Adventures of Namibia Tour: Bushmen, Safari & Dunes

Keep your eyes to the window as you fly over Namibia, your first glimpses of wilderness providing shots of anticipation. This landscape awaits intrepid footsteps, laying out its bounty from all angles. Even capital city Windhoek delivers panoramas of beauty, mountains snaking in the distance, desert yellow extending beyond the horizon, and rolling hills unveiling a cozy local atmosphere. Namibia runs on a laid-back rhythm and Windhoek epitomizes the languid pace of a nation. Nothing is rushed. And nothing should be rushed when you’re surrounded by so much natural beauty. So rest, relax, and get ready for the adventure to kick off.

What’s Included: accommodation

Dune 7 towers above the desert, rising 383 meters and dominating a landscape of shimmering yellows and glowing reds. From below it looks unconquerable, each step along the ridge seeming to take the summit further away. There are no ski style lifts when you’re sand boarding in the Namibian desert, so it’s a long sweaty walk up before you cruise back down. Unless…Well, unless you happen to have an ATV that can coast along the ridge. Now you’re quickly back at the summit. It’s a phenomenal view up here with luscious blue ocean on one side, polychromatic dunes beneath you, and the charms of Swakopmund in the distance.

Wax the board, rub the wax off with sand, clip in your feet, and…ahhhhhhhh! You coast diagonally down the world’s highest sand dune, trying to maintain balance and often falling onto the dune. Snowboarders will quickly notice the similarities and can start pulling tricks. First timers find it’s very easy to pick up the techniques; the ultra soft sand means that every fall is gentle, and that imbues you with a confidence that’s hard to find on an icy snow slope. For added exhilaration, you can lie down flat on a waxed wooden board and get pushed down the dune. Today starts with a three-hour drive from Windhoek, cutting through desolate landscapes and emerging at the Atlantic Ocean and Swakopmund. Check in and check out the view, before your afternoon of sand boarding on the world’s highest sand dune.

What’s Included: accommodation

Swakopmund is a rarity in Namibia, a colonial leftover in a country that was virtually unexplored by Europeans. Ships would land and be greeted by a formidable barriers of dunes. So they turned around. Or at least, they tried to turn around. Many great vessels couldn’t escape the sand and their remains provide a redolent insight into nature’s power. Slowly they’re being submerged, wooden wrecks that baffle your camera as you journey along the Skeleton Coast. They’ve been inundated by sand and, after exploring the shipwrecks, you’re being overwhelmed by a new natural wonder.

Thousands of Cape fur seals dot the beach, completely covering the sand with wobbling antics. They squawk and shout, looking for mates and defending their sunbathing positions. On land they’re comical. Yet once in the water it’s you that becomes the amateur mover. Board a kayak and paddle through the bay, slowly floating alongside the whole colony. The seals are transformed in the water, disappearing beneath your craft and returning with fish, or diving off the rocks and rapidly swimming past. You can get indelibly close to them, although how close will depend on their playfulness; trying to paddle after a seal is a water race you’re not going to win. Return to Swakopmund after this full day tour and explore the town’s charming late 19th century buildings, each pastel colored leftover juxtaposed with palm trees. You’ll find a handful of excellent restaurants, glorious sunset vistas from the beach, and Namibia’s idyllically serene atmosphere.

What’s Included: accommodation

So just how far do these sand dunes stretch? Board a small Cessna 210 and roam above the dunes, using your finger to trace ridges that refuse to terminate. The plane swoops low, providing close-ups as dunes reflect a smoldering sunrise. Slowly they emerge from the shadows, flickering red and then scorching through the oranges to yellow. When the pilot ascends the vistas become ethereal, hundreds of miles of desert gaping beneath your eyes.

Touchdown near Sossusvlei, Namibia’s most photographed natural attraction. Here the dunes tower above desolate clay pans, the crusted ground a remarkable contrast to the sand. This is a place that rewards any camera with a cutting edge panoramic mode. Explore on foot, spinning around and trying to find an angle without dunes.  In nearby Deadvlei, it’s scarred trees that offer a focal point, brittle black branches rising like mythical creatures from the clay. You return to Swakopmund in the same Cessna 210, the pilot looping further inland and offering increasing proof of Namibia’s diaphanous beauty.

What’s Included: accommodation

Kick back on your camp verandah and admire the view. A cavernous valley is flanked by provocative cliffs, a soft congregation of colors striping through the rock. Strange overhangs and orphaned mountains litter the vista, an elephant kicks up dust as it plods in the distance, and for 360º there’s not a single person in sight. Damaraland epitomizes the untamed and unpretentious splendor of the Namibian landscape. It looks like a shooting location for a Hollywood epic set on the moon. And then the sun goes down and it’s impossible to pick out constellations; the sky is so bright with stars that a telescope feels redundant. This ancient land will be your playground for the next three days. It’s not a case of following the path. You’ll be making trails that rarely ever see human eyes. From Swakopmund it’s a full morning of driving to reach Damaraland. After a leisurely lunch the afternoon is free to explore.

What’s Included: accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner

Staring onto Damaraland fills the mind with possibilities. So let’s broaden the reach and use peddle power to roam through the mountains. Strange rock features accompany every corner, like circular formations and bizarre isolated fingers. They’re slowly changing, the wind whipping through and continuing the million year weathering of the landscape. Up ahead a small herd of kudu stand on the trail, the bike wheels coasting alongside their elegant presence. Broken tree branches suggest elephants are nearby, and as you picnic beneath a peculiar cave, the great pachyderms saddle past.

Today is tailored to your fitness levels and there are thousands of possibilities. Either stay out exploring all day, or split the exploration into a morning and afternoon ride. You can also switch mountain biking with hiking and vise versa. An eerie feeling of silence accompanies the ride, little but wind and galloping antelopes filling Damaraland’s gulf in space and time. Disembark and climb up rocks for elegant vistas, or descend to the valley floor and follow in the trail of great migrating herds. With a mountain bike you can travel farther, and for the really enthusiastic, take a one way journey into the heart of the wilderness and get a ride home in a Land Rover.

What’s Included: accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner

You could explore Damaraland for years and not see it all. Behind every rock is another nook or cranny, above every mountain is a new panorama, and below your camp is a different wandering antelope. Most hiking trails focus on the mountains, ensuring a good canopy of shade and unveiling the land’s ancestors. Bushmen have called Namibia home for 40,000 years and they narrate history through rock art. Paintings depict scenes for the next nomads, each small tribe leaving a lesson for the next. Sketches show a successful hunt, a plant containing poison, or a tribe being chased away by white settlers. Thousands of years on and they’re just as poignant to our understanding of the world as they’ve ever been.

Return to the camp and enjoy the vista once more. While you’re there, let’s indulge in the quality of accommodation you’ll be enjoying on this vacation. Camping in the wilderness doesn’t carry the greatest of preconceptions. But this is camping Namibia style. Raised wooden platforms stand above the landscapes, the spacious canvas tents flanked by private verandahs and glorious en-suite outdoor bathrooms. Taking a warm shower beneath the stars removes the day’s sweat, although sometimes you find yourself in the bathroom just so you can savor the view. Thick luxury beds and elegant wooden fittings complete the interior, nothing out of place with the natural environment. This isn’t really camping in its strictest sense. Instead, it’s using canvas tents to maximize the immersion in nature and not leave a concrete or glass scar on the environment.

What’s Included: accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner

You try and step quietly onto the Ongava savannah, your legs oscillating between shaking and goose bumps. Anticipation packs your heart with excitement. Yet the audacity of the adventure brings a certain apprehension. You’re on the trail of White rhinos, wandering through the semi-arid landscape and heading straight for these two-ton endangered beasts. Up ahead the rhinos laze in the shade, twitching briefly and fully aware of your presence. Now’s not the time to ignore your guide’s instructions. Creep forward, a hand over your mouth to prevent shrieks of astonishment. Now you’re less than 20 meters away. Now it’s less than 15. The rhinos wait and watch, happy to doze and allow your startled amazement.

Following wild White rhinos is only possible in a few places on the planet. It’s a quintessential introduction to the world of Ongava, an exhilarating natural encounter that redefines your notions of safari etiquette. Stay in the safari vehicle? That’s certainly not the case on this outdoor adventure. From Damaraland it’s a three hour drive to Ongava Game Reserve and the sumptuous Little Ongava Camp. Perched on a hill above Etosha National Park, the camp affords a new collection of pristine vistas, this time onto migratory herds and stunning collections of wild game.

What’s Included: accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner

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