Francois Harris

I am getting really excited about the trip we are taking to Namibia next month. We will be in Namibia for 16 days, and have planned to make it an epic holiday!

We will be flying to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and driving around Namibia, with a detour through Botswana, and Zimbabwe, to get to Victoria falls in Livingstone, Zambia.

Places we will be visiting on our trip to Namibia:

map

Day1

Our holiday begins immediately when we arrive in Windhoek at 10am. We will be meeting CABS Car hire at the airport, they are a customer of mine in South Africa, who have a Namibia office. CABS will deliver our vehicle to us at the airport, and we will immediately set off for the Fish River Canyon in the South (Gondwana Nature Park), where we are booked to stay at the Canon Roadhouse . This will be a long drive, in the wrong direction (635km), but it is an attraction we really want to see. We should arrive in the evening, and will go and view the canyon at first light.

Day 2

We will set off from the Canon Roadhouse really early, so that we can watch the sunrise over the Fish River Canyon (sunrise is +- 6.30am). After taking in the amazing canyon, we will head back to the camp site for a quick breakfast, and to pack the car. We then head off to our next stop, which is Giants Playground, the Quiver tree forest, and the Mesosaurus fossil site, which are all in close proximity, around 180km away. We will be back tracking our route to Keetmanshoop, then taking the C17 road. After spending some time taking a few pictures, we will begin our journey towards our stop for the night, which is Sesriem, 490km away! We should arrive at Sesriem that night and have some time to setup our tent, eat and relax at the NWR Sesriem campsite.

Day 3 + 4

We will be waking up early again, so that we can get to Sossusvlei for the sunrise, which is a short drive away. Apparently its an amazing sight to see the sunrise or sunset over the dunes, rest assured, I will be taking loads of pix. After we have spent some time exploring Sossusvlei, we will head back to the camp, and if we have time, will also go and look at the Sesriem Canyon, also very close, before heading off towards our next stopover, which is Swakopmund, which is around 320km away, so not too bad a drive. We should arrive in the late afternoon, to early evening, depending on how much time we take to drive through Walvis bay en-route to Swakopmund (30km away).

We have planned to stay two nights in Swakopmund, so that we can explore the town and surrounding area. We want to eat a meal at The Raft restaurant in Walvis bay, possibly do a kayak trip, and take some pictures of the birds in Pelican Bay. We also want to take a look at the old iron jetty in Swakopmund, see the lighthouse, the Kristall Galerie, the Aquarium, and climb the Damara tower at Woermann Haus, not to mention see some of the shops and restaurants. If possible, we may get a chance to fly in a hot air balloon early in the morning, and watch the sunrise over the desert, but it depends on the cost involved.

Day 5 + 6

On day 5 we will make our way to the next stop on our trip which is Etosha! We will leave early, so that we can take a leisurely drive to the Okaukuejo Camp, which is a distance of around 520km, so that we arrive in the late afternoon or evening. We are booked to stay for two nights there, where we will get an overdose of wildlife!

Day 7

On the day we leave Etosha, we will drive through the park to the Eastern gate Namutoni, where we will exit, before driving towards our next stop over, which is Nkwazi Lodge, in Rundu, a distance of around 300km. We should arrive there in the early evening, just in time for sundowner drinks at the pool.

Day 8

We will leave from Nkwazi Lodge in Rundu mid morning, to our next destination, which is Kalizo Lodge, in Katima Mulilo, +-515km drive away. Kalizo Lodge is a great place for fishing and bird watching, or even just to relax. We will be hoping to take a boat ride to the ‘secret location’ where thousands of Carmine Bee Eater birds nest early the next morning. I am hoping we will get loads of awesome pictures here. We only spend one night at Kalizo, before making our way the next day to our next stop, which is Maramba Lodge in Livingstone, Zambia!

Day 9 – 12

The drive from Kalizo Lodge, to Livingstone, Zambia can be done in around 4 to 5 hours, if all goes well at the borders. It is around 70km from Kalizo Lodge to the Ngoma border post in Botswana, then around 60km from there to Kasane in Botswana, then through the Kazungula border post into Zimbabwe, to Victoria falls border post into Zambia, which is a further 90km odd. Once in Zambia, Maramba Lodge is only about 10km away. We are hoping to arrive at Maramba Lodge in the early afternoon, so that we can relax and look around the town a bit before the next few days of adventure, and will be spending 3 nights in Livingstone.

Livingston is going to be awesome, we have planned a microlight flight over Victoria falls, as well as a trip to the falls to explore up close. We also have planned to do some adrenalin sports, such as a Gorge swing, abseiling, rap jump, high wire, and whoopie slide with adventure company Abseil Zambia. What is great is that we can retire each night to Maramba Lodge, where we will be able to watch elephants and other wildlife at our leisure, because it is situated right on the waters edge.

On day 12 we wrap up in Zambia, as we begin our journey back to Windhoek. We begin by going back to Botswana, where we hope to do a river cruise in Chobe National park, before heading towards Kalizo Lodge again for the night.

Day 13

On this day we take a relaxed drive from Kalizo, back to Nkwazi Lodge in Rundu, which is our stop over location again.

Day 14

This is another slow day, we take a drive towards Windhoek, with a detour past the Hoba meteorite, and then on to camp at the Dinosaur’s tracks guest farm, which boasts fossilized  dinosaur footprints, and is a national monument in Namibia. This drive is around 560km odd.

Day 15

On this day we drive to Windhoek, which is only around 220km away. Once we arrive in Windhoek, we will spend the rest of the day exploring, before spending the night at Okavango Guesthouse. We would like to see the Gibeon meteorites, and also visit Joe’s Beerhouse for dinner.

Day 16

Sadly, this is our last day, we will spend the time relaxing, and possibly exploring other attractions in Windhoek, before catching a flight back home in the evening.