Namibia is a vast country with a surface area of 824 268 km2, it is about four times the size of the United Kingdom and 27 times the size of Belgium. Blessed with bountiful sunshine, an abundance of wildlife and an intriguing variety of flora and fauna. Attributes that make it a country to which visitors return again and again are the friendliness and cultural diversity of its people, and above all, the pristine quality and extraordinary beauty of its landscape. The country derives its name from the Namib Desert, a unique geological feature renowned for the unusual and haunting quality of its landscape. Far from being lifeless and barren, this narrow strip of moist coastal desert features an unusual variety of desert-adapted flora and fauna. The country can be divided into four distinct topographical regions. Of these the most definitive is possibly the Namib Desert, which consists of a 50 km – 140 km wide coastal plain extending along the entire coastline, interspersed with dune belts, dry riverbeds and deeply eroded canyons. The central plateau, which runs from north to south, has an average altitude of between 1,000 m and 2,000 m. This plateau gradually falls away towards the east, where a sandy strip of land merges into the level expanse of the Kalahari Desert. Dense, bush covered plains to the north-east of the Etosha Pan included the high-rainfall areas of Kavango and Caprivi, typified by woodland savannah and riverine vegetation. With a dry climate, typical of a semi-desert country, droughts are a regular occurrence. Average day temperatures in the summer vary from 20◦C – 34◦C and average night temperatures in the winter from 0◦C – 10◦C. The Benguela Current is also the prime determinant of the climate of the Namib, as it reduces rainfall and causes the omnipresent fog typical of the coast.
Destinations: Karas Region, Namib Naukluft Park, Skeleton Coast, Damaraland and Etosha National Park
Dates: October 3rd to 15th / 2023
Duration: 13 Days / 12 Nights
To keep our instructors and clients safe and healthy as well as streamlining
the process of acquiring destination venues and accommodations, we are
asking that all workshop participants be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY
Tour Price: $7900.00 ( To reserve a spot on this tour we require $1500 deposit in advance )
Single supplement : $680.00
Led by: Gavriel Jecan
Limited to 8 participants
We keep our group size small, for the tour leader to have a chance to answer your photographic questions you may have, help you with the technical composition in the field, easy access to wildlife viewing, and smaller impact on the environment when visiting fragile ecosystems.
Transportation and Accommodation
All meals, lodging, and transportation specified on the itinerary are included.
You will be responsible for your flight to and from Hosea Kutako
International Airport ( Windhoek ) where our trip will begin and commence.
You are encouraged to arrive one day prior to the workshop so that there is no worry
of flight delays causing any problems and time zone adjustments . You are also encouraged to stay one
additional night at the end of the tour if your schedule allows.
Itinerary:
Day 1 October 3rd: Hosea Kutako International Airport – Windhoek Country Club Resort
https://www.legacyhotels.co.za/hotels/windhoek-country-club-resort
Upon arrival in Namibia your guide will meet you in the arrival hall and your then proceed to Windhoek Country Club Resort. – Situated within the city, The resort has ensured that it remains the final word in comfort and entertainment in Namibia.
Accommodation: Windhoek Country Club Resort – standard rooms
Meals: Dinner
Day 2 October 4th:
Windhoek Country Club Resort – Dead Valley Lodge
This morning after breakfast you drive to Dead Valley Lodge in the Namib Naukluft Park.
The Dead Valley lodge is situated inside the Namib – Naukluft Park, in-between Seriem and Elim Dune on the D826 road leading to the world-famous Dead Valley at Sossusvlei. The lodge offer twenty (20) free standing climate-controlled luxury tented chalets each with a panoramic view of the Namib Desert with towering red sand dunes, rugged mountain ranges and arid desert savannahs. The restaurant serves delicious Namibian – style cuisine whilst guests can relax in the picturesque bar with a swimming pool overlooking the Elim Dune.
Accommodation: Dead Valley Lodge – Luxury Tented Chalets
Meals: All meals
Driving time: 4.5 hours
Included activities: Scenic drive to Sossusvlei
Day 3 October 5th: Dead Valley Lodge
This morning starts before sunrise. You drive to see the beautiful Namib sunrise. The Sossusvlei, Namibia’s famous highlight in the heart of the Namib Desert, is a huge clay pan, enclosed by giant sand dunes. Some of the spectacular hills of sand are, at a height of 300 meters, the highest in the world. Only after a heavy rainfall, which is a rare event in this area, does the vlei fill with water. As the clay layers hardly allow any water infiltration, a turquoise lake will remain for quite some time. After lunch we visit the Sesriem Canyon, one of the amazing features of the Namib. Here the Tsauchab River has carved a gorge – up to 30 meters deep and about 1 km long – into the conglomerate gravels deposited some 15 – 18 million years ago during a wetter phase in the history of the Namib. From the parking area a track leads to the canyon floor and a walk into Sesriem is like descending through the layers of time.
Accommodation: Dead Valley Lodge
Meals: All meals
Included activities: Sossusvlei, Deadvlei & Sesriem excursion
Optional activities: Scenic flights & Hot-air ballooning
Day 4 October6th: Dead Valley Lodge
Day 5 ; October 7th, Dead Valley Lodge – Hansa Hotel
Early morning breakfast then you drive to Swakopmund. Swakopmund is a city on the coast of north western Namibia, 280 km west of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 42,000 inhabitants and covers 193 square kilometres of land.
The four-star Hansa Hotel is nestled in the center of Swakopmund and offers easy access to everything the town has to offer. This classical building dates from 1905 and it is an integral part of the architectural heritage of the area. The Hansa has twice received the Best Hotel in Namibia Award. It is also a 5-time winner of the Award of Excellence, a Golden Award of Excellence and a HAN Gold Award winner. The hotel has also been awarded the prestigious Diners Club Wine List Platinum Award, for outstanding selection and quality of its wines. The restaurant is among the most popular in Swakopmund.
The Terrace is a perfect venue for a leisure lunch, and it overlooks the inner gardens. Breakfast and dinner are served in the main dining room. The ‘a la carte’ menu includes soups, cold and warm starters, main courses of seafood, game and grilled meats, vegetarian dishes, and a huge selection of mouthwatering desserts. If you’ve had enough to eat, then why not retire to the resident’s bar? It features a large fireplace, a welcome relief from the cool Swakopmund night, as the fog rolls in, not to mention a wide variety of spirits, beer, wines and after-dinner drinks. There is also a secluded garden courtyard, where guests will be well-protected from any inclement weather. The Hansa Hotel prides themselves on providing the finest and most luxurious accommodation that Swakopmund has to offer.
Accommodation: Hansa Hotel – standard rooms – https://www.hansahotel.com.na
Driving time 5.5 hours
Meals: All meals
Included activities: Scenic drive to Swakopmund
Day 6: October 8th Hansa Hotel
Today you take part in a private Living desert tour.
Living Desert Adventure Tour:
Your Living Desert Tour guide will collect you at your guesthouse at 08h00 in the morning. This desert tour concentrates on exploring the local dune belt between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, taking care not to damage the gravel plains and cause unnecessary harm to the dune eco-system. The gravel plains are protected and home to the nesting Damara Terns, which are endemic to this area. Conservation, geological structure and the reason why we have a Desert will be discussed in detail en route. Plenty of time is available for frequent stops to take photos of the dunes and the surrounding environment. We will stop continuously to look for animal tracks on the dunes (known locally as reading the bushman paper), to determine which animals were active the previous night and wherever possible try to catch some of them to show you. We take great care to share our knowledge with you on each desert animal and plant, including emphasis on special adaptations and perfect design used for survival in the desert. Time and care are taken to ensure each animal is returned safely to its home. Geckos, rolling spiders, scorpions, lizards, snakes, chameleons, skinks and a variety of beetles and insects are some creatures to be found on this tour.
Accommodation: Hansa Hotel
https://www.hansahotel.com.na
Meals: All meals
Included activities: Private Living Desert Tour
Day 7 October 9th Hansa Hotel – Camp Kipwe
Today’s journey takes you north to Damaraland, an area renowned for its geology, unusual rock formations, rock paintings, and rare desert-adapted flora and fauna. Accommodation will be at Camp Kipwe, situated within the Twyfelfontein Conservancy. The mountain views from here are breathtaking, as are the stunning sunsets. Eight igloo-shaped bungalows allow a maximum of only 16 guests at a time, emphasizing the peace and quiet of the camp. Outside each bungalow is an en-suite bathroom with a shower, as well as a private veranda overlooking the surrounding plains. Explore the surrounding area with your guide, in search of some of Namibia’s remaining 600 desert dwelling elephant. Your guide will also conduct an excursion to the Twyfelfontein rock engravings, a rocky site containing around 2,000 rock carvings and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the largest and most important concentrations of rock art in Africa and was proclaimed a National Monument in 1952.
Two other well-known geological feature close to Twyfelfontein which you can visit are the Organ Pipes and the Burnt Mountain. The Organ Pipes are a distinctive series of dolerite pillars that have been exposed by erosion and can be viewed in the small gorge on the left-hand side of the road leading to the Burnt Mountain. The Burnt Mountain is a flat-topped mountain which derives its name from the piles of blackened limestone at its base.
Meals: All meals
Included activities: Twyfelfontein rock paintings, Organ pipes & Burnt Mountain excursion & search for the Desert adapted elephant
Day 8 October 10th. Camp Kipwe
Day 9 – October 10th, Camp Kipwe – Okaukuejo Resort
Today you travel to Okaukuejo Resort, located in central Etosha National Park. En-route to Etosha you stop at a Himba Village.
Himba Village
The Himba are a tribe of nomadic pastoralists who inhabit the Kaokoland area of Namibia. The Himba are actually descendants of a group of Herero herders who fled into the remote north-west after been displaced by the Nama. The Himba have clung to their traditions and the beautiful Himba women are noted for their intricate hairstyles which and traditional jewellery.
As Himba men and woman wear few clothes apart from a loin cloth or goat skinned mini-skirt, they rub their bodies with red ochre and fat to protect themselves from the sun and also gives their appearance a rich red colour.
The Himba jewellery is made from iron or shell, and due to their intricate designs have become very popular amongst western tourists. Himba homesteads are cone shaped structures made from palm leaves, mud and cattle dung. During the course of a year the family will move from one home to another in search of grazing for the animals. For this reason it is important not to take anything from a Himba hut even if it appears abandoned. The traditional village at Puros or the luxury Epupa Lodge are both good places to visit if you want to learn more about the Himba way of life.
When it was originally proclaimed at the turn of the century the Etosha Park consisted of an area of 100,000 square kilometres. This was the largest reserve on earth but in the 1960’s political pressure resulted in the Park being reduced to its current size. Etosha, meaning “Great White Place”, is dominated by a massive mineral pan. The pan is part of the Kalahari Basin, the floor of which was formed around 1000 million years ago.
The Etosha Pan covers around 25% of the National Park and was originally a lake fed by the Kunene River.
However, the course of the river changed thousands of years ago and the lake dried up. The pan now is a large dusty depression of salt and dusty clay which fills only if the rains are heavy, and even then, only
holds water for a short time. This temporary water in the Etosha Pan attracts thousands of wading birds including impressive flocks of flamingos.
The perennial springs along the edges of the Etosha Pan draw large concentrations of wildlife and birds. Etosha Pan is surrounded by sweetveld Savana plains, with Okaukuejo, located 17 km from the Southern entrance of the park, and was the first tourist camp to open in Etosha. Okaukuejo is famous for its flood- lit waterhole, where visitors can observe at close quarters a spectacle of wildlife congregating and interacting. Okaukuejo is the main administrative centre and headquarters of the Etosha Ecological Institute, where research and nature conservation management in Etosha are conducted.
Accommodation: Okaukuejo Resort – waterhole chalets
Okaukuejo Resort
Meals: All meals
Included activities: Game drives with your guide; game viewing at floodlit waterhole
Optional activities: Night drives with NWR guides
Driving time: 4 hours
Day 10 – 11 , October 11th-12th Okaukuejo Resort
After breakfast this morning you drive slowly through the park and ends at Namutoni Resort.
Namutoni Resort is one of Namibia wildlife resorts popular properties inside Etosha National Park. The main building is an old fort that towers over the Etosha pans. This fort provides some of the best sunset views in Etosha National Park.
Accommodation: Namutoni Resort – bush chalets
Meals: All meals
Included activities: Game drives in the park
Optional activities: Night drives with NWR guides
Day 12 October 13th: October Etosha – Windhoek Country Club Resort
After an early morning activity and brunch, you travel back to Windhoek, overnight at Country Club Resort, Pack for next day departure home.
Meals: All Meals
Accommodation: Windhoek Country Club Resort
Day 13 -October 14th Depart for home
Meals: Breakfast (brunch)
Fly home,
Services Included
● Accommodations (twin sharing basis)
● All meals
● Assistance at airports and at the hotels at the time of check
in/out in all the major cities.
● Road transfers for entire safari
● Bottled water during all meals, transfers, drives and sightseeing
(available in vehicle)
Services Not Included
● Any international Airfare, travel insurance or medical insurance. (health insurance is mandatory and travel insurance is highly recommended)
● Anything not mentioned in inclusion above.
● Tipping to accompanying escort is not included in our quote.
● Any expenditure of personal nature like alcoholic drinks, fruit Juice, shakes, sodas, laundry, telephone calls, or internet
● Anything ordered from room service at any hotel including
mineral water (other than what being offered by the hotels on their compliment).
● Visas and Vaccinations
● Any sudden increase in price due to steep hike in fuel cost, change in government tax policy or for any reason beyond our control like acts of god, natural calamity, law and order situation, riots etc and any forced change in itinerary for any unforeseen situation or reason beyond our control.
RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY:
A deposit of $1500 per person is required when registering to reserve your spot.
Payments via Bank Transfer: If you’ll like to pay via Bank Transfer, please let us know and will send you the transfer information. Email us please to require our information: internationalphototours@gmail.com
Full payment is due 160 days before the tour departure
If full payment is not received by the due date, we have the right to cancel your reservation and keep the deposit as office fee .
If you need to cancel your reservation, we must receive an email, at which time the following fees apply:
120 days before departure: 50% of trip fee–
This photo tour and workshop is offered as a complete package. Once the trip commences, we do not provide partial refunds for any cancellation or unused portion or service for any reason.To register and pay for the Namibia Photo Tour and Workshop
