Sandscape's Great South self-drive tour takes you from Swakopmund to the Fish River Canyon near the southern border of Namibia and includes premier destinations such as the canyon, the central and southern Namib Desert, Sossussvlei, and Luderitz.

However, the itinerary is flexible and can be adapted to your personal circumstances and interests. At Sandscapes, we assist you to experience and enjoy these popular destinations in the combinations, modes, and schedules that suit you best.

Sandscapes' Great South Itinerary

This is a self-drive tour, for which a driver and/or guide can be arranged, if necessary..

DAYS 1 & 2: Windhoek - Upon arrival, we will meet you at the airport and will give you your travel portfolio. In addition, you will take possession of your hire vehicle. As Windhoek is the capital city of Namibia and offers a lot that is of cultural and historical interest, we recommend that you should spend one full day at leisure in the city. Because of its situation and the fact that it is the site of the country’s major airport, many visitors begin and end their Namibian holiday in Windhoek.
Accommodation: Olive Grove Guest House or Hotel Heinitzburg
Activities: General tour of the city; historical walking tour; township tour; craft centres; places of particular historical interest, such as those connected with the German period, the South African period, and the independence period; browsing the stores and bookshops; relaxing with a coffee or a beer at a cafe in or just off Independence Avenue, absorbing the ambience of Namibia.

DAYS 3, 4, & 5: Atlantic Coast - Drive to Swakopmund, Namibia's premier holiday resort and the centre of the West Coast Recreational Area. Swakopmund is a major destination for a holiday in Namibia! Your route passes through the bush-dotted grasslands of the central highlands and then begins to drop towards the desert and the coast, with the landscape becoming drier and more desert-like after you have passed Karibib and Usakos. Less than an hour after leaving Windhoek, you might like to stop at Okahandja to view the numerous wood carving stalls at both entrances to the town.
Accommodation: Hansa Hotel
Activities: Set between dry desert and fertile ocean, with its German-era buildings and unusual misty climate, Swakopmund is a place in which to relax and take time out. Stroll along the pleasant beachfront, relax at the chic Mole beach, visit the art galleries, and enjoy the good restaurants, most of which specialise in seafood. However, the town is also the springboard for, and site of, a host of other sights and activities, such as

a slow trip down the coast, between dunes and ocean, to the nearby harbour and fishing port of Walvis Bay, visiting the lagoon - one of Southern Africa's foremost wetlands - with its thousands of water birds, including flamingos and pelicans;
a visit to the seal colony at Cape Cross;
a desert tour that includes the ancient welwitschia plants;
a day trip in a 4X4 vehicle to Sandwich Harbour, a desert-fringed marine lagoon that is fed by the underground waters of the Kuiseb River;
a cruise to view dolphins, seals, and other marine life;
deep-sea or shore-based fishing;
a visit to the singular (even quirky!) museum at Swakopmund;
browsing for art works and bric-a-brac;
a visit to the aquarium at Swakopmund;
quad-biking, hang-gliding, and sand-boarding on the desert dunes.

Click here for a more comprehensive description of activities at the coast. Also click here for details of scenic flights from Swakopmund.

DAYS 6 & 7: Sossusvlei and Sesriem - Your drive today takes you eastwards into the Namib Desert, first across outstretched plains with occasional rocky 'inselbergs' and then into the rugged defiles of the Kuiseb Canyon. Emerging from the canyon, you enter the pro-Namib, a semi-fertile strip between the escarpment and the desert proper. Here there are wide vistas of golden grass against red soil, fringed by the craggy background of the escarpment mountains. Your destination is the famous red dunes of Sossusvlei, the highest in Namibia and reputed to be amongst the highest in the world.
Accommodation: Little Kulala Lodge
Activities: Early morning guided drive to the spectacular dunes, which are at their very best at sunrise; game drives and walks; simply enjoying the breath-taking views and colours; and an early morning balloon trip, soaring silently above the magnificent sand dunes and desert.

DAY 8: Aus - Today you drive southwards along the escarpment region, which separates the higher terrain of the interior from the desert. There are fine vistas of golden-flaxen plains and distant grey-blue mountains. Take time to visit Duwisib Castle, now a national monument, which was built during the early 1900s by a German settler. He was killed while fighting in the First World War and his wife returned home to America, leaving the property and most of its fittings behind. Today the castle houses a museum that provides insights into colonial life one hundred years ago. Your overnight stay is near the small town of Aus, reputedly so called because in the days of wagon transport it was the exit point after the rugged and dangerous trip from the coast across the sands of the desert.
Acommodation: Klein Aus Vista Lodge
Activities: Relax, enjoy the fine views, and use it as your own staging post for the rest of your journey!

DAYS 9 & 10: Luderitz - Drive from Aus to Luderitz through the colourful and wide vistas of the southern Namib. Luderitz is a unique fishing port with many well preserved German-era buildings – the town where time stood still almost a century ago - situated on a rocky, island-guarded bay between the desert sands and the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.
Accommodation: Seaview Hotel Zum Sperrgebiet
Activities: Explore the environs, viewing flamingos and visiting historic Diaz Point and the rocky coast around the peninsula; take a yacht cruise to get a close-up look at whales, dolphins, and penguins; tour the dune-encroached ‘ghost town’ of Kolmanskop, once a rich and bustling diamond-mining centre; walk around Luderitz, viewing the many well preserved historical buildings. While driving to and from Aus, stop off at a roadside hide to view the famous wild horses of the Namib, taking in the silence and spaciousness of the desert.

DAYS 11 & 12: Fish River Canyon - Today you drive up and out of the Namib with its wealth of colours and vistas. Then, from Aus onwards, you cross the vastness of what Namibians simply call 'The South', with its low population density and huge ranches. As you approach the Fish River Canyon, the terrain becomes more broken and wild, providing dramatic evidence of the geological upheavals that gave birth to this great rift in the Earth, reputedly the second largest in the world - superseded only by the Grand Canyon, of course!
Accommodation: Cañon Lodge
Activities: Viewing the canyon, in all of its different moods and prospects (unfortunately there won't be time to undertake the famous hike through the canyon); a short guided drive to a viewpoint, followed by a hike back to the lodge for breakfast; flights over the canyon; experience the splendour of the canyon landscape on horseback; sundowner drives in the Gondwana Private Nature Reserve.

DAY 13: Kalahari stop-over - Today you drive northwards across the vastness of 'The South', perhaps stopping for a look at Keetmanshoop, the main town of the region. Just past Keetmanshoop, turn eastwards to visit the Kokerboom (quiver tree) Forest, which is situated in an impressive wild jumble of boulders and broken landscapes, known as the Giant's Playground. At Mariental, you turn eastwards and enter the world of the Kalahari, with its waves of red dunes under golden grass.
Accommodation: Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch
Activities: A 'nature drive’ during the early morning and late afternoon to view the unique dune topography and vegetation, as well as the rich bird and animal life; sundowners on a red Kalahari sand dune; visiting the sheep and cattle farming operations; viewing cheetahs.

DAY 14: Kiripotib Guest Farm - Today you have a relatively short drive northwards through ranch land to your destination. In the Nama-Damara language (officially known as 'Khoekhoegowab'), 'Kiripotib' means 'place where the lion drinks'. This is an active cattle and sheep ranch that is also home to the workshops that produce hand-woven karakul wool carpets and African Kirikara Art, as well as jewellery. Kiripotib offers stylish and comfortable rooms and invites guests to enjoy Namibian cuisine, featuring fresh farm products, in the thatched lapa or around the fire in the boma under the canopy of stars.
Activities: Now, towards the end of your Namibian experience, you can enjoy relaxing by the pool while enjoying the view over the savannah; hikes and walks; game drive and sundowners; learning about farming in this delicate environment with its variable rainfall; observing the full weaving process, from sorting the raw wool all the way through to viewing (and perhaps buying some of) the excellent products.

DAY 15: Airport departure or Windhoek - Today you can either drive directly to Windhoek International Airport to catch your departure flight, or you can choose to spend a last day and night in Windhoek.
Accommodation: Olive Grove Guest House or Heinitzburg Hotel
Activities in Windhoek: Preparing for your journey home; last minute shopping; a celebratory and reflective dinner at one of Windhoek's fine restaurants.

-

Extensions to Sandscapes' Great South Tour

EXTENSION ONE: From Cañon Lodge, take a short drive southwards to the Ai-Ais Hot Springs Resort, which is located within the canyon where it begins to decline in size toward the Orange River. Spend a day and night relaxing in the spa complex and walking in the rugged terrain in the vicinity of the resort.
Accommodation: The accommodation at Ai-Ais, which is provided by the parastatal Namibia Wildlife Resorts, does not meet Sandscapes’ criteria but is all that is available on the spot. However, it is clean and comfortable.

EXTENSION TWO: From Cañon Lodge or from Ai-Ais resort, drive eastwards through the town of Karasburg to the border and cross into South Africa, entering the touristically-named Green Kalahari. Then turn southwards to the Augrabies Falls where the Orange River drops almost 200 metres into a great granite chasm, giving rise to its Nama name ‘!oukurabes’ (from which the name ‘Augrabies’), meaning ‘place of big noises’. The falls are reputed to be the sixth largest in the world by volume, a condition that is probably realised in late summer when the river reaches its peak, swollen by rains in the mountains and high plateaus of central Southern Africa. At these times, the main channel is too small to carry the great volume of water and new waterfalls plunge over the sides of the chasm, filling the air with thunderous roaring and dense spray.

While in the area, you could travel upriver to the main town of the region, Upington, viewing the stark contrast between the dry desert environment and the lush, cultivated growth of the irrigated river banks. Low-cost but palatable wines are produced from the numerous vineyards.

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, approximately 260 km north of Upington, is worth a visit. This park, which was launched in the 1990s, is a co-operative venture between South Africa and Botswana and combines two pre-existing parks to form an area of more than 3.6 million hectares. Visitors travel mainly in the dry beds of the Nossob and Auob Rivers amidst spectacular red dunes that are the quintessence of the Kalahari. There are good chances of seeing large predators such as cheetah, leopard, brown and spotted hyena, and the famous black-maned lion, while various antelope species abound. Birding is also excellent; the park is especially renowned for its raptors.

However, Sandscapes is a Namibian enterprise, while Augrabies, the Transfrontier Park, and the Green Kalahari are all in South Africa, so we’ll say no more about our neighbour's charms! Please contact us if you are interested in adding this extension to your Great South Tour and we’ll do our best to advise and assist.

EXTENSION THREE: Fly-in Safaris
You might like to extend your Great South itinerary by including one or more of the fly-in safaris that will take you to remote, spectacular, and otherwise inaccessible parts of Namibia such as the northern Skeleton Coast and the mouth of the Kunene River.