HONEYMOON TOUR – NAMIBIA

This tour takes you from Windhoek to the Waterberg with its unusual scenery and geological features, to a private game reserve on the border of Etosha National Park, to Swakopmund and the west coast, with its rich marine and bird life, its desert excursions, and hospitable charms. Finally, you return to Windhoek on the luxurious and intimate Desert Express.

DAYS 1 & 2: Hotel Heinitzburg, Windhoek - We will meet you at the airport and will give you your honeymoon travel portfolio. In addition, you will take possession of your hire vehicle. As Windhoek is the capital city of Namibia and offers much that is of cultural and historical interest, we recommend that you should spend one full day at leisure in the city.

Features: The fairytale-like Heinitzburg Hotel is located in one of Windhoek's conspicuous castles, which was completed in 1914 and overlooks the city from a commanding height. Recently developed and expanded into a fine hotel, Heinitzburg pays close attention to detail in everything from the four-poster beds to hand-made wooden furniture. Each en-suite room has a superb view of Windhoek and the Khomas Hochland mountain range. A full continental breakfast is served in a choice of settings: outdoors in the romantic garden café or indoors in the richly finished Aschenborn Room located in the old part of the castle. The views from the balcony overlooking Windhoek are spectacular and sundowners at sunset are a must for newly-weds.

Activities: Next morning your guide will call for you to take you on one or two of the following tours: a general tour of the city; an historical walking tour; or a township tour. You can also visit craft centres and/or places of particular historical interest, such as those connected with the German period, the South African period, and the independence period. You might also like to browse the book shops, or relax with a coffee or a beer at a café in the central city area, absorbing the relaxed ambience of Namibia.

DAY 3 & 4: Waterberg - Driving north from Windhoek, you pass through central Namibia's expansive bush-dotted grasslands that provide grazing for herds of cattle as well as for a wide variety of antelopes and other wild creatures. Motorists often see troops of baboons, small antelopes, and warthogs along the roadsides. Soon after leaving Windhoek, you can stop at the large open-air curio markets with their many wood carvings that are situated at the northern and southern edges of Okahandja. Just west of Okahandja you could relax for a few hours at Gross Barman hot baths.

Accommodation: Waterberg Wilderness Lodge is situated in a valley at the foot of the Waterberg plateau and is surrounded by the Waterberg National Park, which is home to many animals such as buffalo, rhino, leopard, vulture and various antelope. It is also a haven for over 200 species of birds. The lodge is the only establishment in the Waterberg region that can offer its guests guided hiking tours on the Waterberg Plateau. This is a small lodge that can only accommodated 14 guests in its seven rooms.

Activities: Hiking trails and game drives to Otjosongombe canyon and to Waterberg Plateau.

DAYS 5 & 6: Etosha National Park and vicinity - Today you drive to Ongava Safari Lodge, which is situated just outside the Andersson gate, the western entrance to the highly reputed Etosha National Park, a major destination for a holiday in Namibia. Your route takes you through Otjiwarongo and Outjo, towns that are typical of Namibia's central areas.

Accommodation: Ongava Safari Lodge, one of the finest lodges in the Etosha area, is situated on a 35 000 hectare private game reserve that shares a common border with Etosha National Park, a major destination for a holiday in Namibia. The lodge is close to the top of a hill with wonderful views across the plains from the split-level lounge, dining room, and bar. Guests are accommodated in ten luxurious chalets, each with glass doors that lead onto a private covered verandah were you can sit with your sundowners, listening to the sounds of the bush and watching the star-filled southern sky.

Activities: If you do not feel like driving you can go on the scheduled game drives on Ongava’s own reserve and the Etosha National Park in 4x4 safari vehicles, or track white rhino on foot with an armed guide. In addition, you can enjoy a night drive on the reserve, or wait for animals to appear at one of the hides. This is one of the few private game reserves in Southern Africa where you have a chance of seeing both black and white rhino.

DAYS 7, 8 & 9: Drive to Swakopmund, Namibia's premier holiday resort and the centre of the West Coast Recreational Area. With its German-era buildings, beaches and coastal promenade, and galleries and restaurants, Swakopmund is a major destination for a holiday in Namibia! it is also the gateway to the famous Skeleton Coast.

Accommodation: Stay at The Stiltz, a lodge that offers fine views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Swakop river-bed, sand dunes, and the lagoon at the mouth of the river which is rich in bird life. Each bungalow is separated from the others, with which it is connected by an elevated walkway. In fact, the whole lodge is built on stilts.

Activities: A guide can take you on a day excursion to Sandwich Harbour, or you can drive yourselves. If you are more inclined to play, you can go sand boarding or quad biking in the dunes outside Swakopmund. A romantic trip would be the dolphin cruise which leaves from Walvis Bay Lagoon. While in Walvis Bay you can view the bird life on the lagoon, which is one of Southern Africa’s largest wetlands.

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

DAY 10: Travel from Swakopmund to Windhoek on Namibia’s luxury train, the Desert Express, enjoying the exclusiveness and intimacy of this unique eighteen-hour journey.

OR DAY 10 (Alternative): Drive back to Windhoek, where once again you will stay in the romantic Heinitzberg Hotel. 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. Leave the next day for the airport and the end of your idyllic honeymoon.

Please feel free to discuss other possibilities with us. You might prefer to add destinations and/or to fly to some of the destinations, either on a special charter flight or on a fly-in safari.