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SANDSCAPES' RAIL-FLY TOUR – NAMIBIA
The first part of this tour is by rail on the luxurious Rovos Rail train. Your rail journey starts in Pretoria, South Africa, and ends in Swakopmund in Namibia, with excursions to Kimberly in South Africa, to the Fish River Canyon, to Windhoek, and to Etosha National Park, where there is an overnight stay in a lodge. The journey from Pretoria to Swakopmund takes six nights and seven days. The tour continues with a three-night stay in Swakopmund, allowing you to enjoy the many attractions of the coastal recreation area and adjacent desert, after which you fly to exclusive Sossusvlei Mountain Lodge, which is the centre piece of the extensive Namibrand Reserve in the Namib Desert and, as the name suggests, is within easy reach of Sossusvlei and its huge dunes. The tour concludes with a fly-in safari to the northern part of the famous Skeleton Coast - a spectacular, isolated, and little-known portion of Namibia.
NOTE: Please make early enquiries to allow co-ordination of the Rovos Rail and Skeleton Coast Fly-in schedules.
ITINERARY
DAY 1: Depart Pretoria from Rovos Rail's private Capital Park station.
DAY 2: Arrive in Kimberley. Tour of the Big Hole and city of Kimberley; depart Kimberley.
DAY 3: Arrive Holoog Siding; visit to the Fish River Canyon with lunch at Canõn Lodge. Generally considered to be the second largest in the world, the canyon is magnificent and breathtaking in its immensity - an effect that is enhanced by its rugged and wild environment, as well as by the fact that the visitor comes upon the canyon almost without warning, as it drops vertically and precipitately by half a kilometre out of a flat, arid plateau.
DAY 4: Arrive Windhoek; visit the Station Museum and enjoy a Windhoek city tour; lunch at Okapuka Ranch with afternoon game drive and lion feeding; depart Okapuka.
DAY 5: Arrive Tsumeb; transfer to Mokuti Lodge for lunch; game drive in Etosha National Park and overnight at the lodge. Etosha National Park is one of Southern Africa's finest and most renowned game reserves, attracting thousands of visitors every year, including numerous film-makers, researchers, and nature writers. Not surprisingly, it is the primary destination for most visitors to Namibia as well as a favourite venue for Namibians. Generally, visitors to Etosha can expect to see many antelope species in large numbers - zebras are very common, especially on the plains - as well as elephants, giraffes, rhinos and lions. There is prolific bird life, which includes many raptor species. More fortunate visitors will see leopards and cheetahs.
DAY 6: Early morning game drive in Etosha Park: depart Tsumeb.
DAY 7: Arrive in Swakopmund, stay at the Hansa Hotel.
DAYS 8 & 9: Stay at the Hansa Hotel. Visit Swakopmund and neighbouring attractions: Swakopmund is Namibia's premier holiday resort - a major destination for a holiday in Namibia - and the centre of the West Coast Recreational Area. Besides visiting the town with its many German-era buildings and singular charm, activities include visiting the nearby harbour and fishing port of Walvis Bay and its lagoon - one of Southern Africa's premier 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; and a cruise to view dolphins, seals, and other marine life.
Click here for a more comprehensive description of activities at the coast. Also click here for details of scenic flights from Swakopmund.
DAYS 10 & 11: Fly to Sossusvlei Mountain Lodge for an excursion to the Namib Desert and Sossusvlei. This fine lodge is situated in the northern foothills of the vast, privately owned NamibRand Nature Reserve (184 000 hectares), the largest private nature reserve in Southern Africa, enjoyed exclusively by lodge residents. The reserve is covered by wind-sculpted dunes, the highest in the world, and 700-million year-old mountains. Most visitors will want to enjoy the 4X4 excursion to Sesriem Canyon and Sossusvlei, home of what are reputed to be the highest dunes in the world, spectacular in their red-tinted immensity. Another favourite activity is ballooning over the desert.
DAY 12: Fly to Windhoek and stay overnight in the Heinitzburg Hotel or Olive Grove Guest House.
DAYS 13 to 15 (or 16, depending on flights): fly from Windhoek (2 ½ hrs) to Skeleton Coast Camp over the interior plateau of Namibia. The flight includes low-level flying along the coast as far as Rocky Point, viewing the coastal plains and dunes from the air.
Activities at this exclusive and isolated camp include visits to the clay castles of the Hoarusib River, Rocky Point, coastal shipwreck sites, seal colonies, cultural Himba villages, natural fresh water springs, lichen fields, roaring dunes and more. The guide also provides an in-depth introduction to the specially adapted reptiles, birds, insects and plants that have evolved over the ages to survive in this seemingly inhospitable place.
DAY 16 (or 17): At lunchtime depart for Windhoek by light aircraft, flying over the interior of Namibia. 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.
Depending on your schedule, you may catch your flight home soon after arrival, or may spend one more night in Windhoek.
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