Rugged yet fragile, barren but beautiful, Namibia is an undiscovered wilderness that embodies the wide beauty of Africa. Our trip sets out to explore the extraordinary way that human, plant and animal life have adapted to survive in Namibia’s dry climate. Accompanied by Namibia expert, Kurt Schlenther, the trip begins in Windhoek where the city’s rich German cultural heritage is reflected in many sights including the Alte Feste, a German fort and the oldest surviving building in Windhoek.
Travel west to the Namib Naukluft National Park where the drifting sand-seas of the oldest desert in the world provide a dramatic landscape of flame-colored rolling dunes punctuated by expansive blue skies and acacia trees. These dunes typify what Namibia has in abundance: majestic, uninhabited and seemingly unending space. Head north to Swakopmund where a walking tour of this colonial town ends at the Sam Cohen Library. Explore Walvis Bay where great flocks of greater and lesser flamingoes gather in a local lagoon. Fly by chartered plane to Kaokoland. This almost inaccessible area is home to the Himba ethnic group who have maintained their individuality and culture in the seclusion of this corner of the country. This semi-nomadic tribe of cattle herders is one of Namibia’s oldest ethnic minorities.
Return home along the Skeleton Coast, a battered, fog-bound, all-but-lifeless expanse of dunes along the Atlantic that over the centuries has claimed the lives of countless sailors – hence its ominous name. At Twyfelfontein admire over 2,000 rock engravings which date back to the stone-age. Unlike most prehistoric art sites in Africa, these are not paintings but engravings in sandstone. Predominantly portrayed are lions, giraffes and elephants but there are a number of abstract images which remain unidentified. Drive north to Etosha National Park and the Etosha Pan, a huge, silvery depression that attracts enormous amounts of game. The pan appears to be the remnant of a large inland lake that was fed by rivers from the north and east. Spend a day exploring this vast area of wilderness which covers the greater part of north-central Namibia.
Explore the eastern part of the country – an area known as Bushmanland and the last stronghold of the Ju Wasi San, the earliest inhabitants of Namibia. Learn about their language laced with clicks and their way of life that is perfect in its adaptation to raw nature. The Bushmen never kept livestock or cultivated crops. With their sharpened digging sticks they find water, hunt and live off indigenous plants. Namibia and Botswana are the last refuge of these ancient tribes. Return to Windhoek stopping at the Waterberg Park. The park is home to the Cheetah Conservation Fund, guardians of Namibia’s 2,500 cheetah’s, the world’s greatest concentration of the highly endangered species. Return home from Windhoek.
Group size is limited to 15 travelers.
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