Rhino Self Drive

Waterberg is situated north of Windhoek. From Windhoek your drive will be 305 kilometers, roughly 3 hours to reach Waterberg.  Once you pass through the town of Okahandja the landscape becomes flat, and the road is straight - pretty much the only notable geographical feature along this section of the road is the Omatako Mountains. Clearly these mountains have made quite an impression on Namibians for several centuries as the Herero word 'Omatako' is translated as 'bum'

Once arriving at the area, we recommend Waterberg Resort, as it is part of the Waterberg National Park. If you prefer other accommodation please see our map CENTRAL NAMIBIA, to choose different accommodation and we will book accordingly.

Here you will be able to do a guided safari up the Plato searching for Buffalo – Roan- Sable and other species. The view from the top is breath taking. There are beautiful hiking trails to enjoy in the vast green area as well.  Sunsets makes the contras of the huge red mountain spectacular.

Leaving Waterberg, you will have 380 kilometers to travel to Namutoni, entering the Park at the Von Lindquist gate, which is the eastern gate into Etosha. The drive will take you around 4 hours.

There is a variety of lodges to choose from our map ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK, to stay outside the park. Inside we would suggest a night’s stay at Namutoni Resort, a night at Halali Resort and the last evening at Okaukuejo. Due to the size of the park, the habitat differs from the eastern side to the western side.

Benefit of staying inside the park is: The waterholes in the evenings, and you get to drive around with the first light in the morning till sunset.

Driving from Namutoni Resort to Halali Resort. Experiencing the nature and animals. Visiting as much waterholes as you can.

Driving form Halali Resort to Okaukuejo resort. Exploring the nature and animal life. Seeing as much waterholes as you can.

Etosha Park

It is really worth waking early and heading out on your game drive as soon as the gates open at sunrise. Animals are most active in the cool of the day (early morning & late afternoon) and in order to maximize your chances of good viewings it is worth imitating their behavior.

The roads in Etosha are unsealed gravel roads but are in reasonable condition - and the general tourist behavior is to drive between various waterholes searching for animals. As the day gets hotter head for shade, and lunch, at one of the parks three camps, Okaukuejo, Namutoni or Halali. When things start to cool down again head out for another game drive.

With two full days in the park, you should have sightings of most of the parks inhabitants (although be warned the cats are notoriously hard to find - and of course what you see is determined by luck and more importantly your ability to spot wildlife).

You will leave Etosha via the Anderson gate and head south to the town Outjo. From Outjo you will proceed westwards to Khorixas. From Khorixas you proceed westwards till you reach the Petrified Forest. Here you will have to pay a local guide to show you the remains of the million year old petrified tree trunks. From here your head to Twyfelfontein. This world heritage site has an extremely high density of bushman rock engravings. Here you will be able to hire a local guide as well to show you more striking engravings.

The lucky ones will be able to see our desert adapted Elephants or Black Rhino on their journey.

Here you will also be able to choose accommodation from our map DAMARALAND. We recommend White Lady Lodge.

On your drive towards Uis, we would recommend a stop at the Brandberg Mountain. Brandberg Mountain is the highest point in Namibia. Here you will be able to see the “White Lady” rock painting.

From Brandberg you will be driving towards the coast, roughly 130 kilometers, where you will reach Henties Bay. From Henties you can turn north to visit Cape Cross which is 60 kilometer's away. Here you will see the seal colony.

Once you had enough of them, you can turn back past Henties towards Swakopmund. The drive back is about 130 kilometers.

On arrival to Swakopmund we recommend you to go and do your check in at your accommodation for your two nights, before you head out for a cold drink and a bite.

Alte Brucke would be a great choice of accommodation. You can also see more places on our map WEST COAST.

Fun filled day. Swakopmund offers you a host of adventure activities:

• Sand-boarding down the Namib dunes
• Guided tour into the dunes exploring the vast contras
• Skydiving
• Camel ride
• Quad-bike trip into the dunes
• Scenic flights
• You can also do the Welwitschia drive, you do however need to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism office.
• Dolphin Cruise in Walvis Bay

Activities could be booked beforehand, or one could book it on arrival in Swakopmund.

Swakopmund offers you great food and fantastic Beer!

As you leave Swakopmund towards Walvis Bay, you can explore the lagoon where you will able to view the pink flamingos.

Your drive will be around 350 kilometers for the day, which will take around 4-5 hours. You will drive through the Kuiseb & Gaub pass to reach Sossusvlei. The contras is spectacular.

We would recommend staying in Sossus Dune lodge. Advantage staying with them is, you are already in the park so with first light you can head down to the dunes.

There is a wide variety of other lodges to stay. Please see our map NAMIB NAULKUFT PARK

Wake up early and leave your lodge, heading for the Sesriem entrance gate to the Namib Naukluft Park. This gate only opens at sunrise, so there is no point arriving earlier, but driving the 60 kilometers from Sesriem through the dunes towards Sossusvlei while the sun rises is a real pleasure.

The first major dune you will encounter goes by the imaginative name of Dune 45 - many people choose to stop and climb this dune, but we suggest you continue onwards towards Sossusvlei. Park at the 2x4 car park (unless you have a 4x4 vehicle this is as far as you can drive), Sossusvlei is a further 4km from here, but you are already amongst fairly large dunes. The walk along the dry riverbed into Sossusvlei is lovely but for the very unfit or terminally lazy there are 4x4 shuttles from the car park to Sossusvlei. Deadvlei, so named because it is a large pan with sculptural dead trees, is close by and definitely worth a visit. On your way back to the lodge stop at the Sesriem Canyon - follow the signs from the Sesriem Campsite.

A flight in a hot air balloon over Sossusvlei is spectacular if you want to do something different if you would like to do something early.

Today we drive back to Windhoek. Enjoy your breakfast and the last part of Namibia’s gravel roads.  If you are not flying out today, we could recommend you accommodation, see our map WINDHOEK REGION, and book it for you.