About Chameleon Safaris

Established in 1995 by Jackie Burton, after many years backpacking in Asia and from Cairo to Cape Town, it seemed a natural decision to share my love for Namibia, its people and the amazing animals, with others. I did so by starting a company offering safaris in Namibia and being fascinated by chameleons and having had some very close encounters whilst backpacking, it was a natural step to name the company after my favourite animal. Joined in 2000 by Bossie Coetzer, who had backpacked through America, Europe and Southern Africa, we made a formidable team and started our crazy adventure together. Through the years we have recruited and trained many Namibians into this wonderful industry as well as made some amazing friends from around the world.

Our focus early on was to support local Namibian communities to ensure that the tourism dollar reached the rural areas as all Namibians should benefit, as well as introduce our guests to genuine characters in off the beaten track places. This meant we had to move from minibuses to 4×4 vehicles to enable us to reach some of the lesser-known areas.

Did you know
Chameleon Safaris began in the garage of the Cardboard Box Backpackers in Windhoek — and Aulden & Rachael, who once ran the Box, now design and build this website.
Did you know
Namibia's Namaqua chameleon runs across desert sand to hunt — one of the few chameleons that lives on the ground rather than in trees, and right at home in the Namib.
Did you know
Suzie, our General Manager, joined as a trainee guide in 2000 aged 19 — and met her husband, a fellow Chameleon, on the road.
Did you know
Chameleon Safaris has been locally owned and operating since 1995, making it one of Namibia's longest-established safari operators.

Bronhil

Gideon

Gregory

Johnny

Josef

Kennedy

Michael

Raymond

Smithley

Taimi

Ali

Emgard

Jordan

Lynn

Macedo

Suzie

Iina

Mundu

Willem

Scroll to Top