Etosha, Himba & Skeleton
Coast Camping Safari

Day 1: Saturday Windhoek – Mt. Etjo and Okonjati Nature Reserve – 230 km
You will be collected from your accommodation within the Windhoek city limits at 07:15 and transferred to Chameleon Headquarters for a short pre-departure meeting.
Heading north, we will make our first stop in the small town of Okahandja, where we will find Namibia’s largest wood carving market. Craftsmen from all over Namibia come here to showcase a wide variety of items, both large and small. Here we have the opportunity to collect a truly Namibian souvenir and, at the same time, to support the local artists and communities.
Onwards to our overnight destination at Mt. Etjo campsite, which is located adjacent to the private Okonjati Game Reserve. After setting up camp and preparing lunch, we will drive the three kilometres to the lodge, where we will have time to explore the grounds and take a dip in the pool.

The lodge is built in an attractive Moroccan style, featuring red terracotta buildings, abundant palm trees, and lush lawns. Around the lodge, and throughout the Okonjati reserve, rainwater dams have been built, creating, after good rains, many large pools and small lakes. Around the main lodge area, the lake is extensive and supports a small population of hippopotamus. The habitat that these giant ‘water cows’ enjoy at the lodge is artificial, as hippos do not occur naturally in this semidesert region of Namibia. It does, however, offer us the privilege of perhaps seeing and photographing this iconic African species without having to travel many kilometres to the far north of Namibia.

Time for our first game drive, we meet our local guide and climb aboard open game viewing vehicles for our about three-hour excursion into the reserve. The reserve is big, 36,000 hectares (nearly 90,000 acres), and it is as abundant in magnificent scenery as it is in wildlife. The overall terrain is dotted with truly massive copper, red and grey termite mounds and is rich in native vegetation, dominated by Vachellia (formerly Acacia), thorn scrub and standing mopani trees. Okonjati Reserve is mainly free of invasive vegetation, thanks in part to the healthy appetites of the resident pachyderms and other shrub-browsing species found here. This allows for areas of open and semi-open grassland savanna, crisscrossed with many dry streams and riverbeds. Perfect for the game and perfect for us, as the open landscape makes game viewing and photography a pleasure.

We are hoping for the Big Five, specifically elephant and rhino, but we are also keeping an eye out for giraffe and other smaller species. Springbok, wildebeest, impala and kudu are numerous, but also mammals like warthog, steenbok, and Damara dik dik are all waiting to be spotted by sharp eyes. In the bush and around the seasonal waterholes, the game and birdlife are abundant.

Not to be outdone by the wildlife, the scenery remains the dominant feature. Pristine bush under truly iconic African Big Skies with a backdrop of towering red and grey sandstone. It doesn’t get much better than this. Around sunset, we will stop for refreshments before returning to the lodge and then heading back to our campsite. Dinner tonight will be cooked by our guide over an open fire.

We are not done yet, though!

After dinner, we headed back to the lodge to watch some of the resident lions enjoy their evening meal. These Big Cats are permanent residents at Mt. Etjo and have their own large, secure enclosure where they live and hunt naturally. From a safe hide that offers a close-up view, we can watch and photograph these magnificent cats as they arrive to enjoy the extra snack that is laid out for them.
From here, we once again head back to our camp, where, after a jam-packed day, we can finally settle down for our first night under canvas.

Accommodation: Twin share tents, shared ablution at campsite
Meals: Lunch & Dinner

Day 2: Sunday – Mt. Etjo – Okaukuejo – Etosha National Park – 280 km
Departing after breakfast, we head back to the main road to continue our journey north toward Etosha National Park. We make a short stop for essential supplies in the small town of Outjo before continuing to Etosha’s main camp at Okaukuejo.

We are introduced to the park with a short game drive between the main entrance gate (Anderson Gate) and Okaukuejo Camp, with a good chance to spot big game right from the very start. Etosha is huge, just over 22,000 square km and is home to 114 species of mammal, 350 species of bird, 110 species of reptile, countless numbers of insects and, somewhat bizarrely, one species of fish.
After setting up our campsite, we will head out into Etosha searching for big game. Elephants, rhinos, giraffes and the big cats are often seen in this area. We also look for the smaller species; several types of antelope and gazelle abound, zebra are common, and the birdlife can be spectacular.

All visitors must be back in camp at sunset, but the ‘game show’ doesn’t stop when the sun goes down. Accessible on foot and only a short walk from our campsite, Okaukuejo is justly renowned for its floodlit waterhole, where we are afforded the chance to see all of Etosha’s treasures. Big cats, elephants and the whole spectrum of smaller game, but in particular, this is our best chance of getting up close to a black rhino. Namibia is the last stronghold of these critically endangered creatures, but here, at Okaukuejo, they are regular visitors.

Accommodation: Twin share tents, shared ablution at campsite
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 3: Monday – Okaukuejo – Halali – Okaukuejo – Etosha National Park
We have the whole day to explore Etosha, and we want to make the most of it. The park gates open at sunrise, and after an early breakfast, we will aim to be on our way as the sun breaches the horizon. We will explore Etosha with a local guide on an open game viewer today. Early morning is usually a productive time for game viewing, and first thing in the morning is a good time to catch big cats returning from the hunt.

Etosha is a desert landscape, and water is the most scarce natural resource. There are, however, numerous waterholes here, both natural and man-made, and our game-driving technique is to take in as many as possible. Here, we hope the game will come to us as the animals attend to an early-morning drink. Continuing our game drive en route to the camp at Halali. The name Halali is derived from a bugle refrain that was initially used during sport hunting with horses and hounds in Europe. The bugler would sound the Halali to signify that the hunt was over. This was considered appropriate for Etosha, as inside the protection of the park, the hunting of animals is over forever. We will have lunch at Halali. There is a small shop with basic merchandise and a few souvenirs, and there will also be time for a swim in the pool. There is also time to visit the Halali camp waterhole before we head back out into the park for our afternoon game drive.

On our way back to Okaukuejo, we will stop to have a closer look at the Etosha Pan. The name Etosha translates as ‘great white space’, but this name does not do justice to the immensity of the pan. Over 4,700 square km of dazzling white mineral pan, so big that it can be seen from space.

Keeping a sharp lookout for game as we rewind our way to Okaukuejo. We aim to arrive back at camp just before sunset, in time for the best hour of the day at the Okaukuejo waterhole.

Accommodation: Twin share tents, shared ablution at campsite
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 4: Tuesday – Okaukuejo – Palmwag – 320 km
Time to leave Etosha and concentrate on some of Namibia’s other highlights. We will have an early breakfast and then take a game drive to exit the park and return to the main road.

Our first stop of the day is a fascinating cultural visit to the Otjikandero Himba Village, located near the small town of Kamanjab. The Himba people traditionally have their homeland in the very far northwest of Namibia in extremely remote yet beautiful areas. Because their communities were so isolated, the influence of the modern world reached them more slowly, allowing them to maintain their traditional lifestyle longer than in other ancient cultures. With the advent of tourism and the natural flow of change, many Himba have migrated further south, but traditions die hard. Among all the other ethnic groups in Southern Africa, the Himba people retain and live their traditions to this day.

The Otjikandero Himba Village is a traditional village where its residents live permanently and primarily adhere to their cultural traditions. It is not a time capsule; the 21st century has arrived here as well, but it is a good representation of conventional Himba life. We will be invited into the village, and our visit will be guided. We will be encouraged to take photos and ask questions, ensuring that we do not invade anyone’s privacy.
After our visit to Otjikandero, we will make a brief stop in Kamanjab before continuing our journey. The next leg of our trip today is genuinely spectacular. We turn to the west and head towards the mighty Etendeka Mountains and the Grootberg Pass. Etendeka translates as ‘flat top’, and indeed many of the surrounding mountains have flat table-tops. The terrain here is covered with small uniform boulders, a legacy of the breakup of Gondwanaland when what is now Southern Africa broke away from what is now South America around 180 million years ago.
A time of massive volcanic upheaval, and the same rocks (Etendeka basalts), can be found in great abundance in Brazil. As we travel through this rocky landscape, we can enjoy the sweeping views and spectacular landscapes of this ancient land.

Palmwag is set out abreast of the Uniab River and under waving makalani palm trees, which often provide a refuge for Namibia’s unique desert-adapted elephants. Sometimes coming very close to our camp, and sometimes coming right in for a visit, the elephants have been known to drink water from the swimming pools. We arrive in the late afternoon and set up our camp in time to enjoy a sundowner and hopefully see some of the resident elephant herds.

Accommodation: Twin-share tents, shared ablutions at the campsite.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 5: Wednesday – Palmwag – Spitzkoppe – 420 km
We have reached the limit of our northern adventure, and today we first head west to the Atlantic Ocean and then directly south, following the coastline to Cape Cross and onwards to Spitzkoppe.

We set off through more beautiful scenery and passing many weird and wonderful species of vegetation that this area is famous for. In particular, we will see Namibia’s National plant, the wonderful and endemic Welwitschia Mirabilis. This species is, in fact, a dwarf tree and is found only in Namibia and southern Angola. The Welwitschia is a drought-resistant superstar and almost as old as the landscape itself. Some specimens are known to be over 1,500 years old.

We enter the Skeleton Coast National Park through the northern Springbokwasser Gate, and soon afterwards, we meet the chilly Atlantic Ocean. It is easy to see why this barren seaboard is called the Skeleton Coast, with its forbidding mountains and barren beaches. The wind, the waves and the huge fog banks all conspire to push ships onto the beach. The countless mariners who, in olden times, found themselves shipwrecked here faced the stark prospect of no fresh water, no food, no rescue and a slow death by exposure. Their Shipmates who went down with their ship were thought to be the lucky ones. There are some remnants of human activity along our road today. In the early 1960s, two pioneering entrepreneurs, Jack Scott and Ben du Preez, were convinced that both oil and diamonds would be discovered along the Skeleton Coast and that this was their chance at fame and fortune. At great expense, a massive drilling rig was set up and operated, and a borehole of 1,700 meters was drilled before they finally admitted there was no oil.

Not daunted and encouraged by reports of huge diamonds at Cape Cross, the same pair constructed a diamond mine and processing plant at Toscanini, close to where their abandoned oil rig was already rusting away. Some diamonds were ‘found’, but there was great suspicion that the diamond processor had been ‘seeded’ with diamonds from elsewhere. A ploy to keep the investors happy for a little bit longer. Both enterprises ended in failure, but we will pass by Toscanini, and we can stop and have a look at the now collapsed oil drilling machine.

Exiting the park at the Ugab River crossing with its Instagram-worthy iconic gates, we continue onto one of the largest seal colonies in the world. Nobody knows exactly why the seals chose Cape Cross as their home, but there must be a good reason, as there are usually upwards of 100,000 seals basking on the rocks or swimming just off the beach. These Cape fur seals are found only in South Africa, Namibia and Angola and are near endemic to Namibia. Cape Cross is the largest Cape fur seal colony in the world, but there are many smaller colonies also to be found on the Namibian beaches, and the Namibian Skeleton Coast hosts by far the majority of the world’s population. Cape Cross is an outstanding sight, and a challenge for your nose, the smelliest stop on our safari.

Cape Cross takes its name from the stone crosses that proudly sit close to the seal colony. The first cross to be erected here was done so on the orders of the Portuguese mariner Diogo Cão in 1485. In those days, the cross would have been called a ‘Padrao’, and the location was thus named Cabo do Padrao or Cape Cross. The original cross is in a museum in Germany, and the two crosses visible today are replicas, erected respectively by the German government and the monuments council of South Africa. The concrete discs set around the two replica crosses are, in fact, set out to represent the stars of the Southern Cross. A tribute to the navigational skills of the tough breed of men who made the first voyages of discovery. Diogo Cão never made it home to Portugal from this voyage, and his death is shrouded in mystery.

We continue back inland to the magnificent Spitzkoppe Mountain. These granite mountains stand out against the gravel plains and are renowned for stunning sunsets and sunrises, as well as for night photography. After setting up camp, we go into the mountains for sunset before returning to camp for dinner.

Accommodation: Twin-share tents, shared ablutions at the campsite.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 6: Thursday – Spitzkoppe – Swakopmund – 420 km
After breakfast and breaking camp, we head back to the coast and then south along the coast to the adventure capital of Namibia, Swakopmund.

Heading south on the coast road, our first stop is a more recent shipwreck. 15 km south of the small town of Henties Bay, a fishing trawler, The Zeila, was beached in 2008. She was an old vessel that had been sold for scrap and was under tow at the time. The cable snapped, and, like so many vessels before her, she was caught in the swell and currents and ended up on the beach. She lies quite close to the shore and is well-positioned for photos. Continuing south along the coast road, there is another interesting stop to make before we arrive in Swakopmund. Namibia is home to a world-record number of lichens, and along the coast here we find vast lichen fields. Examples like this, of this nature and scale, are very rare worldwide. Lichen often look like plants and do to some degree function like plants, but they are not plants and can be well described as a composite organism. The lichen we find in such abundance along the Skeleton Coast is called macro-lichen, which typically refers to lichens that are bush-like or leafy. The curious thing about lichen is that it is made up of two separate organisms, algae and fungi. Neither organism would be able to survive in this environment on its own (separate them, and they will both die), but together they form a symbiotic relationship within which both can thrive. The fungi are responsible for collecting the moisture that they both use, and the algae are responsible for the food. Unlike plants, lichens have no roots, but they do perform photosynthesis, or rather, the algae part of the lichen, which is green, performs photosynthesis. The chemical sugars produced by this process keep both fungi and algae well-fed.

It seldom rains on the Skeleton Coast, but the region is known for its fog. Heavy mist is common, occurring up to 250 days of the year, and all the organisms, including lichen, that survive on the Skeleton Coast, are specially adapted to be able to utilise fog as their primary source of water. Lichen is exceptionally fragile. Typically, it grows at a rate of around 1 millimetre per year, and it is easily damaged. Off-road driving is a significant problem for the conservation of these unique lichen fields, but a lot of damage is also done simply by people walking on the lichen. Our guide will direct us where we are allowed to walk as he introduces us to the lichen fields, and we must exercise great care to avoid causing any damage during our visit.

We complete the final leg of our journey into Swakopmund, an interesting place to say the least, bound to the north, the east and the south by the mighty dunes of the Namib Desert and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean. There are still many examples of colonial German architecture, and German is widely used. The town was founded in 1892 by Captain Kurt von François of the German Empire’s imperial colonial army. (He also founded Windhoek in 1890).

Swakopmund offers many opportunities to keep us busy during our time here. The town centre is small and easily explored on foot, but there are also many extra, optional activities available. Scenic flights over the desert are very popular, and for the more adventurous, try skydiving or quad biking over and in the Namib dunes. For the more leisurely-minded, there are bicycle tours and the very popular ‘living desert’ excursions. Here you will join a group in a vehicle with a specialist guide who will take you into the sand dunes and introduce you to some of the remarkable creatures and plants that survive in one of the toughest environments in the world.

Our guide will discuss all the options with you in advance and will be able to facilitate any bookings that we would like to make.

You will be dropped off at your accommodation anywhere within the city limits of Swakopmund.

Lunch, dinner and accommodation tonight are for your own account. Swakopmund boasts some truly excellent restaurants, and again, our guide will be able to help you with recommendations and bookings.

Accommodation: None
Meals: Breakfast