Namibia Safaris

NAMIBIA BUDGET OVERLAND ADVENTURE SAFARI

Victoria falls to Cape Town

Day 1 Victoria Falls; Here the Zambezi River plunges 100 metres down a mile wide chasm, creating one of the most incredible natural wonders of the world. The local name for the Falls is 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' which means 'the smoke that thunders' and you'll soon find out why. When the river is in full flow, the falling water causes a huge roar and sends a cloud of spray up to 500 metres into the air.

There is so much to see and do at the Falls. Adventure activities abound - you can bungee jump, white water raft, take a Microlite flight above the falls, sky-dive and go game viewing on horse back. More sedate excursions include canoeing, light aircraft or helicopter flights over the Falls, and the sunset cruise on the Zambezi. Of course, the Victoria Falls themselves are the main attraction and you can walk through the rain forest along the cliff opposite for an excellent view.

Give yourself a couple of days before hand to see the splendour of the Falls and participate in many of the activities.

Days 2 - 5 Botswana: We cross the border into Botswana. We visit Chobe National Park and travel along the edge of the Kalahari Desert to Maun, a small town on the edge of the Okavango Delta.

Maun is also the starting point for the mokoro trip. A mokoro is a traditional dugout canoe and your transport into the Delta. As you glide through the waterways, you will see a fantastic array of lush Delta. Leaving this behind, we enter Namibia where the dirt road takes us along the edge of Mahango Game Park and on to Rundu.  Here we spend the night on the banks of the Kavango River, a picturesque divide from the shores of Angola.

Days 6 - 19 Namibia: Next stop is Etosha Pan National Park. Thousands of years ago this vast saltpan was a lake, until the Kunene river changed its course and deprived the lake of its water source. Now the pan and surrounding bush support large numbers and a wide range of wildlife. We spend a couple of day's game viewing from the truck during the day and spend the evenings around the floodlit water holes at the park's campsites. These water holes provide an excellent opportunity to observe animals that are hard to find during the day, particularly rhino and also smaller animals such as the genet. Elephant, lion, giraffe, zebra, oryx, ostrich, springbok, jackals, hyenas and meercats are also likely to be seen at Etosha.

From wild animals to tame ones, we spend a night at the Cheetah Farm where you can scratch the big cats behind the ears before watching them tuck in to their evening meal.
Namibia is a land of wide open spaces and we pass few inhabited areas as we drive towards the Atlantic Ocean and the Skeleton Coast. This area derives its name from the numerous ships and men that met their end on the treacherous coastline.

On our way to Swakopmund, we stop at Cape Cross where the first European explorer landed in the 15th century. It is now more famous for the Seal Reserve, a breeding ground for thousands of cape fur seals. They occupy the beaches almost as far as the eye can see and you can watch them suckling their young, resting in the sun and fighting with their neighbours.

Swakopmund is an old German colonial seaside resort with plenty of things to do for the energetic and plenty of beerkellers for those after a more relaxing time. Quadbiking or sand boarding on the dunes, deep sea fishing in the Atlantic or scenic flights over the coastline - these are just a few of the activities on offer.

Heading inland, we journey to the Namib Desert, famous for its 300 metre high sand dunes, the highest in the world. It can be hard work climbing to the top but the view is worth all the effort as the dunes stretch before you into the distance and change colour in the setting sun.

After an overnight stay in the desert we drive south to Fish River Canyon, at 85km long and 400m deep it's second in size only to the Grand Canyon. You can trek along the rim of the canyon and, from the viewpoints at the top, watch the setting or rising of the sun. There are hot springs in the south at Ai Ais (seasonal). Our last stop in Namibia is the Orange River, which forms the border with South Africa. You can spend an afternoon canoeing here.

Days 20 - 24 South Africa: Crossing the river we arrive in South Africa and drive through the sparsely populated areas of the Western Cape. We drive through mountain valleys and stony semi-desert before arriving in Stellenbosch, the centre of one of the Cape's many wine routes. A wine tour with plenty of tasting makes for a great day out.

Finally we arrive at our journey's end. Cape Town is a beautiful city, nestling at the foot of Table Mountain and you'll find plenty of café's, pubs, clubs, markets and sights to see. You can climb the mountain or take the cable car to the top for some wonderful views of the city and the Cape Peninsula. Nearby are several beaches where you may find yourself whalewatching from the shore or sharing your towel with a jackass penguin.

We arrive in Cape Town on the last day of the tour. We take you to a hostel where you can book a dorm or a room, or you can arrange your own accommodation at one of the many other hostels or hotels. There are several operators who run excursions to the surrounding area and further a field to the Garden Route and beyond. There is an international airport as well as flight, train and bus connections to other South African cities.

Africa is an unpredictable continent. We do not have a fixed itinerary so please treat the information given as a guideline only. Although our information is written in good faith at the time of printing, our route may vary at any time due to weather, politics or road conditions.

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