namibia
dunes, the hoanib and the kunene
Thirteen nights linking the Sossusvlei dunes, the Skeleton Coast, the Kunene River and Etosha's rhino country.
- Private Safari
- From $17,960 pp
- 2 guests
- 13 nights
trip highlights
- Kulala Desert Lodge holds a private gate on the Tsauchab that lets guides reach the dunes of Sossusvlei and the clay pan of Deadvlei before the public Sesriem gate opens.
- Rooftop platforms at Kulala are set with bedrolls for open-air nights under the Milky Way and the Southern Cross, with little light pollution across the reserve.
- Strand Hotel Swakopmund stands out on the historic Mole with the Atlantic breaking on three sides and the Namib dunes a few streets inland.
- Shipwreck Lodge stands alone in the Skeleton Coast Central Concession, with game drives working the dry riverbeds and dune faces for desert-adapted elephants, lions and brown hyenas.
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Across the Namib to the Skeleton Coast
This nine-night route links the length of the Namibian desert. It opens on the Zannier Reserve outside Windhoek, then crosses to the red dunes and white clay pans of Sossusvlei. From there it reaches Swakopmund on the Atlantic, before turning north into the Skeleton Coast National Park between the Hoarusib and Hoanib rivers. A final night back in Windhoek closes the loop.
You travel by road and light aircraft, with the remote legs flown in. Days hold dune climbs at first light, coastal drives, and game drives working the dry riverbeds for desert-adapted wildlife. The stays range from thatched huts above a rhino reserve to timber cabins in the dunes, with a beachfront hotel and two Windhoek bases at either end.
Daily Itinerary Breakdown
Windhoek Arrival on the Zannier Reserve
The long-haul flight ends not in a city hotel but on open grassland, thirty to forty minutes from Hosea Kutako International Airport. The private Zannier Reserve covers roughly 9,000 hectares of central Namibian savannah, run in partnership with the N/a'an ku sê Foundation, and a waterhole below the lodge draws giraffe and antelope with rhino and elephant as occasional visitors. At Omaanda, round thatched huts drawn from Owambo homestead architecture stand on stone plinths, each opening onto a private terrace facing the plains, with a fireplace for cool winter nights and a bathtub set for the view.
- Accommodation at Omaanda
Sossusvlei Dunes and Deadvlei
From here you drive into Namib-Naukluft National Park at first light, reaching the red dunes and the white clay pan of Deadvlei while the sand is still cool and most visitors are still waiting at Sesriem. Big Daddy, the great dune above Deadvlei, is climbed in the cold early hours, with the run back down landing you among skeletal camelthorn trees. Kulala Desert Lodge sits within the Kulala Wilderness Reserve on the dry Tsauchab River, its own private gate the reason for the head start. Each of the 23 thatched-and-canvas chalets carries a flat rooftop platform where staff set out bedrolls for open-air nights.
- Accommodation at Kulala Desert Lodge
Swakopmund on the Atlantic
The route reaches the coast at Swakopmund, where morning fog drifts in off the water and burns off by midday, and the town centre is a flat five-minute walk from the seafront. Three restaurants, a beer garden and a beach pavilion line the promenade, with Brewer Butcher brewing on site and Ocean Cellar taking Namibian oysters and abalone to a show kitchen. Strand Hotel Swakopmund sits out on the Mole, the historic breakwater, with the Atlantic breaking on three sides and waves against the seawall below the balconies. Most of its 125 rooms and suites look out over the water.
- Accommodation at Strand Hotel Swakopmund
Skeleton Coast Dunes and Riverbeds
You fly north by light aircraft to Möwe Bay, then transfer the final stretch, since self-driving beyond Möwe Bay is not permitted and vehicle numbers stay very low. Days here are built around the coast rather than a waterhole, with game drives working the dry riverbeds and dune faces for desert-adapted elephants, lions and brown hyenas, alongside oryx, springbok and black-backed jackals; a full-day drive south takes in the Möwe Bay seal colony and old shipwrecks. Shipwreck Lodge stands on the dunes of the Skeleton Coast Central Concession, ten timber cabins drawn from the wrecks that name this coastline, each warmed by a wood-burning stove.
- Accommodation at Shipwreck Lodge
Windhoek to Close the Loop
The trip returns to Windhoek for a last night in the Eros suburb, roughly ten minutes from the city centre by car and set in a basin ringed by the Khomas Highland, Auas and Eros mountains. This is the base where luggage gets laid down, repacked and reset after the remote camps. Galton House gathers nine rooms around a garden courtyard with a water feature, with a pool on the upper terrace; it opened in 2011 and runs on solar power. A day room with a shower and changing space handles the awkward gaps between flights.
- Accommodation at Galton House
Ed Charles, BBC Producer
Fitzroy are true specialists in accessing the wilderness. They know where to go and importantly, when to go there. Highly recommended.
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namibia
the namib dunes to damaraland
Eleven nights across Namibia, from the Sossusvlei dunes and the Atlantic coast to the granite ridges of Damaraland.
- Private Safari
- From $11,090 pp
- 2 guests
- 11 nights
namibia
tracking desert rhino
Twelve nights across Namibia, from the Namib dunes and the Atlantic coast to rhino tracked on foot in Damaraland and at Ongava.
- Private Safari
- From $12,735 pp
- 2 guests
- 12 nights
rated five stars by our clients
our approach
remote, exclusive
& personal
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
Every journey starts with a conversation. We favour a direct, personal approach: understanding your vision before anything else.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape a journey that is both thoughtfully considered and expertly delivered.
Get in touch to start planning yours.