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
trip highlights
- A full-day excursion from the Tsauchab riverbed reaches the red dunes, the 900-year-old dead trees of Deadvlei and the shaded walls of Sesriem Canyon.
- On the Atlantic coast, kayaking runs beside the Cape fur seal colony at Pelican Point and Living Desert tours read the dune belt at the edge of town.
- In the red-rock country of the Doro !Nawas Conservancy, guides track desert-adapted elephants by vehicle across gravel plains and dry riverbeds.
- Three nights on the Ongava reserve pair daylight drives along Etosha's waterhole loops with night drives, walking and rhino tracking on private ground.
Scroll for the full itinerary
Across Namibia from the Namib to Etosha
This eleven-night route crosses Namibia from south to north. You begin in the capital, Windhoek, then move to the Sossusvlei dunes of the southern Namib, the fog-bound Atlantic town of Swakopmund, the red-rock silence of Damaraland, the waterholes of Etosha and finally the private Zannier Reserve near the airport.
Travel runs largely on light aircraft, the network Namibia’s safaris depend on. The days hold dawn dune climbs, coastal tours, tracking on foot and by vehicle, and full days inside Etosha. The lodges range from an owner-led desert camp and a design-led coastal hotel to granite-set suites and huts on a rhino reserve, with a quiet guesthouse for the first night.
Daily Itinerary Breakdown
Windhoek: Arrival on the Highland Plateau
Namibia's capital sits on the Khomas Highland plateau at roughly 1,700 metres, and for most safari guests it plays one clear role: a settled night between an international arrival and the light-aircraft flight onward. A walkable centre holds the Christuskirche and the Independence Memorial Museum, which reward an hour or two rather than a full day. Nine rooms gather around a garden courtyard at Galton House, a quiet, solar-powered guesthouse in the Eros suburb, built for the first and last night of a Namibia trip.
- Accommodation at Galton House
Sossusvlei: Red Dunes and the Dead Pan
Arriving from Windhoek, you reach the dune landscape of the southern Namib, held within Namib-Naukluft National Park. Dawn decides the day here: low light rakes the orange-red dunes while the sand is still cool, and at the foot of Big Daddy the camel thorn trees of Deadvlei have stood dead for some 900 years against white clay. A full-day excursion follows the quieter routes to the dunes, Deadvlei and Sesriem Canyon, with lunch set up among the sand. Thomas and Henreza Becker run Hoodia Desert Lodge themselves, its canvas-walled chalets spaced along the Tsauchab riverbed facing the Naukluft mountains, and they lead the Sossusvlei day in person.
- Accommodation at Hoodia Desert Lodge
Swakopmund: Cold Atlantic and the Dune Belt
From the desert you move to the coast, where Swakopmund's palm-lined streets and Wilhelmine facades meet the cold Atlantic, and sea fog pulled in by the Benguela Current usually lifts by midday. The days run to kayaking beside the Cape fur seal colony at Pelican Point, Living Desert tours after chameleons and lizards, and sandboarding on the dunes at the edge of town. Two storeys of balconies wrap a green courtyard garden at The Delight Swakopmund, ten minutes' walk from the Mole; there is no dinner service by design, so you eat out in the town's seafood restaurants, tables booked from the lobby.
- Accommodation at The Delight Swakopmund
Damaraland: Tracking Desert Elephants
Inland from the coast lies the red-rock country of southern Damaraland, all granite hills, gravel plains and dry riverbeds. On this private concession in the Doro !Nawas Conservancy, guides track desert-adapted elephants by vehicle and can leave the road entirely to follow the animals, while solar-powered e-bikes and guided walks stretch the range to rock formations and old engravings; Twyfelfontein, a UNESCO rock-art site, lies about twenty minutes away. Six suites sit high on a ridge among granite boulders at Onduli Ridge, with Brandberg closing the southern horizon and the king bed rolling out onto a private deck.
- Accommodation at Onduli Ridge
Etosha: The White Pan and Its Waterholes
Three nights bring you to the edge of Etosha, whose defining feature is the vast white salt pan, ringed by springs and boreholes where the wildlife collects through the dry season. Full days inside the park follow the waterhole loops in daylight, turning up elephant, giraffe, zebra and lion on the open margins, while on the private Ongava reserve the rules loosen for night drives, walking safaris and rhino tracking on foot. Eight suites in stone, glass and blond wood make up Anderssons at Ongava, and a tunnel from the deck leads to a sunken hide at the waterline where rhino, giraffe and antelope drink a few metres from the glass.
- Accommodation at Anderssons at Ongava
Zannier Reserve: A Last Night on the Savannah
A final night comes on the private Zannier Reserve, some 9,000 hectares of central Namibian savannah run in partnership with the N/a'an ku sê Foundation, thirty to forty minutes from the international airport but with Windhoek absorbed entirely from view. As a private conservancy it allows what a national park could not: tracking rhino and elephant on foot, carnivore tracking and time behind the scenes of the conservation work, with game drives at sunrise and sunset across the plains. Round thatched huts drawn from Owambo homestead architecture make up Omaanda, each opening onto a terrace facing the grassland, with a waterhole below the lodge drawing giraffe and antelope into view.
- Accommodation at Omaanda
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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- Group Departure
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namibia
dunes, shipwrecks and the skeleton coast
Nine nights across Namibia, from the red dunes of Sossusvlei to the Atlantic and the remote Skeleton Coast.
- Private Safari
- From $9,765 pp
- 2 guests
- 9 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.