Namibia Photo Adventure Safari

After landing at Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport, we are transferred to the Galton House guesthouse and enjoy a welcome dinner.
Galton House is the newest accommodation in Windhoek. Named after the famous explorer Sir Francis Galton, it has a relaxed but efficient style that creates a very welcoming atmosphere. Only a ten-minute drive from the city centre and situated on the outskirts of Windhoek’s northernmost affluent suburb of Eros, guests staying here are guaranteed peace and tranquillity. The communal areas consist of a large lounge, dining room, swimming pool and garden. There is also a lovely “al fresco” dining area by the pool, serving freshly prepared and very tasty meals. There are also a number of shops, restaurants and supermarkets within easy reach.

Overnight, dinner, bed and breakfast at Galton House.

Travel distance: 46.3 km

This morning we leave Windhoek and drive to the southern border of Etosha National Park.

Ongava Lodge is one of Namibia’s finest lodges in one of the country’s most important private game reserves – you will be able to sit in a comfortable chair in the shade while photographing animals coming to drink. The lodge has also built in “hide” next to the waterhole, accessible through a tunnel, which will give us very close access to the animals and a different light direction. This setup is a great opportunity for everyone to hone their wildlife photography skills and approaches before we go on game drives – and a great place to capture excellent images.

Ongava Lodge is situated in the 35,000 ha Ongava Private Game Reserve, which shares a boundary with Etosha National Park. An added advantage over the park is that walking safaris and night drives are conducted in Ongava’s own private game reserve. Perched on a ridge with seemingly endless views across the plains, Ongava Lodge’s air-conditioned brick, rock and thatch chalets, each with en-suite bathrooms, offer a relaxing retreat in the African bush. Gather in the thatched dining area and enjoy a drink at the bar while watching the wildlife congregate and interact at the floodlit waterhole.

Overnight with full board at Ongava Lodge.

After a hearty breakfast, we have another opportunity for a game drive in Etosha National Park before returning to the lodge to also spend some time at the Ongava waterhole.

Etosha is a huge park where the government has created a number of waterholes to support the wildlife. We will enter Etosha on both days, explore different waterholes and areas of the park and stop for lunch at one of the rest camps within the park.

Etosha National Park covers 22,270 km², of which about 5,000 km² consist of saline depressions or “pans”. The largest of these pans, the Etosha Pan, can be classified as a salt desert in its own right. The Etosha Pan is located in the Ovambo Basin, on the northwestern edge of Namibia’s Kalahari Desert. Until three million years ago, it was part of a huge, shallow lake that was reduced to a complex of salt pans when the great river that fed it, the Kunene, changed its course and began to flow into the Atlantic instead. If the lake still existed today, it would be the third largest in the world. Etosha is the largest of the pans, covering an area of 4,760 km². Today, it only fills with water when enough rain falls in northern Angola, triggering floods that flow south along the Cuvelai drainage system. The park consists of grasslands, woodlands and savannah. The waterholes tend to concentrate wildlife and bring a range of species together (often restlessly) as they seek to drink and bathe! The park is home to around 114 species of mammals and over 340 species of birds. Wildlife to be seen includes elephant, lion, giraffe, blue wildebeest, eland, kudu, gemsbok (oryx), zebra, rhino, cheetah, leopard, hyena, honey badger and warthog, as well as the endemic black-headed impala.

Overnight with full board at Ongava Lodge.

The day is free for game drives into Etosha National Park or the Ongava Private Game Reserve.

You can also spend some time in the camp’s hide. There is plenty to do during your stay at this exquisite lodge.

Overnight with full board at Ongava Lodge.

Time for a change of scenery and focus! We set off into Damaraland, where we find Mowani Mountain Camp perched on a high hill, with rooms nestled between weathered rocks. From here we will explore the dramatic weathered volcanic landscape of Damaraland, creating amazing scenery.

We will go in search of the elusive desert elephants concentrated along ancient washes adorned with camel thorn trees. We will find and create elaborate compositions of petroglyphs left by hunter-gatherers thousands of years ago. And we will “edit” the night sky with our cameras – creating images that relate dramatic boulders and weathered tree stumps to the Milky Way!

This afternoon, after moving into our new accommodation, we will explore Damaraland in search of dramatic compositions and strong afternoon light. We will find bare trees with white bark set against weathered rock formations and wide open skies. We return to camp in time to create sweeping panoramas as evening colours the uppermost layers of the distant rock formations.

After dinner we will have our first opportunity to work on dramatic images of the night sky. We will learn to control the light from flashes to illuminate weathered rocks or jagged cliffs against the Milky Way!

Mowani Mountain Camp is ideally situated just a short drive from the local attractions in Damaraland. The camp is nestled between huge granite boulders, overlooking the ephemeral Aba Huab riverbed, which the desert-adapted elephants often cross. The thatched, domed buildings reflect the shape of the rough, textured granite boulders between which they are built, a theme complemented by African wood carvings and artefacts. Mowani’s main complex consists of a reception area, bar, spacious outdoor dining room and lounge overlooking a waterhole with an inviting fireplace nearby for evening relaxation. A refreshing swimming pool and a fantastic sundowner viewing area with its own bar also complement the camp. Guests are accommodated in luxurious East African-style safari tents built on raised wooden platforms, each with a private veranda and magnificent views over the Aba Huab Valley.

Overnight with full board basis at Mowani Mountain Camp.

Today we will explore the remarkable natural beauty of Damaraland, searching for the elusive desert elephants and creating images amongst ancient rock art.

We will start the morning with an off-road search for desert elephants. We work our way through a series of scenic dry washes looking for fresh tracks, droppings and bushes torn up by feeding elephants. This is a fun adventure as our search will require the four-wheel drive skills of our guides to navigate through deep sand and steep banks as we follow signs to where the elephants are feeding today!

This afternoon we will set off to read messages sent over thousands of years by hunter-gatherers who once foraged for game in these same hills and valleys! Scattered across a hillside at Twyfelfontein in the southern Kaokoveld, boulders and slabs of red sandstone contain some 2,500 prehistoric engravings depicting wildlife, animal tracks and abstract motifs. It is perhaps the largest and most beautiful collection of petroglyphs in Africa. The engravings show animals such as elephant, giraffe, kudu, lion, rhino, springbok, zebra and ostrich once drinking from a well at the foot of the hill. In some cases, footprints were engraved instead of hooves or paws. The abstract motifs mainly show circles. Stone tools and other artefacts found at Twyfelfontein indicate that hunter-gatherers inhabited the site over a period of perhaps 7,000 years. Twyfelfontein is a national monument and was recently designated a World Heritage Site.

Overnight with full board at Mowani Mountain Camp.

After an early breakfast, we set off along a winding and scenic route to a local Himba settlement near the Grootberg Pass. We will learn about the cultures and traditions of this very proud people and gain an insight into their beliefs, way of life and daily routine.

Our guide will address the Himba on our behalf and set the parameters for photography. The Himba will be wearing traditional robes and will be going about their daily activities when we arrive. We will be challenged to take photos as they move in the shade and intense sun – and often sit in subdued light (an opportunity to hone our skills). Our aim will be to overcome the technical challenges to capture the beauty and dignity of a people who have not embraced modern technology, western dress or global notions of appearance and behavior.

The Himba, Tjimba and other Herero who inhabit Namibia’s remote northwestern Kunene region are roughly referred to as the Kaokovelders. Basically Herero by origin, language and culture, they are semi-nomadic pastoralists who move from one waterhole to the next. For many centuries they have lived in relative isolation and have not been involved to any significant extent in the long struggle for grazing land between the Nama and the Herero. The largest group of Kaokovelders are the Himba, semi-nomads who live in scattered settlements throughout the Kunene region.

They are a tall, slender and statuesque people, distinguished above all by their proud yet friendly bearing. The women in particular are known for their unusual sculptural beauty, accentuated by intricate hairstyles and traditional jewellery. They rub their bodies with red ochre and grease, a treatment that protects their skin against the harsh desert climate. The houses of the Himba in Kaokoland are simple, cone-shaped structures made of saplings tied together with palm leaves and plastered with mud and dung. The men build the structures while the women mix the mud and do the plastering. In the chief’s hut, a fire burns day and night to keep insects away and to provide light and warmth. A family may move from one house to another several times a year in search of pasture for their goats and cattle. Men, women and children wear body jewellery made of iron and shell beads. A Himba woman spends up to three hours a day on her toilet. First she bathes, then she anoints herself with her own individually prepared mixture, which not only protects her skin from the harsh desert sun, but also keeps insects away and prevents her body hair from falling out. She rubs her hair with another mixture of butterfat, fresh herbs and black coals and regularly “steams” her clothes over the steady fire. Men, women and children adorn themselves with necklaces, bracelets, anklets and belts of iron and shell beads.

Return to Mowani Mountain Camp for overnight.

Overnight with full board at Mowani Mountain Camp.

This morning after breakfast we change camp again and set off for Okonjima and Africat, which lies at the foot of the Omboroko Mountains near the Waterberg, arriving at our camp in time for lunch.

For the next three days we will arrange a mix of activities with the Africat guide(s), including extended drives in search of radio-tagged leopard and cheetah, visits to hide sites where we can photograph untagged leopard, cheetah and lion relatively close up, to night drives to find animals and photograph landscapes and the night sky.

Okonjima Plains Camp Okonjima Plains Camp was the original farmhouse of the Hanssen family, converted into a lodge in 1993 and renovated in 2008. The farmhouse facilities include a reception, a lapa for dining, a bar, a large outdoor boma and entertainment area with an open fire, a peaceful garden and a refreshing swimming pool. The “view rooms” are just a short walk from the main boma and lapa area and offer guests magnificent views of the surrounding bushveld and the Omboroko Mountains. Each viewing room (just completed in June 2014) is equipped with a mini-fridge for your own drinks, a tea/coffee station, a safe, a telephone, a roof fan, a spacious bathroom with two sinks and a large shower, and a balcony to relax and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.

Overnight with full board basis at Okonjima Plains Camp.

As your magical luxury fly-in safari draws to an end, board the private charter for the last time for the return flight to Windhoek. Upon arrival at Eros Airport, there is a short road transfer to the elegant Heinitzburg Hotel overlooking the city.

The population of Windhoek is only 300,000 people, which nevertheless makes Windhoek the largest city in the country. Most of Windhoek’s population lives in Katutura, the city’s Bantu-speaking suburb. Katutura is an Oshiwambo word meaning “the place we don’t want to stay”. Along “Independence Avenue”, the former “Emperor’s Road”, you can see the old colonial houses right next to the buildings of modern, post-independent Namibia.

Check-in at the luxurious and elegant Heinitzburg Hotel for the evening. Dinner (own expense) at the renowned Leo’s Restaurant at the hotel or at one of the other fine restaurants in Windhoek.

Overnight: Heinitzburg Hotel (BB).

Travel distance: 5.0 km

After a relaxed breakfast at our lodge, we take part in one of the following activities (included).

Game drives, visit the research area to learn more about the animals or leopard tracking (children 12 years and older).

Lunch will be served.

The rest of the afternoon can be spent at leisure at the lodge’s swimming pool. There is never a dull moment during our stay at the lodge as there are many activities on offer.

Overnight with full board basis at Okonjima Plains Camp.

Today we have a big commute as we move from north of Windhoek to the Namib Desert south and west of Windhoek! It’s an early start this morning as we leave AfriCat Foundation to drive to Sossusvlei via Windhoek. We will drive south-west through the picturesque Khomas Highlands before descending the Great Escarpment into the Namib Desert.

It will be a long day today, but we will stop along the way and also have lunch en route.

Arrive at Sossusvlei Lodge in the early evening and overnight.

Overnight with full board basis at Sossusvlei Lodge.

Today we have a full day of photography in the dunes with an early morning excursion. As our lodge is closer to the park, we can get to Sossusvlei before anyone else and we will see the sunrise and capture the dunes while the light is soft and the shadows accentuate their towering shapes and curves. This area boasts some of the highest freestanding sand dunes in the world. Our guide will give you an insight into the formation of the Namib Desert and its myriad of fascinating creatures and plants that have adapted to this harsh environment.

The most visited section of the vast 50,000 km² Namib-Naukluft National Park has become known as Sossusvlei, famous for its towering apricot-colored sand dunes, which can be entered by following the valley of the Tsauchab River. Sossusvlei itself is actually a clay pan in the middle of these star-shaped dunes that rise up to 300 metres above the surrounding plains, making it one of the highest dunes on earth. The dead-white clay pan stands out against the orange sands and forms the terminus of the ephemeral Tsauchab River in the interior of the Great Sand Sea. The river course originates south of the Naukluft Mountains in the Great Escarpment. It penetrates the Sand Sea for about 55 km before finally running dry at Sossusvlei, about the same distance from the Atlantic Ocean. The Tsauchab River once reached the sea until the encroaching dunes blocked its course about 60,000 years ago; as ephemeral rivers still do in the northern half of the Namib. Sossusvlei is the largest of four pans in the area. Another, famous for its gnarled and ghostly camelthorn trees, is Deadvlei, which can be reached on foot via a 1km sandy path. Deadvlei’s distinctive camelthorn trees, which have died for lack of water, still stand upright as they once grew. They survived until about 900 years ago, when the sand sea finally stopped the river from occasionally flooding the pan.

After exploring to your heart’s content, enjoy a relaxed picnic breakfast in the shade of a camel thorn tree. In the early afternoon we return to Sossusvlei Lodge for a late lunch. In the late afternoon we set off again to seek more photo opportunities combining dramatic light, high dunes, gnarled trees and maybe even a small canyon!

Overnight with full board basis at Sossusvlei Lodge.

This morning we get up before dawn for a remarkable hot air balloon ride over the dunes. The balloon rises as the sun rises. The first hour of light of the day is known to be the most spectacular, especially in the desert with the rich contrast of colours and shapes on the towering sand dunes of the Sossusvlei area, on the vast desert plains and the surrounding mountain ranges. The flight itself takes about an hour and ends with an exclusive champagne breakfast at the landing site in the midst of nature.

After returning to the lodge, you will take a nature drive and after lunch you may choose to return to the dunes in the afternoon to capture more images in this truly amazing scenery.

Please note that the balloon ride is entirely weather dependent. If there is wind, the trip will have to be postponed until tomorrow and we will leave Sossusvlei a little later.

Overnight with full board basis at Sossusvlei Lodge.

We have another early morning excursion to see the first rays of light falling dramatically over the dunes around Sossusvlei. We then return to our rooms to pack and begin our journey back to Windhoek.

Our last night is again at Galton House.

Overnight, dinner and breakfast at Galton House.

After breakfast we will be transferred to the Windhoek Airport to meet our departing flights home.

We look forward to welcoming you back to Southern Africa!

While you don’t need professional equipment, a good camera with a zoom lens is recommended to capture wildlife and landscapes effectively.

Both self-drive and guided tours are a great way to see Namibia, while guided tours are one of the most popular options for those who are not comfortable driving on unfamiliar roads.

The tour is moderately active, with game drives, short hikes, and optional activities like walking safaris and photography sessions.

The best time is during the dry season (May to October) when wildlife is easier to spot, and temperatures are comfortable.

A 150-450mm telephoto lens as well as a standard 50mm or 24-70mm lens should give you the flexibility you need to capture Namibia’s best subjects, including those huge open landscapes.