The Namibia Family Tour

You will be greeted with a friendly smile, as your guide welcomes you and your family to Namibia. The drive to your accommodation is a short one, leaving you with enough time to freshen up or even take a nap. You can also have a refreshing swim in the pool if you like. In the afternoon, your guide will escort you and the rest of the group on a short bush walk. You can stretch your legs a little and your guide will give some useful tips on Namibia along the way. Enjoy a home-style cooked meal at the Etango Guest Farm in the evening, before resting up with a good night’s sleep.

After breakfast and a short drive, you get to know Windhoek through a brief city tour. The city has some interesting stories to tell, and your guide knows them all. A stop at a supermarket will provide you the opportunity to pick up some last-minute supplies and after a short safari briefing, you leave Windhoek and make your way through the Namibian farmlands. The road takes you over many hills until you reach your lodging for the night, the Namibgrens Guest Farm. The guest farm is still an active, working farm and there is plenty to explore. In the evening, savour a hearty farm-style meal.

Together with your guide you can choose from one of Namibgrens’ many hiking trails before setting out on foot. Your guide accompanies you and can tell you many interesting things about the fauna and flora found in this region. Granite boulders are strewn over the landscape, and you will be greeted by wonderful views along the way.  After the hike you have the rest of the afternoon to spend at your leisure and you are free to lounge by the pool if you like. You spend a second night at the Namibgrens Guest Farm and can enjoy another delicious dinner in the evening.

Enjoy a relaxed breakfast before continuing your Namibia family tour. You drive to the top of the Spreetshoogte Pass, where a look-out spot provides you with a stunning panorama view of the landscape below. From here, you descend into the Namib-Naukluft. Your destination today is the Sesriem Campsite, and you will be camping the next two nights in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Assist your guide in setting up camp and have the rest of the afternoon to relax and enjoy your surroundings. The camp’s swimming pool can be very inviting, so why not go take a refreshing dip once settled in.  In the evening, your guide will prepare a delicious meal as you all sit around the open campfire and take delight in the beautiful starlit night sky above you. You have a very exciting day lined up for tomorrow, so be sure to go to bed early tonight.

Today will be full of fun, exploration and making memories to last a lifetime. So you begin very early, before even the sun is up. Since you camped within the national park, you have a head start on everyone who stayed outside the park borders: together with your guide, you make your way towards the epic Dune 45. You walk up the dune’s ridge, right to the top from which you can marvel at a stunning sunrise, illuminating the world’s oldest desert around you. Even the dune descent is lots of fun, especially for the kids. You will notice that your guide has been busy too, preparing a hearty outdoor breakfast for you in the meantime. But the adventure does not end there. Feeling strengthened by your breakfast, you make your way towards the Sossusvlei and Deadvlei. After having navigated a short off-road section, you make the rest of the way to the Deadvlei on foot. This dry clay pan with its dead Camelthorn trees and towering dunes surrounding it, creates a surreal landscape. Returning to your camp around midday, you can enjoy a lunch and some well-deserved rest. In the afternoon, you visit the Sesriem Canyon and descend into the gorge for a short walk along the canyon’s dry riverbed. End this wonderful day with another delicious dinner enjoyed around the campfire.

Another scrumptious outdoor breakfast awaits you before breaking down your camp and continuing your Namibia family tour through the Namib-Naukluft. As you continue, you pass through the Gaub and Kuiseb Canyons until you see a shimmering blue on the horizon. You will soon have reached the Atlantic Ocean. Make a stop at the Walvis Bay Lagoon, where you can see flamingos congregating at the water’s edge. Now Swakopmund is only a short and scenic drive away. Flanked by the ocean and the desert, you arrive at the little seaside town the locals affectionately call “Swakop”. Your guide will acquaint you with the town and introduce you to some of the best dinner options (optional), before you spend the night at the Organic Stay Guesthouse.

Swakopmund offers a wide variety of sights and optional activities that everyone in the family can enjoy. Today you have the whole day available to explore Namibia’s adventure capital. On a catamaran cruise you can discover some of the marine wildlife around Walvis Bay, some of whom may even hop on board. On a desert tour, you will drive over massive dunes in search of the Little 5 of the Namib Desert. Sandboarding is available for those who seek some excitement, as is the thrilling experience of quad biking amongst the Namib dunes. In the afternoon, take a stroll along the beach front and enjoy a delicious slice of German cake at one of the delightful bakeries. Once an exciting day draws to close, you spend another night at the Organic Stay Guesthouse.

After breakfast, you drive along Namibia’s rugged coastline towards Cape Cross. Here you are greeted by the sight of over two hundred thousand Cape fur seals, one of their largest colonies in the world. Cape Cross is also where the first Europeans set foot upon Namibia with a replica of the padrão (stone pillar) erected in 1486 marking the location and event. From here your journey continues inland, over backroads and past the Brandberg Mountain. Along the way, you visit a Herero women’s craft market where handmade souvenirs can be bought and you can admire the traditional, Victorian-style dresses of the Herero women. Thereafter it isn’t long until you reach your camp for the night, the beautiful Twyfelfontein Adventure Camp. Time-permitting, you may decide to visit the Damara Living Museum (optional), located just a couple of minutes from your lodge for a fascinating insight into the Damara culture.

Another exciting day on your Namibia family tour awaits you and during the cool morning hours, you make your way to the nearby Twyfelfontein, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Your guide will take you to a location where the engravings can be admired, away from the main tourist route and explain how they were made. Here you can witness rock engravings created by Namibia’s early hunter-gatherers, some of which were created an estimated 24,000 years ago. Then it is time to buckle up because you are going on a special off-road safari adventure. You drive along a bumpy, dry riverbed in search of the desert adapted elephants of the Damaraland. These elephants still roam freely and are specifically adapted to survive the region’s harsh climate. With a little luck, you may encounter them along the way. Your customised 4×4 safari vehicle covers this rugged terrain and will safely transport you to places which would otherwise be unreachable. Other wildlife you might well encounter today includes giraffe, oryx, mountain zebra and ostrich to name but a few. Lunch is enjoyed in the form of a picnic in the shade of one of the nearby trees and in the afternoon, you return to the Twyfelfontein Adventure Camp. Have a refreshing swim in the pool and relax before a delicious dinner is served in the evening.

Have a hearty breakfast to start the day before you make your way to the valley of the Ugab Terraces. On an easy hike, the kids can get active one more time before spending much of the coming day and a half in the safari vehicle. Your destination is the Vingerklip, a rock that looks like a finger pointing at the sky. On this hike, chances are quite good you come across small antelopes and even zebras, kudus, and giraffes. At the foot of the Vingerklip, you can enjoy a beautiful 360-degree panoramic view overlooking the beautiful Ugab Valley. You now continue via Outjo towards Etosha National Park to check in at Etosha Village right outside the national park gates – your home for the next two nights. After a welcome break for the whole family, you embark on your first game drive in the afternoon.

You can look forward to having the whole day to go on safari in one of the most famous national parks in Africa. If you are an early riser then you are in luck because it is during the early morning hours that the animals are most active. You can encounter elephant, lion, cheetah, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and a whole variety of antelope all in their natural environment. Your guide can tell you something interesting and memorable about all the animals you might see. During the game drive, you can open the roof of your safari vehicle, thereby giving everyone an unimpeded view of the landscapes and the wildlife around you. A lunch stop can be arranged at Halali Rest Camp (optional), where you are welcome to have a quick swim before continuing with your afternoon game drive. The Etosha Pan is another highlight not to be missed. Here you can stare as far into the horizon as your eyes can see and absorb the complete silence surrounding you. As the shadows begin to grow longer and after plenty of wildlife sightings, you return to Etosha Village.

After a relaxed start to the day, you continue south. A lunch stop can be made along the way at the Crocodile Ranch in Otjiwarongo (optional). The ranch has a large play area for the kids and the bold amongst you may even want to try a crocodile kebab. From here it is only a short distance to your accommodation, the Otjiwa Lodge. The lodge offers an afternoon game drive (optional) on which you have the chance to encounter rhinos before a delicious evening meal awaits you.

You have the whole day to enjoy the activities offered by the Otjiwa Lodge. You can go on another game drive or if you would rather stretch your legs a little then you can go on a guided game walk whereby the area can safely be explored on foot (both optional). At midday, you return to the lodge to relax before you can start your next activity in the afternoon. The lodge also offers a night drive, where you stand the chance to encounter some of the shyer and more seldomly seen nocturnal animals (optional). You spend another night at the Otjiwa Lodge.

After breakfast, you get the chance to soak in the wide-open spaces of Namibia once more. In the small town of Okahandja, some hand-made souvenirs can be purchased from the local woodcarver’s market. Alternatively, you can also make a stop at the Craft Centre in Windhoek for some last curios.  Between approximately 14:00 and 15:00, your Namibia family tour will then come to an end at either a guesthouse or at the Windhoek International Airport. Your return travels can then begin with many new fond memories of Namibia and plenty of new stories to tell.