CAPE TOWN TO NAMIBIA

Day One:-
Arrive Cape Town, 3 nights, Welgelegen Guest House, Bed & Breakfast
On arrival in Cape Town to Welgelegen House for a 3 night stay. Welgelegen is a stylish boutique lodge set in two pretty Victorian buildings, in a quiet cul-de-sac in the Gardens area - adjacent to trendy Kloof Street with its inviting bistros, restaurants and shops. Bedrooms all have telephone, air-conditioning, TV, bar-fridges and tea and coffee tray and are decorated in an understated contemporary style. There is a courtyard garden with a plunge pool, ideal for alfresco breakfasts.

Welgelegen is an absolute jewel of a Guest House: a gem set in a tranquil, leafy cul-de-sac at the foot of Table Mountain, in the cosmopolitan city bowl neighbourhood of Gardens. Secluded and serene, it is still only just around the corner from both Long and Kloof Street, two of Cape Town?s trendiest restaurant and design destinations...Hence the name Welgelegen...the Dutch translation for “well-situated”.

Day Four:-
2 nights, Franschhoek Country House, Franschhoek, Bed & Breakfast
Today we drive to Franschhoek in the Winelands of the Western Cape. Franschhoek Country House, a restored Victorian Manor House, overlooks the majestic mountains of the Franschhoek Valley and surrounding vineyards. The 14 luxury rooms and 4 suites are stylishly appointed and a number of them feature open fireplaces, underfloor heating, private verandahs and balconies. The in-house Monneaux Restaurant serves modern cuisine and votes as one of the top 10 restaurants in the country
The restored manor house and former perfumery dating back to 1890, is situated on the outskirts of the village and is surrounded by enchanting vineyards and majestic mountains. An hour’s drive from Cape Town makes it the perfect getaway for anyone visiting the Western Cape.

The Country House and Villas offers 14 luxury rooms and 12 new Villas Suites. All the rooms offer features and facilities expected of a first class hotel. Almost all rooms lead out onto private balconies or private patio with magnificent views.

A complimentary sherry can be enjoyed in one of the guest lounges alongside a crackling log-fire, creating a welcoming atmosphere in winter.
The new Villa Suites are very luxurious, are each a 100sqm in size and boasts a fireplace, dvd player, individual satellite tv, 2 airconditioners, 2 balconies, and many more unexpected luxuries

Day Six:-
2 nights, Ndedema Lodge, Clanwilliam, Bed & Breakfast
Today we travel north to the Cedarberg region, a dramatic landscape of craggy canyons, rivers, dams and waterfalls. Ndedema Lodge is a warm and friendly guest house is in picturesque Clanwilliam, a lovely old town of white washed Cape Dutch houses surrounded by orchards and vineyards, set under the mountains. This lovely Victorian homestead oozes character, with old wooden floors and Cape antiques.

Whilst staying at Ndedema Lodge you have the opportunity to explore the numerous historic buildings, or experience the beauty of the Cederberg mountains with various rock art and walking trails. Opportunities for fishing, water sport, bird watching and a wonder world of wild spring flowers abound. Swimming, tennis, horse riding, bowls and a host of other amenities are all close by.

Day Eight:-
1 night, Mountain View Guesthouse, Springbok, Bed & Breakfast
Today we drive further North to Springbok in the Namaqualand region. The Namaqualand encompasses the narrow Sandveld coastal strip between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Karoo to the east. Stay overnight at Mountain View Lodge in Springbok designed and decorated to please even the most discerning guest. Your visit to Mountain View Guest House will engender a feeling of nostalgia on your departure from this captivating Northern Cape Town.

The town of Springbok, established as Springbokfontein in 1862, has been and always will be synonymous with Namaqualand. When the name of Springbok is mentioned, what springs to mind are the endless fields of wild desert flowers which appear as if by magic, every year during August and September. Tourists from far and wide descend upon this bustling little Northern Cape town for this annual event to take advantage of nature’s own “Annual Flower Spectacular”.

Day Nine:-
2 nights, Canon Roadhouse, Fish River National Park, Bed & Breakfast
Travel to north to Namibia and enjoy a 2 night stay at Canyon Roadhouse. The Canon Roadhouse is situated on the Gondwana Canon Park and only 20km from the main viewpoint of the Fish River Canyon. The Roadhouse offers everything the weary traveler needs. The 8 individually decorated en-suite rooms are gathered around an inner courtyard, creating a feel of tranquil homeliness. The à la Carte restaurant is open all day and makes dining here an intimate and cozy experience

The Canon Roadhouse caters for the mid market tourist. The lodge is interestingly decorated with old car parts, found in the region. This is an excellent lodge from which to explore the Fish River Canyon.

Situated on the Gondwana Canon Park, Canon Roadhouse is located 20 kilometres from the main viewpoint of the Fish River Canyon. Coming from the north, it is the logical stop on your way to one of Namibia’s greatest natural wonders. The Roadhouse offers everything the weary traveller needs.

Due to the limited numbers of guests the Canon Roadhouse can accommodate, there is always a congenial atmosphere and the already famous “Wheels” bar has been the setting for many tall travellers’ tales.
Day Eleven:-
1 night, Dabis Guestfarm, Helmeringhausen, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast
Travel, via the castle of Duwisib, to Dabis Guest Farm in the Schwarzrand . This is a modest but friendly place at which to break your journey

Dabis Guest Farm lies in the Konkiep Valley, surrounded by a limestone plateau situated in the south-western part of Namibia. Dabis is ideally situated for a stopover between Windhoek and Lüderitz or Sossusvlei and Lüderitz/Fish River Canyon.

In the peaceful farm atmosphere you can enjoy German-Namibian hospitality, personal service and delicious meals, prepared mainly from farm produce. On Dabis you can get an insight into Namibian farm life. We also give you information on sheep farming in this arid area of the country. The owners of Dabis speak German, English and Afrikaans.

Accommodation at Dabis is in one of seven comfortable guest rooms each with bath or shower and WC. In the evening a generator supplies electricity (220 volt) for a few hours

Day Twelve:-
2 nights, Kulala Desert Lodge or Sossusvlei Lodge, Sossusvlei, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast
Today we drive to Sossusvlei Lodge for a 2 night stay. This is an area of stark natural beauty, which is best enjoyed at first light. The lodge is eco-tourism at its best, a luxurious place which is in sympathy with the fragile eco-system of the desert. Enjoy sundowners on your private veranda, as you watch the sun set over the mountains.

Kulala Desert Lodge is one of Namibia’s best situated lodges in terms of its proximity to the sand dunes at Sossusvlei. A sunrise excursion into the dunes leaves a few minutes before sunrise, with breakfast eaten under a camelthorn tree near Sossusvlei. As Kulala Lodge has a private entrance to the park the Sossuvlei excurison can by-bass the main park entrance at Sesriem

Kulala Desert Lodge has a lounge, bar dining area and small pool. A veranda overlooks the waterhole allowing views of wildlife and the wide open spaces of the Namib Desert. Although Kulala lodge is not the cheapest lodge in the area, its unique position makes it an essential on any Namibian itinerary

Day Fourteen:-
2 nights, Sam’s Giardino hotel, Swakopmund, Bed & Breakfast
Drive to Swakopmund. Reaching the sea again after the boulder-strewn landscape is quite a joy to the senses. Sam’s Giardino Hotel is an oasis of tranquillity. It is a hotel with a mixture of culture, quality, style and heart, coupled with a host of surprises. The focal point of the hotel is the kitchen, offering a wealth of Swiss specialities. The appeal of the town lies in strolling about, perhaps stopping at one of the several good seafood restaurants or coffee houses. There are many interesting places to visit in the area and all within easy driving distance of Swakopmund, such as the Seal Colony at Cape Cross, the Welwitschia forest and the Lunar Landscape.

Sam’s Giardino is a Swiss run guest house that offers good value for money accommodation in Swakopmund. Unsurprisingly Sam’s Giardino is run by Sam who claims to derive inspiration and advice from his dog (and PR man) Einstein. Einstein claims that “We enjoy hospitality and know that most modern thinking people of today are looking for a friendly, cheerful, unconventional hotel for the holidays”. This is exactly what you can expect at Sams Giardino.

Sam’s Giardino offers very well decorated en-suite rooms, breakfast and dinners. Sam also specialises in cigars and fine South African wines. Regular cigar and wine tasting nights add to the character of the establishment. Sam’s Giardino is one of the better guest houses in Swakopmund, it has a unique style, which seems to mirror Sam’s philosophy on life.

Day Sixteen:-
2 nights, Palmwag Lodge, Damaraland, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast
Our next stop is an appealing wilderness game farm, Palmwag Lodge, the ideal place from which to explore the Damaraland region. The lodge offers an a la carte restaurant, shaded swimming pool and a pool bar. This is a wonderfully remote area, where desert elephants come to drink at the waterhole. A visit to the fascinating rock engravings at Twyfelfontein, a prehistoric art gallery, and the fossilized tree trunks of the Petrified Forest, are equally absorbing.

Palmwag Lodge is a paradise at the Uniab River in north-western Damaraland, a getaway into wilderness. Waving palms whispering in the wind, spectacular surroundings which harbour the famous Desert Elephant, the rare Black Rhino, giraffe, zebra, gemsbok and many other wild animal species, sunsets to dream of - this is Palmwag Lodge, one of Namibia’s oldest and most popular tourist rendezvous.

The lodge offers 24 beds in 2- or 3-bed thatched bungalows, a fully licensed restaurant, swimming pool under shady palms and a cosy “Pool Bar”. Camping sites are available on a well-equipped camping terrain. The well-situated hiking trails let you enjoy and discover the neighbouring nature.

Day Eighteen:-
2 nights, Okaukuejo Restcamp, Etosha National Park, Room only
Continue to the Okaukuejo Restcamp in the south of the Etosha National Park for your two night stay. The first tourist camp of the three in Etosha, Okaukuejo serves as the administrative hub and is the home of the Etosha Ecological Institute. The floodlit permanent waterhole at Okaukuejo is its chief feature and it is still the most impressive. There are benches just beyond a low stone wall and you can spend several hours just watching to see what wildlife comes into this almost ‘stage set-like’ environment. Among the regulars are elephants and jackals, while lion and black rhino often visit in the dry season.

Okaukuejo camp is the oldest tourist camp in Etosha and it currently functions as the administrative hub of the park, and the home of the Etosha Ecological Institute. It is situated at the western end of the pan. Accommodation is provided to suit every need, in premier bush chalets overlooking the waterhole; bush chalets and double rooms; or family chalets.  Other facilities include a restaurant, bar, shop, swimming pool, kiosk and camping facilities.

The main attraction of this camp is that it overlooks a permanent waterhole which is floodlit at night. Here a wide diversity of wildlife congregates and interacts. The spectacle starts at dawn, with animals coming in large numbers to quench their thirst, with the activity continuing throughout the day and deep into the night. In the early evenings, it is not uncommon to have black rhinoceros, elephant and lion all drinking at the same time

Day Twenty:-
1 night, Okonjima Main Lodge, Central Namibia, Dinner, Breakfast and Activities
Travel south and into the Omboroko Mountains to stay overnight at Okonjima Main Lodge. This comfortable guest farm in the Omboroko mountains has 10 en suite chalets in the Main camp with a lovely pool. It is famed for its Africats rescue project, a non-profit project to preseve and rehabilitate large cats so visitors learn a great deal about leopard and cheetah, and can view them at close range in their natural habitat, as well as take the fascinating Bushman walking trail.

ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

THE “AFRICAT” FOUNDATION:
AfriCat is a non-profit organisation set up to conserve and protect threatened cheetah, leopard, and other wild cats of Namibia. Guests will be able to observe some of this program at work and learn more about these amazing and beautiful animals.

LEOPARD VIEWING:
Leopards are frequently seen, giving you an opportunity to observe these magnificent predators from a hide, or ‘radio-tracked’ from our game-viewing vehicle. The leopards roam freely and catch their own prey within the 4000 ha rehabilitation area. These cats however, are notoriously people-shy and sightings are not guaranteed.

THE CHEETAH PROJECT:
Offers you valuable insight into the welfare work of The AfriCat Foundation.

CHEETAH TRACKING:
You are invited to participate, on foot, in the radio-tracking of the rehabilitated cheetahs on the Cheetah Tracking Trail.

BUSHMAN TRAIL:
Experience a day in the life of a Bushman. It constitutes an easy walking trail and is highly informative. You get to learn about the art of making traditional artifacts and how the San adapt and survive in an unforgiving wilderness environment. Participation is welcomed!

NATURE TRAIL:
Self-guided walking trails of up to 8 km, for those of you who want to spend some time alone in the solitude of the Okonjima wilderness.

BIRD WATCHING:
Identify some of the more than 250+ species in the area, including Namibian endemics - Carp’s Black Tit, Hartlaub’s Francolin and the Damara Rock Runner.

PHOTOGRAPHY:
With the abundance of animals and bird life and spectacular scenery, Okonjima is a photographer’s paradise. Be sure to bring plenty of film!! Photographers take note: Due to the specific nature of our new rehabilitation project - all free roaming cats on Okonjima are radio-collared.

Day Twenty-One
Return to Windhoek
Today we drive to the Windhoek airport for your onward flight
back to Cape Town or Johannesburg .Your Choice is either depart with us from Cape Town Or meet up with us in Namibia (Windhoek Airport) Airline tickets Include with the Tour.

Transport
10 seater luxury air-conditioned microbus with trailer.
Minimum Number of bookings; 6 pax for comfort

Climate Desert climate with hot summers and warm winters.
Best time to go Suitable all year round.
Health Requirements Anti-Malarial precautions essential north of Windhoek-provided
Requirements valid passport, South Africa visa (where applicable) Namibia visa, International Arrival and departure itinerary.