4 Day Swakopmund & Sossusvlei Adventure Lodge safari In Namibia

You will be collected from your accommodation within the Windhoek city limits at 07:15 and transferred to Chameleon Safaris Head Office for a short pre-departure meeting. We first drive north via the small town of Okahandja, but soon we head west, past the tiny centres of Karibib and Usakos, to the port town of Walvis Bay. The edge of Africa and the Skeleton Coast. We complete the final leg of our journey to Swakopmund and check into our accommodation at the centrally located Hotel A La Mer. It is bounded to the north, the east and the south by the mighty dunes of the Namib Desert and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Dinner tonight are for your own account. Swakopmund boasts some truly excellent restaurants, and again, our guide will be able to help you with recommendations and bookings.

We have the option to have a more leisurely start this morning, as we are only leaving Swakopmund in the mid-morning. If you choose not to have a lie-in, then Swakopmund offers many opportunities to keep us busy during our morning here. The town centre is small and easily explored on foot, but there are also many extra, optional activities available. For those with a love of adrenaline, quad biking and sandboarding are also very popular if you fancy careering down the slip face of a dune at 60 km per hour. Our guide will discuss all the options with you in advance and will be able to facilitate any bookings that we would like to make.

Departing Swakopmund at 11h30, we head east into the desert. We first cross the Namib gravel plains, large areas of flat and seemingly barren terrain broken up by huge mountain inselbergs. We have two mountain passes to traverse this afternoon, the first is the mighty Kuiseb Pass, and we follow the road from the top of the hills, dropping steeply down into the canyon carved over aeons by the Kuiseb River on its way to debouch into the ocean at the port town of Walvis Bay. We climb up from the banks of the river and over the pass, travelling through the mountain peaks and on to the second, smaller canyon of the Gaub River, a tributary of the Kuiseb. We emerge from the mountains onto a flat road, and almost immediately we cross the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees south. There is a signpost at this auspicious spot, and we stop along the road for photos. Onwards again to our destination for today. We aim to arrive in the late afternoon, and there will be time for a short walk to see the sun dip below the impressive Naukluft Mountains.

Getting into the dune area as early as possible this morning is our aim, and that means a predawn start and breakfast on the go. As we are staying outside the national park, we will enter the dune area as soon as the gate opens at sunrise.

From Sesriem, we cover the 60 km into the dunes quickly and arrive at the 2x4 car park where all 2-wheel drive vehicles have to stop. From here, we enter the ancient Tsauchab River-bed for the last 5km leg to Sossusvlei itself. There is a 4x4 shuttle service that will transport us through the sandy terrain of the riverbed.

We will visit Dead Vlei, an ancient pan surrounded by dunes, which is strikingly populated with dead, skeletal camel thorn trees. We have time to explore the area on foot and to climb one of the highest dunes in the world, some towering 300 m above us. We drive back the way we came, stopping at the iconic Dune 45. There is time to climb Dune 45 if you still have energy, or a sit in the shade at the base of the dune will suffice.

Driving back to Sesriem, we take a short excursion to see the Sesriem Canyon. We can easily walk into the riverbed, it is usually much cooler in the canyon, and we can follow the river for some way along its journey to Sossusvlei. We head back to our accommodation in the late afternoon.

Your journey turns north from Sossusvlei, winding through the rugged Namib-Naukluft Mountains as you make your way back to Windhoek. Once in the city, you’ll be dropped off at your chosen accommodation, or—if you are flying out—please ensure that your departure flight is scheduled no earlier than 19:00.