Namibia Family Action Adventure

With a population of just 234,000, Windhoek is one of the smallest capital cities in the world, but nonetheless makes a big impression to start your journey. Begin with an exploration of its German style architecture, artisanal craft markets and its impressive National Botanical Gardens. The city’s culinary scene is a delightful fusion of international flavours and authentic Namibian cuisine, with game meat on the menu for those who fancy trying it. 

The towering terracotta sand dunes and clay pans that belong to the Sossusvlei form the signature landscape of Namibia. Located in the Namib-Naukluft National Park in the southern Namib Desert, this rippling sand sea of huge dunes has been shaped by the winds and the underground Tsauchab River.

Enjoy your time in the world’s oldest desert where your guides will take you on walking safaris, scenic drives and perhaps a photography lesson or two. Your travel designer will be able to talk you through the various activities available depending on which accommodation you choose to stay at.

Head to Swakopmund, where the golden Namib desert meets the vast Atlantic coastline. This coastal town is a hotspot for adventure sports, including sky diving, dune boarding and quadbiking, as well as scenic balloon flights, horse riding and windsurfing. The Swakop River delta is a haven for birdlife, while the sea brings opportunities to spot seals, dolphins and even shipwrecks.

Your next stop is Damaraland, which promises a remote safari like no other. This exceptionally scenic region is home to black rhinos, which you can track on foot during a walking safari at Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp. The freshwater springs also support healthy populations of desert-adapted elephants, Hartmann’s mountain zebras, giraffes, gemsboks, springboks, kudus and predators such as lions, cheetahs, leopards and brown and spotted hyenas.

You can also spot the ancient San rock art which adorns the rocks here, explore desert plains, ancient valleys and marvel at the towering peaks of Spitzkoppe and the Brandberg Massif.

Finish your trip with three days on safari in Etosha National Park. Etosha’s most distinguishing feature is its enormous, horizon-less silvery salt pan, as well as the variety and concentration of game that crowd its surrounding spring-fed waterholes. Nicknamed the ‘Place of Mirages’, the terrain is certainly extraordinary, especially when a pride of lions, herds of blue wildebeest or desert elephants appear through the haze to stand against this stark backdrop.

The remains of an ancient inland lake, the Etosha Pan takes up about a quarter of the park’s land, although there are a variety of habitats to explore, from mopane woodland and treeless plains to open savannah that becomes more hilly the further west you go.