Best of Namibia Flying Safari: Sossusvlei, Swakopmund & Etosha National Park

It's an early departure this morning. Meet your pilot at Windhoek International Airport for your light aircraft flight to Sossusvlei. This afternoon, enjoy time at leisure to relax at your lodge or why not partake in one of the many activities available at your lodge (additional charges may apply).

The morning demands an early start. A cup of coffee or tea before departure and our day's adventure beckons, as we want to experience the day awakening offering grand views onto the dunes en-route to Sossusvlei. Even a morning grouch will be delighted by what is to follow. Entering the Namib Naukluft National Park shortly after sunrise, the first rays of sunlight paint the mountains of sand into a colour variety of apricot, red and orange, contrasted against a crisp blue skyline, enrapturing our senses, and providing an opportunity to capture this awesome landscape on film. You will be captivated by the surreal Deadvlei surrounded by some of the highest dunes on earth and Sossusvlei, where the dry Tsauchab River ends abruptly amongst dunes.

Take the opportunity to walk up one of these majestic dunes to admire the desert landscape beneath. The mostly dried white vleis compete in dramaturgy with the red dunes and deep blue skies, with gnarled and weathered camelthorn trees in Deadvlei providing the essential contrast. After going up onto the dunes you descend over rocks into the Sesriem Canyon. Anyone who did not know that the canyon was here would easily miss this 30-meter deep and one kilometre long canyon carved out by the Tsauchab River. Early settlers had to bind six (Ses) Lether straps (rieme) together to reach the water at the bottom of the canyon. Speaking of water - a welcoming keyword in this desert heat! A welcoming and refreshing pool or a cooling drink filled to the rim with ice cubes awaits us back at the lodge. Back at the lodge, we unwind and recapture the day's experiences.

Today, we take to the skies, soaring over the dunes of the Namib Desert and Sossusvlei, continuing westward to the Atlantic Coast to the quaint seaside village of Swakopmund. You have two nights here to explore this charming town.

Once again, you have the day to spend at leisure in Swakopmund. For the more adventurous, there are a variety of optional activities on offer (for own account), as a suggestion, get your tickets for a dolphin cruise in Walvis Bay and get up close and personal with the birds, seal colonies and numerous dolphins that inhabit this area.

Today it is onwards to Etosha, Namibia's premier wildlife destination. We fly there by light aircraft for our two-night stay, and after settling in to our accommodation, set out to explore this strangely bleak wilderness, teeming with wildlife. In the dry season, large herds congregate around the waterholes, while in the summer; sporadic rainfall produces a profusion of new life. Game viewing in this wild, often startlingly beautiful barren region is world renowned, and you won't be disappointed. In the heart of the Park, is the shimmering Etosha Pan, a shallow depression which fills with water in the rainy season. Mirages, glittering salt deposits, Big Five wildlife...all wonderful material for photographs and memories.

Today enjoy a full day game drive in the Etosha National Park, Namibia's prime savannah wilderness area (with packed lunch). See the massive saltpan as well as the perennial springs that provide the water required by the Park's high-density big game population.

Our safari at an end, we return to Windhoek by air today, content in the knowledge we've seen and been at the world's most dramatic sand dunes of Sossusvlei, and witnessed some of Africa's most spectacular wildlife in Etosha National Park.