Namibia, Etosha and Damaraland Self Drive

At Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek, you will collect your spacious, air-conditioned vehicle and make your way to Olive Grove, a charming guesthouse in a quiet neighbourhood conveniently located on the edge of the city.

If you prefer, you need not leave Olive Grove to enjoy meals or to unwind. Home-style meals are served on the terrace (Namibia’s climate is ideal for al fresco dining) and you can relax by heading to the cooling plunge pool or to the on-site Wellness Room for a soothing massage.

Of course, the city centre is not far away if you wish to dine out or if you have time to see some of the sights, like Heroes’ Acre (a memorial to Namibia’s greatest citizens), the Tintenpalast (the seat of government) or the Alte Feste (old colonial fort).

After a good night’s sleep and an excellent breakfast at Olive Grove, it is time to get behind the wheel and leave the skyline of Windhoek behind. Your destination is Frans Indongo Lodge in the Waterberg Plateau, which looks out over Waterberg National Park. The park is ecologically diverse and has rare species of small antelope as well as over 200 types of birds.

The drive is neither long nor strenuous and you should be able to make the most of the lodge’s swimming pool and expansive viewing decks on your first day. The en suite thatched chalets are fitted with air conditioning, Wi-Fi and television sets but the star attraction here is undoubtedly the national park. You can elect to join guided dawn and dusk game drives with a ranger and tracker, or drive yourself in search of game. The nearby Cheetah Conservation Fund does excellent work to preserve these incredible cats while hikers can don their walking shoes for 1.5- and 3-hour self-guided trails on Frans Indongo’s property.

In the evenings, enjoy a nightcap on the deck overlooking an illuminated waterhole and keep your binoculars at hand to watch nyala, red lechwe, rare white blesbok as well as roan and sable antelopes as they come down to drink. There is also a wooden observation tower that allows you see even further – a great place to greet the sunrise with a freshly brewed cup of coffee and a rusk.

The Waterberg Plateau will have helped focus your game-spotting skills in preparation for your three days at Etosha National Park. Leaving Frans Indongo Lodge, you drive north to Onguma, a laidback bush camp in Onguma Private Game Reserve, near Etosha. This option gives you the best of both worlds: you can undertake activities like nature walks or animal tracking in Onguma or spend the day game viewing in Etosha.

Like Frans Indongo Lodge, Onguma also has a swimming pool and a floodlit waterhole, so you do not have to venture far to see plains game like zebra, giraffe, kudu or hartebeest – if your luck is in, you may even see predators like cheetah or lion.

In the evenings after an eventful day in the park or reserve, toast another Namibian sunset with an al fresco dinner in the boma around a traditional campfire.

It is now time to head westwards to Damaraland, a unique landscape in the Twyfelfontein region. Damaraland is known for its desert-adapted elephants that have evolved to survive with little water, ancient San rock art and immense geological formations like the Organ Pipes and Burnt Mountain.
Your home from home is Camp Kipwe, which has been built from stone and thatch amid massive granite boulders and mimics the red basalt rocks’ rounded shapes.

Once again, you can determine your own schedule but Kipwe offers guided night drives, nature walks with a tracker and, for a truly memorable evening, dining under the stars out in the open. By day, rest in the shade of the mopane trees, watching the birds as they come and go.

After two very relaxing nights at Camp Kipwe, you once again change direction and head south to Swakopmund, one of the most historical towns in the country. Built during the German colonisation in the late 1800s, many of the buildings have retained their original designs and German coffee shops, bakeries, delis and breweries abound. ‘Swakop’ as its known locally is also Namibia’s adventure capital and you can take your pick of skydiving, quad biking in the dunes, scenic flights over the Namib Desert and other exciting activities.

Check into Swakopmund Guesthouse, which has a very convenient location between the beach and the town centre. With its holiday home feel, the guesthouse suits families who want a casual approach to dining. Take breakfast on the manicured lawn before strolling into town for shopping and sightseeing, or heading out for a day of parasailing, camel riding or boat cruises to nearby Walvis Bay.