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Safari to NAMIB DESERT & ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

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This 14 day safari is designed to afford birdwatchers and big game enthusiasts some of the best viewing opportunities anywhere in Africa. Throughout the tour we will use self-contained lodges in the prime game areas and transport of the participants will be in a comfortable minibus(es). On this safari we expect to see 220 plus bird species and 30 plus mammal species. This tour is designed for the cooler winter months when malarial risk is considerably reduced and game viewing is at its peak.

Your experienced & specialist guides will meet you in Windhoek, the picturesque capital city of Namibia. Our first bird and game viewing venue will be Daan Viljoen Game Reserve – about 30mins west of the city. This is a small reserve with semi arid vegetation consisting of grassland and small thorn trees scattered across rolling hills, although wetlands and rocky habitats are also present. Resident birds include Monteiro's Hornbill, Rockrunner, Crimsonbreasted Shrike, Barred Wren Warbler, Purple Roller, Bearded Woodpecker and a variety of Waterbirds. Endemic birds are an important aspect of birding in Namibia and on this tour we should have an opportunity to see many of them. Although large mammals such as Giraffe, Red Hartebeest and the localized Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra are present in the park, we are permitted to walk here, making birdwatching much easier.

Our next destination is the hostile but spectacular desert coast. This lies about 250kms west of Windhoek and en route we travel through the plains of Damaraland and into the progressively arid Namib Desert before reaching our destination at the coastal towns of Swakopmund & Walvis Bay. The lagoon at Walvis Bay is regarded as Africa’s second most important saltwater lagoon for migrant Palaearctic waders.  During winter many of these birds will have left for their breeding grounds in Europe but a few stragglers always remain. We will bird the lagoons & saltpans for resident endemic Terns & Cormorants, as well as local waders, Flamingos, Gulls and Seabirds. Greater & Lesser Flamingos, Chestnutbanded, Kittlitz’s and Threebanded Plovers are all resident while Damara & Black Terns will probably have moved to their overwintering grounds in west Africa. The endemic African Black Oystercatcher can be seen on the seashore while the European Oystercatcher is a vagrant. We will travel to Swakopmund (30 kms), an historic harbour town founded by the Germans in 1884, where a number of very attractive German Colonial buildings are well preserved. The town is today a premier coastal resort for Namibia, but of interest to birdwatchers are the desert birds, especially Gray’s Larks in the stony desert to the north of Swakopmund. We will schedule an optional inshore or deep water pelagic cruise with Mola Mola Safaris for one morning. A further planned excursion will be into the Namib Desert to view the very ancient giant Welwitschia plants, the lichen fields and the so-called Moonscape geology.

On leaving the coast we head north to Namibia’s premiere National Park, Etosha. The dry flat plains of this expansive semi-desert Park are home to huge herds of antelope species that are well adapted to the dry environment, as well as desert Elephant communities and magnificent dark maned Lions. The birdlist for the Park numbers 400 species but many of these are vagrants that visit only in the periodic “wet” years when the annual rainfall has exceeded 15 inches of rain.

Etosha is one of the legendary wildlife paradises of Africa with a unique collection of mammals suited to the dry conditions. Herds of Blue Wildebeest, Springbok, Southern Oryx, Red Hartebeest and Burchell’s Zebra are ever present throughout the open plains. In the scrub fringes we find Giraffe, Black-faced Impala (an endemic sub species) and Damara Dik Dik. Elephant herds return from the western parts during winter and compete with the herds of antelope for water at both natural and man made waterholes. Etosha is possibly the most reliable location for viewing Black Rhinoceros, which is a regular early evening visitor to favoured waterholes. A number of the smaller mammals are also regularly seen, including African Honey Badger, Suricates & other mongooses, Bat-eared Foxes, Ground Squirrels and the Cape Scrub Hare, all living in this harsh, dry environment. Predators, that range from the smaller Black Backed Jackal, to Spotted Hyena and large prides of Lions, follow the winter movements of the herbivores and are usually found not far from their favourite waterholes.

Bird species found in Etosha are dominated seasonally by migrant insect eaters while a few of the larger birds that are present throughout the year are the Kori Bustard (heaviest flying bird in the world), Secretary Bird and a few endemic Blue Cranes dominate the open plains. Some regional specials include the Violet Woodhoopoe, Barecheeked Babbler, Carps’ Black Tit, Crimson-breasted Shrike and White Helmet Shrike. Conspicuous are the huge (up to 7 metres) nests of the Sociable Weavers with their attendant symbiotic partner, the delightful Pygmy Falcon. Owls are legendary while Larks test the identifications skills of our birders to the limit.

Etosha has three large rest camps that have been leased to concessionaires. The camps are well located and have a good basic infrastructure with comfortable, air-conditioned chalets positioned to afford privacy as far as possible. The chalets at Okaukuejo are superbly positioned overlooking the floodlit waterhole so that we may keep a constant eye on the kaleidoscope as it unfolds around the waterhole, day & night.

A late morning start after a final game drive around Namutoni will get us to the Waterberg Plateau Reserve by mid afternoon.  The Plateau is dominated by a 120m high ridge of sandstone cliffs.  The high diversity of birdlife (250 species) is due to the convergence of broadleaved woodlands and thorn bush savannah as well as the rocky screes.  The cliffs support breeding pairs of Booted & Verraux’s Eagles.  Bradfields Swifts are abundant and form the major prey item of the resident Peregrine Falcons.  Both Monteiro’s & Bradfield’s Hornbills are recorded here.  If previously missed, Rockrunner, Short-toed Rock Thrush, and Ruppell’s Parrot also occur here.  On our final day we need a reasonably early start to reach Windhoek Airport in time for your lunchtime departure.