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Namibia Night and Day
Tour Code: NAM04By day we'll drive through spectacular landscapes and seek out Namibia's wonderful wildlife. By night we'll have telescopes trained on Namibia's famously dark skies to see planets, star clusters, galaxies and the superbly rich Milky Way.
£8,295 (Inc flights)
£7,295
Highlights
Tour Itinerary and Reports
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Summary
Namibia has developed a reputation for transparent skies, free from light pollution and our focus on this tour is to enjoy the country’s wildlife and scenery by day and skies at night. At the time of our holiday, the richest part of the Milky Way will be visible high in the sky, along with astronomical treasures such as star clusters, nebulae and the Southern Cross. Namibia’s wildlife is no less spectacular than its scenery and its night skies. The magnificent Etosha Pan and the Okonjima Reserve boast a high density of mammals and birds.
- Guided stargazing of the stunning southern night sky, including Large and Small Magellanic Clouds and the galactic centre of the Milky Way
- Classic African wildlife, including elephants, lions and giraffes; found in Namibia’s premier national park - Etosha
- Desert wildlife including chameleons, geckos and snakes, as well as the desert-adapted elephants of Damaraland
- Visit the ancient petroglyphs at Twyfelfontein
- Explore the spectacular sand dunes of Sossusvlei
Grading
A mix of gentle walks, game viewing and drives.
Namibia’s famously dark skies, stunning desert scenery and superb wildlife make it a natural choice for a Naturetrek astronomy tour. With a population of just over two million spread across a land that is more than three times the size of the UK, this sparsely populated county offers truly breath-taking night skies. By day this tour will visit Namibia’s National Parks to enjoy the spectacular wildlife and landscapes, but as night falls, with expert guidance we will explore the southern skies with telescopes and large binoculars.
The tour is timed to span the period in which the moon lies between the Earth and the Sun and is therefore absent from the night sky. This is the best time to see the fainter nebulae, galaxies and star clusters that are more difficult to see with a bright moon in the sky. depending upon the departure we will look at the planets in our solar system. Through a telescope it is possible to see the belts Jupiter’s atmosphere and the rings of Saturn. The Southern sky is rich with star clusters, with the two brightest globular clusters, ω Centauri and 47 Tucanae, taking centre stage. Other ‘classic’ celestial sights from southern latitudes include the Milky Way’s neighbouring galaxies: the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds, the Southern Cross and the stars Alpha and Beta Centauri.
Our holiday begins in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, from where we drive to the Rooisand Reserve – a wonderful opportunity to use the telescopes during a two-night stay.
West of Rooisand lies the Namib Desert with its spectacular dunes which are amongst the highest dunes in the world. These sculpted red dunes glow as the evening light bathes them and as evening gives way, a night full of stars will follow.
Continuing to Swakopmund you will enjoy a day tour into the desert to discover the lizards, chameleons and snakes that comprise Namibia’s ‘little five’ living in the dunes.
At Twyfelfontein in Namibia’s Kunene region (formerly known as Damaraland), we enter a wilderness of rolling, bush-covered hills and plateaux. Here we will stay at the Twyfelfontein Country Lodge and explore this unique environment with its many rock engravings and paintings. We will also hope for a chance encounter with the region’s Black Rhino, Lion or and ‘desert adapted’ Elephant.
Moving north to Etosha we’ll enter one of the finest parks in Africa. At its heart is the Etosha saltpan, an enormous shallow depression — over 100 kilometres across — with numerous perennial springs around its edges which attract large concentrations of birds and mammals. This is one of the last places in the world where Elephant and Black Rhino can both be seen, plus predators such as Lion, Cheetah and Leopard, and antelopes ranging in size from the giant Eland to the diminutive Damara Dik-dik.
Finally, we head south to the private game reserve of Erindi (Okonjima in 2020). The expansive savannah is home to a wide range of mammals and birds and whilst there we enjoy exhilarating game drives in open-sided vehicles.
Outline Itinerary
What's Included?
- Flights
- Accommodation:
All accommodation has en-suite facilities.
- Food:
All meals included
Dates & Prices
2025
Tour Leader: Neville Piper
2026
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Many of the world’s mammals are instantly recognisable to us. Animals such as Lions, Tigers, elephants and bears capture our imaginations from an early age. At Naturetrek, we take great pleasure and pride in helping people to fulfil their lifelong dreams of seeing these iconic species in the wild. We also enjoy introducing our clients to some of the world’s more unusual mammals, many of which are just as fascinating.
Naturetrek Mammal Watching Tours
Many of our tours have a primary focus on mammals and we offer the widest choices of mammal-watching holidays across the globe, from the poles to the tropics. Our holidays are guided by at least one professional naturalist tour leader and usually benefit from additional guiding by expert local naturalist guides. We have holidays to see an incredible range of the world’s most sought-after mammals, such as orangutans, lemurs, bats, polar mammals, big cats, and mammals of the African savannah. A significant number of tours also targets some of the planet’s more unusual and elusive species, from pottos and pangolins to slender lorises and obscure cetaceans.
Here’s a selection of our mammal tours:
- India’s Kanha and Pench Tiger Reserves
- A cruise to Spitsbergen in search of Polar Bears
- A chance to see the ‘Big Five’ and much more in South Africa’s Kruger National Park
- Search for Blue, Fin and Sperm Whales in the Azores
- Close-up views of Brown Bear and Wolverine in Finland
- Enjoy the mammals of Kenya’s Masai Mara, while staying in luxury camps
- Search for elusive nocturnal mammals, such as Aardvark, Black-footed Cat and Aardwolf, in the Kalahari Desert
Bargain mammal selection
We offer a range of action-packed bargain holidays for the dedicated mammal enthusiast, which are exceptional value for money, from Belize to Zambia.
Our specialist recommends...
Paul Stanbury - Operations Manager
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Safari Holidays – Experience Earth’s Greatest Continent for Wildlife
Why choose Africa for wildlife safaris?
When people think of visiting Africa, safari holidays are regularly at the top of the list. Riding in an open-top jeep along dusty tracks and looking out across sun-baked savannahs teeming with big game is arguably one of life’s best experiences.
For the nature enthusiast, Naturetrek’s African safari holidays offer unparalleled opportunities. Africa is the world’s greatest continent for wildlife, being home to many of the planet’s most iconic mammals and birds.
Many of these animals are relatively easy to observe and exist in scarcely believable abundance, guaranteeing that our African safari tours are always full of amazing sightings.
From the Okavango Delta in Botswana and Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park to Namibia’s Etosha National Park and the superb Kruger National Park in South Africa, our African wildlife safaris will take you to all the continent’s most unmissable destinations.
Classic African safari holidays
We offer classic safari-style packages to Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Namibia.
On these African safari tours you will stay in or very near the prime game-rich areas such as national parks and reserves, heading out daily for wildlife watching in vehicles. There will usually be additional chances to join night drives and look for nocturnal species.
On the majority of our African wildlife safaris, even those in our bargain range, we are able to use superb accommodation, including in remote locations. Tented, fully serviced camps with private facilities are the norm.
Expert naturalist guides
All of our African safari tours are led by expert naturalist guides. Most of our tours are led by superb local guides (the quality of guiding in many parts of Africa is second to none), while some of our longer tours are joined by a UK leader.
What wildlife might I see?
Africa is the best place in the world for seeing large concentrations of big game such as African Bush Elephant, Lion, Cape Buffalo, Giraffe and Blue Wildebeest. On Naturetrek’s African safari tours we visit some of the world’s most famous national parks and reserves, such as the Serengeti, Kruger and Okavango Delta, as well as some less well known regions, in search of a full range of the continent’s most spectacular mammals, from Hippos, Wild Dogs and White Rhinos to Leopards, bushbabies and African Wildcats.
The birdlife is equally staggering, with an enormous variety of charismatic species found across the continent, from bee-eaters and hornbills to finches, weavers and a stunning diversity of birds of prey. Naturetrek’s African wildlife safaris offer a chance to search for a superb variety of species and avian spectacles, such as flamingo-lined lakes in the Rift Valley, bizarre Shoebills in Uganda’s swamps, and giant Ostriches strutting across endless savannahs.
See our list of the best African Safari Holidays
Our specialist recommends...
"We offer a superb choice of expert-led African safari holidays ranging from 9-day bargain tours in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park to a 17-day birdwatching and mammal-viewing safari through Namibia, Botswana and Zambia. For those who have previously enjoyed a traditional safari, I would recommend our ‘South Africa’s Rare Mammals’ tour, which targets some of the continent’s most rarely seen creatures, such as Aardwolf, Black-footed Cat, Cape Porcupine, African Wildcat, Brown Hyaena and the iconic Aardvark
Paul Stanbury – Operations Manager
Eclipse and Astronomy Holidays
We have launched a programme of astronomically themed holidays that will open up the universe to you. By day we will admire the wildlife and landscapes of the natural world, but by night our attention will be drawn to the celestial realms. Whilst some tours are arranged around a particular event such an eclipse, others will take you to regions of the world where the truly dark skies can be enjoyed. A lot of careful planning and experience goes into operating these tours: to optimise the viewing we draw upon historical weather data and consider factors such as altitude and the phase of the moon.
Over the past two years our Namibian Night and Day tour has provided a wonderful blend of stargazing, tremendous scenery, and wildlife. This tour will run again in 2023 and 2024.
We have teamed up with the DarkSky Alqueva and SPEA, Portugal’s society for the study of birds, to bring you a tour of Portugal’s Alentejo region focusing on nature, culture and astronomy at the dark sky reserve.
After wonderfully successful tour to Chile in 2019 for the total solar eclipse, we have arranged a tour to Mexico’s Pacific coast to witness a total eclipse in April 2024. This will include amazing opportunities to see enjoy the history, culture and wildlife of this vibrant country.
On each of our ‘Eclipse and Astronomy Holidays’ we will aim to offer the following:
- Private vehicles
- Comfortable hotels
- Accompanying astronomy expert for all or part of the tour
- Live Planetarium demonstrations
Our specialist recommends...
"Looking to the skies can reward us with some of the most captivating views in nature. The richness of the Milky Way set against a jet-black sky, the rippling curtains of the Northern Lights over the Arctic or the astonishing spectacle of a total solar eclipse are sights that live long in the memory."
David Phillips - Operations Manager
All Eclipse and Astronomy Tours
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For any interested natural history club or society, we can arrange for a private departure of this tour.
Enquire
Why Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!
