Mit Ihrem individuell gebuchten Abflug reisen Sie mit einem (üblicherweise) Übernachtflug nach Windhoek/Namibia
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Arrive at Windhoek International Airport and be picked up by us. A one-hour transfer takes you to our own Windhoek Mountain Lodge in the southern foothills of the Auas Mountains - our base for all Gravel Travel tours in Namibia. After a good breakfast, there is an opportunity to acclimatize and relax by the pool with a restful view of the surrounding mountain ranges and the vast african "bushveld". There is also the possibility of a small driver training session on the lodge grounds to get a first feel for the "gravel". And if you like, you can enjoy a "sundowner" on the viewing platform above the lodge before the legendary "Bushman fondue" calls for dinner in the evening...
Well rested and relaxed, today we will deal with a detailed travel briefing and a thorough briefing on the vehicles and GPS devices. Then we go on an approx. 280 km introduction tour, where you can familiarize yourself with the traffic, road conditions and technology so that we can start well-armed and well-prepared the next morning.
We start our first stage towards Mount Etjo. We bypass Windhoek through the eastern Khomas highlands and take the gravel slopes that lead us far away from the main tar roads to Okahandja. From there we pass the typical thornbush savannah of the central farmland and get through the Erindi Game Reserve to Mount Etjo, which is already visible from afar. A beautiful safari lodge with a diverse range of animals awaits us here. On a game drive at the latest we encounter giraffes, zebras, antelopes, and maybe rhinos and elephants. Enjoy a wonderful barbecue in the balmy evening air and listen to the lions roaring in the distance. In the morning the calling hippos will wake you up...
Actually too nice to sleep in: we go into the bush with the off-road vehicle - on the hunt for giraffes, zebras, antelopes, rhinos and elephants. Then we start our next stage to the east, it takes us on remote farm roads past the Omatako Mountains and the dam of the same name. On gentle, red slopes we go through the traditional tribal area of the cattle-breeding Hereros via Okakara to the Waterberg, whose 50km long profile we have been able to envisage for quite a while. This large table mountain is unusually blessed by Namibian standards with water, green, lush vegetation and thus great diversity of species. The plateau itself is today a valuable nature reserve. A fabulous view into the infinite distance is offered from every chalet and if you feel like it, who explores one of the exciting hiking trails...
We leave the Waterberg with its comparatively lush landscape vegetation to the east. The smooth Sandveld runway, peppered with the typically deep red termite mounds and magnificent acacia trees, also harbors "wildlife" in its wide margins in passing - giraffes, kudus, pygmy antelopes, guinea fowl and warthogs appear, latter are to be made out less easily in the tall grasses – so take care! Today's stage leads along the plateau mountain through the Omaheke region in a north-easterly direction, the Pad leads via Grootfontein and the lovely green hills of the Otavi Mountains to the mining town of Tsumeb...
At Tsumeb we are in a mining "garden city" with abundant relics from the mining days of yesteryear, long before that it was called the "Green Hill Place" by the San because of the oxidized copper ores that surfaced here. The predominant dolomitic rock characterizes the landscape. We leave our "Minen Hotel" early today, because a long stage of almost 400 km awaits us for the big leap into the Kavango region towards Rundu. Today's route marks a clear transformation from what was previously perceived as typically Namibian scenery to a now more tropical flavor of the far north. More and more often Makalani palm trees, lime pans and traditional settlement krales appear on lonely slopes. We meet the Okavango River, which forms the border with Angola. Our accommodation today somehow gives us the feeling of having arrived in another country...
We take a deep breath of the unique atmosphere of waking up early in the morning on a large african river and, after a sumptuous breakfast on the river bank, we climb the bikes for further east. The course of the Okavango River gives us the route today, we meander along the countless villages that live from fishing and irrigated agriculture. The route leads into the historically significant “Caprivi Strip”, which is a rather narrow corridor that connects the Namibian national territory with its easternmost part of the country, the Zambezi region. The stage ends today at the edge of the Mahango National Park.
Today's stage leads through the BwaBwata National Park. It includes the aforementioned narrow corridor between Angola and Botswana. The tarred Trans Caprivi Highway takes us straight east towards Katima Mulilo, Namibia’s easternmost town. This region is characterized by high dry forest and is home to a very high level of biodiversity, everything can be found here - from prominent "Africans" such as lions, buffalo and elephants, but also the extremely rare sable antelope and the last wild dog population ever. After more than 300 Kilometers we reach our next accommodation, located directly on the Zambezi River. Warning signs on the riverbank are always to be taken seriously: crocodiles and hippos also like to visit the shore zones...
Today, around 1400 kilometers from the Namibian capital, we are heading for our main destination: the World Heritage Site, the Victoria Falls. Here the wide Zambezi River plunges impressively over rough basalt formations into the depths of narrow gorges. Since Namibia has no direct access to the falls, we first have to drive a short distance through Botswana and Zimbabwe to get to the town of the same name, "Victoria Falls". This in turn is also a border town to the opposite "Livingstone" in Zambia. It will be a long and certainly exciting day, because African border points are always a special kind of experience, they provide many impressions of the colourful, lively hustle and bustle of the Africans at these junctions, while the bureaucracy also demands our attention. A place where Europeans can practice African serenity.
Well accommodated and served, we use our hotel in the middle of the city as a springboard to the nearby falls and have the whole day to admire the falls from all their diverse perspectives and facets. Bridges and paths lead through tropical jungle forest and along the impressive narrow basalt gorges, where the spray of the falls, nourished by the massive force of the water, rises in clouds visible from afar and offers the rainbows a unique canvas in a sounding backdrop. Only from Zimababwe's territory can the falls be experienced so comprehensively... A relaxing boat tour rounds off the afternoon.
For the unique experience of the Victoria Falls, we accept returning to Namibia on the same route in the direction of Katima Mulilo. We are no longer "greenhorns" at the border crossings. We cross the Chobe River at Ngoma and if we are lucky we may encounter elephants along the way. Heading east, we once again look for the mighty Zambezi River, where we get back on the boat that takes us to our uniquely situated lodge...
Today's stage takes us along the border between Namibia and Botswana - first along the Linyanti River, then along the Kwando River to the Mudumu National Park. The Linyanti-Kwando region is an important transboundary sanctuary for the large herds of elephant and buffalo that migrate seasonally between Angola, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The roads are either tarred or typically sandy and soft. At the Kwando we move into quarters and get in touch with the typical, rustic swamp landscape, where there are many species of wild animals and birds to be discovered, especially elephants and hippos can be seen very close here, at the latest on an evening river trip...
Shorter yesterday, longer today - after the briefing we start a long route through Mudumu National Park and exit northwards until we follow the Trans Caprivi Highway back west - again through Bwabwata National Park, which runs alongside the road with no fencing! Thus, game crossings of all kinds are always to be expected. But this stage is comfortably to drive as the road is tarred until Divundu, then we follow the remote sand tracks along the Kavango River and take away the impressions of the traditional villages that are so typical of the Namibian north. We spend an idyllic evening at the Kavango River and can review the day over a leisurely sundowner and dinner...
After a good night's sleep we can start stress-free, heading south and leaving the Kavango region for central north Namibia. Again, the landscape changes successively, the route crosses the so-called Red Line (a veterinary fence that separates the Kavango region with its buffalo population from commercial cattle farming in central Namibia). The stage today offers tar and gravel in equal measure, the second half leads through Mopane dry savannah and finally ends in the so-called maize triangle, where professional agriculture can be seen on a large scale. But the next accommodation is right in the middle of a lovely landscape of green hills and wide expanses of grass - a former mission station now offers travelers a leisurely stay on a well-kept old farm in the Otavi Mountains.
From Otavi Mountains we are still on the road in central-northern Namibia today. On secluded gravel roads, it's 250 km through lonely landscapes, always along the Etosha National Park, where the predominant mopane savannah on white limestone rock represents a new facet of Namibia. At the height of the central Etosha we reach our next accommodation...
Even today we manage almost without a tar road... we set course southwest towards Damaraland, the route leads through barren farmland in rocky and hilly landscape - but here too elephants roam around, who have adapted to the much sparser vegetation of this dry region. The sparsely populated area of Damaraland gives us an impressive insight into the different habitats Namibia is home to. The only larger town of Khorixas offers the opportunity to refuel and rest, then lonely gravel roads lead us west towards the Erongo Mountains, which can be seen from afar next to the Brandberg in the west...
Waking up in the morning with the peaceful chirping of a rich bird life, which feels just as comfortable as we do in the rustic scenery of the rough and shapely rock world of the Erongo Mountains ... bizarre granite formations give the eventful tour another deep impression of the unique diversity in Namibia. After a leisurely breakfast we set our sights on the last stage. Many roads lead to Windhoek, we take the most beautiful one. Along the Erongo Mountains and away from the tar roads, we use the gravel roads to the south and soon dive into the hilly, lonely valley of the Swakop River. From there we get to the Khomas highlands, a winding and mountainous gravel road that makes us forget (almost) all civilization until we suddenly come out again at the Windhoek town sign. It is another 20 km to the Windhoek Mountain Lodge, where cool beer, pool and a really nice end to the evening together is awaiting you...
This day is at your leisure at the lodge or for a stroll in Windhoek. Depending on your individual departure time, you can plan your day freely, the flight often only leaves in the evening. Some of the sights can be visited in the capital and numerous street cafés as well as bazaars and shops with local handicrafts invite you to at least observe the hustle and bustle all around. Whatever the case, we'll make sure you get to the airport on time...
Der Rückflug nach Deutschland landet am am frühen Morgen in Frankfurt/Main und ggf. Weiterreise per Bahn oder Flug in Ihren Heimatort.