The very first EarthCruiser overseas Adventure, this trip begins in the gorgeous city of Cape Town in South Africa. EarthCruiser Adventure staff will be available to aid participants in arranging for the shipment of their vehicles to Cape Town along with providing guidance in customs, insurance, visas and paperwork for the Adventure.
One of the least densely populated countries on earth, Namibia offers the intrepid overlander miles of gravel and sand roads lined with jaw-dropping desert scenery you’ll rarely have to share with anyone else. This trip takes in the best of the country along with some of the iconic places of South Africa as it winds its way north from Cape Town to the world-class Etosha National Park at the top end of Namibia, ending at the bustling capital city of Windhoek. Along the way you’ll see elephants and zebra, penguins, and antelope, along with the largest canyon on the continent and the world’s tallest sand dunes. You’ll get to test your driving skills through the deep sand of the Deadvlei and the salt roads of the Skeleton coast while enjoying evenings at comfortable campgrounds for delicious meals around the campfire.
This is truly the trip of a lifetime with just enough challenges to feel like a real adventure while remaining safe and building one’s confidence in international overlanding. Each day will be filled with jaw-dropping scenery, fascinating wildlife and diverse, friendly culture.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Moderate. Mostly camping, mix of campgrounds with shower/toilet facilities and some with no facilities. Dusty conditions and bumpy roads at times. Hot in the day, cool at night. Few services are available most days. Language and cultural barrier, some unfamiliar foods.
Driving over moderate gravel and dirt roads, basic recovery and winching helpful, basic familiarity with backroad navigation. Occasional rocky, muddy and sandy drives. Some days with a chance of deep sand driving. Driving on left side of road, unfamiliar traffic rules and road markings.
EarthCruiser founders Lance and Michelle fell in love with travel at a young age, and eventually with each other after meeting on a deep jungle expedition. Their experiences together, coupled with Lance’s decades of overlanding lifestyles experience and technical know how, have set the tone for the care and attention to detail that goes into every EarthCruiser off the lot. That love spills over to the company, the crew, and our appreciation for our customers.
Ellen Wayte has spent over a decade working in tourism as an overlanding tour leader, scuba instructor, naturalist, park ranger, and concierge. As a tour leader, she has led adventure holidays through over 40 countries on five continents. She has guided clients on expeditions from Cape Town to Cairo, across the Silk Road, throughout South America, and the Indian subcontinent. She is passionate about wildlife and can often be found with binoculars in hand.
Day 1 Cape Town, South Africa, Saturday, September 2, 2023
Welcome to Africa! Today we will get checked in to our Cape Town boutique hotel and attend a pre-departure meeting where you will meet your tour leader and traveling companions. We will go over the logistics of the trip, everything from what to expect, to safe driving protocols and what you will need to prepare for the next few days. We will assist in changing money, if needed, and ensuring all your paperwork is in order for our trip. After our meeting we will be transported for dinner at a downtown restaurant specializing in traditional Africa faire with live music.
Meals included: Dinner
Optional Extras: Pre trip accommodation and booking of Cape Town area attractions and activities including Table Mountain, Great White Shark Cage Diving, Stellenbosch region wine tours, Two Oceans Aquarium, Robben Island
Day 2 Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, September 3, 2023
This morning we will be transported via mini bus to pick up our EarthCruisers at a local truck service shop. Each vehicle will have been expertly unloaded and inspected by their mechanics, filled with fuel, and all paperwork obtained so we will be ready to hit the road. From there we will head south along the stunning False Bay to Boulders where we will visit a colony of Cape Penguins. Continuing south we will explore the Cape of Good Hope with magnificent sea cliffs and flora and fauna not found elsewhere. Baboons will surely take interest in our vehicles and if lucky, we may spot ostrich walking amongst the endemic fynbos vegetation. In the afternoon we return to our hotel where we’ll have free time to explore and prepare for our journey.
Inclusions: Boulders Penguin Colony, Cape of Good Hope
Day 3 Trawal, South Africa, Monday, September 4, 2023
Leaving the Cape, we will begin our journey north, enjoying sweeping views of the countryside. Our stop for the night is a beautiful campground, nestled on the hill above a vineyard. Before our dinner we will enjoy a wine tasting led by our camp host.
Inclusions: Wine tasting
Meals included: Dinner
Day 4 Orange River, Namibia, Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Continuing north, we will make a stop for fuel and supplies in the town of Springbok. As we approach the border with Namibia we’ll keep our eyes on the hills for the rare Hartmann’s mountain zebra. At the border, our team will assist with getting our vehicles stamped out of South Africa and in to Nambia. After arriving to Namibia we will have a short drive to our campsite on the banks of the Orange River where we can enjoy a swim or cold beverage at the riverside bar.
Meals included: Dinner
Day 5 Fish River Canyon, Namibia, Wednesday, September 6, 2023
This morning we will leave our campground and leave paved roads for the next few days. We will head north from camp through a wonderland of towering, colorful rock formations where every turn yields new, spectacular views. We will aim to arrive to the Fish River Canyon campground well before sunset to set up camp for the night. The last few miles before the campground is frequented by zebra, oryx, ostrich and springbok and we’ll have to watch our food for cheeky baboons who often raid the camp. Just before sunset we’ll drive to the rim of the largest canyon in Africa for a pleasant walk followed by cheese and wine as the sun disappears over the horizon. We will return to camp for a camp meal around the fire.
Inclusions: Fish River Canyon National Park Entry
Meals included: Dinner
Day 6 Sesrium, Namibia, Thursday, September 7, 2023
Today is a big drive over rugged gravel roads through the interior of the country. This is a great day to get a sense of rural life in Southern Africa, with sprawling farms and few people dotting the landscape. Watch for lonely quiver trees and thorny Acacias overloaded with massive straw nests created by sociable weaver birds. We will arrive for the evening at a campground located inside the entrance gate of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. There we will spend the night nestled alongside the dunes and may be visited by jackals and oryx as we enjoy our camp dinner.
Inclusions: Namib-Naukluft National Park Entry
Meals included: Dinner
Day 7 Desert Camp, Namibia, Friday, September 8, 2023
Today we’ll get up before dawn to drive into the dune field of the oldest desert on earth. We’ll arrive to climb the towering Dune 45 for sunrise – the jaw-dropping view at the top is well worth the effort. We will have breakfast and some much needed coffee at the parking area below the dune then continue our drive into the park where we’ll lower tire pressures for the deep sand drive to Deadvlei for photos and a short walk. Here we’ll see iconic camelthorn acacia trees amongst towering red dunes. We will then leave the park, driving through rugged mountains and stunning scenery, to camp at a friendly farm where local guides will take us out in safari vehicles and on foot to search for desert wildlife and learn more about this environment.
Inclusions: Guided desert safari
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 8 Swakupmund, Namibia, Saturday, September 9, 2023
This morning we will drive to the Skeleton coast. If interested, you may wish to stop in Walvis Bay to see if you can find any flamingoes in the lagoon. We will arrive to Swakupmund before lunch. Once in town we’ll stop at an activities center where you can book any of the seemingly endless choice of activities for the following day. Swakupmund offers scenic flights, quad biking, horseback riding, sandboarding, cultural tours and trips to the desert in search of chameleons and wildlife. The town also offers excellent shopping with a bewildering array of crafts, arts and antiques. We’ll check into our hotel for the next two nights. Optional group dinner at a great little Italian restaurant that is known for its game meats like kudu and springbok.
Optional Extras: Group dinner, skydiving, fishing, kayaking, nature walks, sandboarding, quad biking, cultural tours, scenic flights
Day 9 Swakupmund, Namibia, Sunday, September 10, 2023
Today is for activities such as desert tours, sandboarding, skydiving, museums, and great shopping.
Day 10 Spitzkoppe, Namibia, Monday, September 11, 2023
This morning we will drive up the Skeleton coast on a road ‘paved’ with salt. This coast is known for the thick fog and strong currents that have resulted in dozens of shipwrecks along the shore. We can stop at once such shipwreck for photos then on to the Cape Cross Seal Colony to see these incredible, butslightly stinky, animals. After leaving the coast we will drive back inland to the red granite rocks of Spitzkoppe in time to hike around the incredible formations for sunset, followed by a camp meal around the fire.
Inclusions: Cape Cross Entry, Spitzkoppe Entry
Meals included: Dinner
Day 11 Brandberg, Namibia, Monday, September 11, 2023
Today we north through rugged backcounty roads towards Brandberg, the tallest peak in Namibia. We will stop at the base of Brandbert Mountain to meet a local guide for the short hike to see the famous White Lady rock paintings. After our hike we’ll continue a short drive north to our campsite for the night where we’ll enjoy a sunset game drive in the lodge’s safari vehicle in hopes of finding the famous desert-adapted elephants that live here.
Inclusions: White Lady Guided Walk, Desert Elephant Safari
Meals included: Dinner
Day 12 Etosha, Namibia, Tuesday, September 12, 2023
On this morning’s drive we may have a chance to buy crafts and crystals from local Himba and Harero women on the side of the road today. This afternoon we will enter Etosha National Park, stopping at water holes enroute to our campsite in search of wildlife. Tonight’s campsite has an incredible flood-lit water hole famous for attracting white and black rhino, elephants and lions. Expect to be woken up by roars and hyena woops tonight!
Inclusions: Etosha National Park Entry
Meals included: Dinner
Day 13 – Etosha, Namibia, Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Today is for game drives in search of elephants, lions, zebra, giraffe, leopards, rhino and more in the incredible Etosha National Park.
Inclusions: Etosha National Park Entry
Meals included: Dinner
Day 14 – Grootfontein, Namibia, Thursday, September 14, 2023
This morning we will leave Etosha, driving slowly to look for wildlife along the way, and drive to our next campsite, a funky little desert camp. We’ll continue into the bush to visit a local “living museum” where a community of San Bushmen will show us how they used to live with traditional crafts, hunting skills and plant collection.
Inclusions: San Bushmen Guided Walk
Meals included: Dinner
Day 15 – Windhoek Namibia, Friday, September 15, 2023
This morning we’ll depart for our last drive to the capital city of Windhoek. We will stop at the AfriCat foundation to visit their resident cheetahs and learn about their conservation projects. After arriving to our well appointed campground in the center of the city we will go out for a celebratory end of trip dinner at a famous restaurant and beerhouse.
Inclusions: AfriCat Foundation Visit and Donation
Meals included: Dinner
Day 16 – Windhoek, Namibia, Saturday, September 16, 2023
We’ll meet in the morning before sending everyone off either back home or on to the next leg of their adventure. For those returning home you’ll have the option of driving your vehicle to the port town of Walvis Bay to load for shipping, driving back to Cape Town for shipment there, or having one of our staff drive your vehicle to your choice of shipping port so that you may return home. For those continuing on for independent travel in Africa we are available to consult on itinerary planning, accommodation and activities booking and the hiring of local guides or fixers. For those continuing on with us through Botswana and Zambia we will have a free day to prepare before meeting in the evening to begin our next Adventure.
*Please note that the itinerary listed here represents the intended route and day to day schedule. EarthCruiser Adventure reserves the right to make any itinerary changes with or without notice, which may become necessary, as is the nature of overlanding.Cape Town, South Africa, Saturday, September 2, 2023
Camping (12 nights), Hotels (4 nights)
EarthCruiser or Terranova purchased new from EarthCruiser, used via EarthCruiser’s pre-owned program, or used via a third party with membership to the Cruiser Crew program.
Spare tire and full set of Maxtrax recovery board
Basic recovery gear including Snatch Block, Tree Saver, one pair each hard and soft shackles, and gloves.
You will be asked to purchase local vehicle insurance for South Africa and Namibia as well as all vehicle paperwork fees and personal visas. Travel insurance is compulsory on all our trips for those travelling internationally. We require that at a minimum you are covered for medical expenses including emergency repatriation. We strongly recommend all travelers have a policy that also covers personal liability, cancellation, curtailment and loss of luggage or personal effects. For international trips, you will not be permitted to join the group until evidence of travel insurance and the insurance company’s 24-hour emergency contact number has been confirmed by your leader.
Minimum 50% deposit required for booking. The remaining balance will be automatically charged 30 days before your adventure begins.
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