DETAILED ITINERARY:WEST TO EAST TREK (NWJ20)

Day 1. Overnight at a Bed & Breakfast in Windhoek, Namibia. Dinner (at own expense) and briefing with guide.

Day 2. Depart from Windhoek in a 4 wheel drive safari vehicle and ascend to a height of approximately 6,000 feet above sea level, through the foothills of the Khomas Hochland, before descending the Gamsberg Pass to the Namib Desert, the world's oldest and driest desert. Continue through the Kuiseb Canyon after entering the Namib Naukluft Park. Picnic lunch en route. In the afternoon the journey passes the waterholes of Ganab and Hotsas and stop at the Welwitchia plants, unique to the Namib Desert. Travel along the edge of the Moon Valley with its rugged rock formations and proceed to Swakopmund for overnight camping. B/L/D

The Namib Naukluft Park covers an area of 30,000 square miles. It is not only the largest nature conservation area in Namibia, but is also rated as the fourth largest and most unusual in the world. Landscapes range from an impressive mountain massif to the desert plains and high dunes, from deep gorges to estuarine lagoon.

En route to Swakopmund we will visit the Namib area. For the connoisseur of scenery, atmosphere and the unusual, there is nothing quite like the Namib. It has an quality of timelessness, and, depending on the time of day, there is a shift of moods, a play of light and shadow, giving desert landscapes entirely new tints and textures. The Welwitchia Nature Drive ranges from vast plains where herds of oryx, springbok and zebra roam, to the surrealistic landscape of the badlands, known as the "Valley of the Moon" in the Swakop River valley. Also in the valley is the small oasis of Goanikontes, its vivid green vegetation in startling contrast to the harsh desert landscape. Examples of the Welwitchia mirabilis, that hardy survivor of the desert, can be seen along this route. They appear to be small dead bushes, but with the addition of fog droplets magically burst into life and "bloom". This strangest plant of the Namib may live for as long as 2,000 years!

Day 3. Travel to Walvis Bay for a sightseeing tour. Visit the lagoon and climb Dune 7, an apricot colored sand dune, reaching a height of approximately 900 feet. Enjoy lunch at the shady picnic site in the lee of the dune. Return to Swakopmund. Remainder of day spent at leisure. Overnight camping B/L

Walvis Bay, the principal port of entry for Namibia, lies some 18 miles south of Swakopmund, and is reached by a coastal road flanked by tall sand dunes. There are several pilchard and white fish factories in town. At a bird sanctuary on the outskirts of the town, and at a lagoon, large numbers of flamingos, white pelicans and other aquatic birds congregate. Between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay is Bird Island, a huge wooden platform built in the sea to provide a roosting place for coastal birds and from which guano is collected to be used as fertilizer. The scenic lagoon of Walvis is the single largest area of shallow sheltered water on the west coast of southern Africa. Thirty-one different bird species have been recorded here, including 23,000 greater and 33,000 lesser flamingos. The lagoon is of great ornithological importance and is also a popular spot for wind surfing. There are spacious lawns bordering the lagoon and 3 miles of promenade.

Swakopmund is a popular place for surfers, anglers and beach lovers from all over southern Africa because of its great beaches and pleasant summers. Its continental atmosphere lies in its art nouveau buildings, dating back to the turn of the century. There are eleven national monuments worth visiting, including the railway station, a magnificently ornate building. The Swakopmund Museum captures the colorful past and highlights the desert flora and fauna as well as the area's rich marine life. The tannery which manufactures the well known kudu leather shoes, can be visited as well as the local brewery which produces some of Namibia's finest beers.. Other features of Swakopmund includes a sheltered bathing spot at Palm Beach, an Olympic-sized heated swimming pool and a grassy golf course in a desert setting.

Day 4. Travel from Swakopmund to Cape Cross, visit the seal colony and proceed into Damaraland. Overnight camping at Twyfelfontein. B/L/D

Approximately 60 miles north of Swakopmund is the Cape Cross Seal Reserve. Here the Portuguese navigator, Diogo Cao (the first European to set foot so far south on the African continent) planted a cross in 1486. A great herd of Cape Fur Seals flourish in the cold waters of the Benguela Current. Numerous islets and isolated coves have become natural nurseries for their young.

Damaraland, with the rugged beauty of its landscape, is a region of rolling plains and distant mountain ranges. Unusual geological features, a wealth of rock paintings and engravings, and populations of desert-adapted elephant and black rhino all combine to form the unique attraction of Damaraland. Near Khorixas stands the Petrified Forest. Here some ancient flood deposited giant tree trunks, some up to 90 feet long, with a circumference of up to 9 ft. The age of these fossil trunks is estimated to be 200 million years. A short drive south-west of the Petrified Forest is Twyfelfontein, which is unequaled for its abundance of rock engravings (at least 2,500), set in a U-shaped valley of unusual reddish sandstone formations and terraces.The engravings depict many species of animals - among them elephant, rhino, giraffe and lion.

Day 5. Visit the Burnt Mountain and Organ Pipes. Proceed to Etosha National Park via Outjo. Enter the park at Okaukuejo. Overnight camping Okaukuejo. B/L/D

An eerie ridge of hills known as the Burnt Mountain, lies just south of Twyfelfontein. The mountain slopes are barren, practically without vegetation. It is a panorama of desolation, but the rocks are vividly colored, mostly in shades of red and purple. Volcanic activity and erosion have created the shapes and hues of this phantom tract of land. Nearby is another curiosity: a mass of perpendicular slabs of basalt in a ravine gouged by a river at the foot of a rocky slope. These have been dubbed the Organ Pipes.

Okaukuejo camp inside Etosha has a floodlit waterhole along the perimeter of the camp. This enables you to freely watch animals which drink here, in comfort from behind a low stone wall. Okaukuejo's landmark, a circular stone tower, provides beautiful sunset viewing from its top. The camp also has a pleasant swimmimg pool.

Day 6. Spend day in Etosha National Park (the third largest in the world), journeying from Okaukuejo to Namutoni, where you will camp overnight. B/L/D

Etosha National Park is widely regarded as one of the best game reserves in Africa to closely observe a startling diversity of animal and bird life, including the endangered black rhino, gemsbok, rare black-faced impala and tiny Damara dik-dik. For most of the year wildlife is forced to congregate around the park's isolated waterholes and the landscape is flat and sparsely vegetated. This is cause for excellent game viewing. The fact that Etosha has an exceptionally high proportion of predators to herbivores, offers visitors a greater opportunity of witnessing confrontations between predators and their prey. Etosha Pan, from which the park derives its name ("great white place of dry water") and covering about one fifth of its 13,400 square miles, is an extensive flat depression. This great, white expanse is a place of shimmering mirages and large herds of game. The road between Okaukuejo and Namutoni runs along the fringes of the pan. Namutoni camp is centered around a German fort, with an elevated tower from which you can survey the wild tamboti trees and terminalia woodland.

Day 7. Travel to Tsumeb, an important mining town, and on to Grootfontein and Rundu. We drive along the Okavango river to Popa Falls just south of the bridge over the Okavango at a series of rapids in the river. Overnight camping at Popa Falls. B/L/D

On the road between Namutoni and Tsumeb lies Lake Otjikoto, one of only two natural lakes in Namibia. Much of the water for the agricultural projects near the town, comes from this sunken lake which was formed when the roof of a huge dolomitic cave collapsed. Its clear water (96 - 300 ft. deep) contains several species of fish, including the rare mouth-breeding cichlid fish. During WW1 the retreating Germans dumped weaponry and ammunition into the lake. Most of it has been retrieved except for remnants of large equipment.

Day 8. Enter Botswana at Shakawe and travel along the western side of the Okavango Delta to Maun. Overnight camping at Sitatunga Camp. B/L/D

Day 9&10. Transfer to an island in the Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta and one of its most intriguing wildernss areas. Explore the crystal clear waterways in a makoro (a dug-out canoe hewn out of one solid tree trunk). The makoro can seat two plus the poler (a man who, from a standing position, with slow and rhythmic motions moves the makoro through the water), who will also take you on a gamewalk on the island. Overnight camping on an island. B/L/D

The Okavango River rises in the Angolan Highlands, flowing 600 miles through the sandy plains of Angola. As the flood pushes through reedbeds and down ancient channels, it floods the open plains and creates thousands of islands, some little more than tiny termite mounds. Its water never reaches the sea, but empties itself into the burning Kalahari sands of northern Botswana. This forms a 9,600 square mile maze of lgoons, channels and islands, known as the Okavango Delta or the "Jewel of the Kalahari" . It is one of Africa's largest and most beautiful oasis, creating a natural refuge for the larger animals of the desert. The northern part is permanently flooded where vast papyrus beds grow and float above the sand, kept open by the passage of hippo, elephant and buffalo as they push their way from mainland to island and back. This is home to over 450 bird and plant species, and several of the world's rarest species of antelope. Reptiles of the delta include the Nile crocodile, leguaans (iguana family) and carnivorous water monitors. The croaks of bell frogs and bullfrogs provide lovely evening choruses. The delta is lush with floodplains, gleaming white sandbanks under crystal clear water, secret waterways, palm-covered islands, delicate ferns and radiant lagoons where pale blue lilies rise above a floor of dark green pads. Here you can absorb the peace and tranquillity synonymous with this ecological wonder. The only sound you hear as your makoro glides through the water, are the sounds of the wild, the swish of the papyrus and the haunting call of the fish-eagle, supreme sovereign of the swamps.

Day 11&12. Explore the Moremi Wildlife Reserve in specially designed 4 wheel drive safari vehicles. Enter at South Gate and overnight camping (day 11) at the third bridge or Xakanaxa and (day 12) on the Khwai River. Overnight in unfenced campsites. B/L/D

The 1,080 square mile Moremi Wildlife Reserve is perhaps the most beautiful and interesting of all the many natural areas of tropical Africa. It lies in the northeastern section of the Okavango Delta, occupying wide areas of permanent swamp. It offers a landscape of lagoons and winding waterways, Kalahari sand, reedbeds, mopane and knobthorn forests. These many different habitats make possible the viewing of a wider variety of animals than almost anywhere else on earth. In addition to all the larger animals, you might be lucky enough to see the shy lechwe (a semi-aquatic deer listed as an endangered species, though abundant in the Okavango werlands) or the rare sitatunga, a swamp antelope which when frightened, submerges like a hippo into the water. The reserve was created in 1962 by the Batawana tribe on whose land it is situated and was named after their chief, Moremi III.

Day 13&14. Enter the Chobe National Game Park at Mababe Gate. Proceed to the Savuti campsite, an area which boasts the highest predator population in the world. Camps are often visited by hyenas after dark. Overnight camping in Savuti and Serondella on the banks of the Chobe River. B/L/D (both days)

The Chobe National Park covers nearly 6,600 square miles in northern Botswana with habitats ranging from swamp and floodplain to dead lake beds, sandridges and forest. The park can be divided roughly into three areas: the Chobe river area, the Mababe depression ( a dead lake bed) including the Savuti channel and marsh, and the Ngwezumba area with its mopani forests, riparian woodland and pans. The Chobe is best known for its huge herds of up to five hundred elephants, and its buffalo which sometimes congregate in herds of a thousand. An estimated 73,000 elephants make the Chobe National Park their home.

The Savuti hosts the largest predator population in the world. Its immense herds of impala, zebras, wildebeests and buffalos attract large lion prides which are often seen resting in the shade. Elephant bulls frequently wander through this area, while hyenas are common visitors to the campsite.

At Serondella ("place of the elephant"), where hundreds of elephants gather in large herds on the banks of the Chobe River, you can watch them enjoy a mudbath while the sun sets in flaming glory over Africa, heralding a night full of excitement as the bush becomes alive in the age-old struggle for survival. An overnight at Serondella is never a quiet affair. The baboons entertain campers to an assortment of sounds, like coughs and sneezes and babies screaming...not unlike the sounds of humans!

Day 15&16. Early morning departure for Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe - a mere 48 miles away on a paved road. Visit the Falls and enjoy remainder of day at leisure. Overnight camping at Victoria Falls rest camp. B only

Without a doubt, the Victoria Falls constitutes one of the most spectacular wonders of the world, and one of the major attractions in Africa. The local people call it mosi-oa-tunya ( "the smoke that forever thunders"). When the missionary and explorer, David Livingstone, saw this majestic waterfall for the first time in the mid-nineteenth century, the experience caused him to write with awe in his journal: "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight." The mighty Zambezi River flows, broad and placid, to the brink of a basalt lip 5,100 ft.wide. It gathers speed in a brief rapid then plunges more than a hundred meters down into the frothy chasm below. The earth trembles and the cloud of spray rising hundreds of meters into the sky, may be seen 30 miles away. The thunder of an incomprehensible weight of water never ceases. This is the world's largest sheet of falling water. Although its fame has spread far and wide, the site has been tastefully preserved in order that its magic may not be spoiled. There are many vantage points to ensure an unobstructed view.

Optional excursions available include: river rafting (which must be booked in advance), bungee-jumping, canoeing, "Flight of the Angels" ( 10 - 15 minute flight in a light aircraft over the falls), helicopter rides over Victoria Falls, lunch or dinner cruises on the Zambezi River or "Africa Spectacular", a show of traditional dancing to rhythmic jungle drums performed by Mikishi and Shangaan dancers.

River rafting on the Zambezi River has been called "the most exhillerating" in the world. During low water it is considered class IV and V. The rapids are among the world's wildest, but because of the deep water and lack of rocks mid-stream, also the safest - injuries are very rare. Everyone agrees though, that the Zambezi River demands ones respect Bungy jumping at the falls are the highest, worldwide, from a fixed structure (340 ft.).

Day 17. Visit the Kariba Lake. Camp on the shores of the Mlibizi Basin. Optional trips on the lake. B/L/D

Kariba is a wonderland of more than 3,000 square miles of blue island-studded water, and on its shores you will find forests, bays, inlets, river estuaries and wilderness areas teeming with game. Birdlife is prolific and includes many of the larger species such as goliath heron, great white egrets, gray heron, fish-eagle and openbill storks.

Day 18. Travel from Mlibizi to Bulawayo and onwards to Matobo National Park. Overnight camping in Bulawayo. B/L/D

South of the city of Bulawayo lies the Matobo Hills, a unique area of some 1,200 square miles of gigantic wind-sculptured rock formations, many of them balancing in unbelievably contorted shapes, alternating with cool green wooded valleys and lakes. From Malindidzimu ("the place of the spirits"), atop a colossal granite dome, where explorer Cecil John Rhodes is buried, there is a moonscape view that is unlike any other on earth. Thousands of ancient rock paintings can be seen here. Matobo is also home to the world's largest concentration of nesting sites of the black eagle.

Day 19. Travel from Bulawayo to Great Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe Ruins) Sightseeing. Overnight camping at Masvingo. B/L/D

Several centuries ago a city of 10 000 people sprang up on the edge of the great central African plateau, not far from the Runde-Save River complex, which provides a route to the Indian Ocean. This city , from which the country derives it name, is believed to have flourished between the 13th and 15th centuries and was probably the seat of government of the ancient African Kingdom of Monomotapa. It is the greatest midieval city in sub-Saharan Africa. Among artifacts found on the site were the famous Zimbabwe birds, carved from soapstone, which is incorporated in the country's flag and crest. These and other finds are on display at the museum on site. The glittering waters of Lake Kyle are visible from the summit of the Great Zimbabwe hill complex.

Day 20. An early departure from Masvingo to Beit Bridge, the border with South Africa. Travel south along the Great North Road through Messina, Louis Trichardt and Pietersburg to Johannesburg International Airport. B only.

* B/L/D = breakfast/ lunch/ dinner

Option 1: Exit safari at Victoria Falls NWJ17

Option 2: Exit safari at Maun NWO11

INCLUSIONS AND EXCLUSIONS West to East Trek NWJ20

Day 1. Included: transfer from Windhoek Airport and overnight B&B Excluded: Dinner

Day 2. Included: entrance fees to park and areas visited, overnight camping, B/L/D

Day 3. Included: excursion and entrance to Walvis and Dune 7, overnight camping, B/L

Day 4. Included: entrance Cape Cross, Twyfelfontein and Petrified Forest, camping, B/L/D

Day 5. Included: entrance Burnt Mountain, Organ Pipes and Etosha, camping, B/L/D

Day 6. Included: park fees, camping, B/L/D

Day 7. Included: excursion Otjikoto, camping Popa Falls, B/L/D

Day 8. Included: camping Maun, B/L/D

Day 9&10. Included: Botswana Park fees, transfer into Delta, camping, makoro and poler, B/L/D

Day 11&12. Included: park fees, camping, gamedrive, B/L/D

Day 13&14. Included: park fees, camping, gamedrives, B/L/D

Day 15&16. Included: camping, B only Excluded: Optional excursions, entrance to Vic Falls, other meals

Day 17: Included: camping, B/L/D Excluded: Optional boat trip

Day 18. Included: entrance Matobo, camping, B/L/D

Day 19. Included: entrance Great Zimbabwe, camping, B/L/D

Day 20. Included: B only

Cape Town, South Africa, Mount Nelson, Cape Town, South Africa, Mount Nelson, Cape Town, South Africa, Mount Nelson