City of London School Namibia Expedition

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TOUR DATES:     19 October 2007 - 26 October 2007

DAY 01 Departure from London
We begin our tour departing from London Gatwick on an evening flight to Windhoek, Namibia.

DAY 02 Windhoek
We will arrive at Windhoek and will transfer to the Roof of Africa Hotel. In the afternoon we will spend time exploring the museums and the local markets of this capital city.

DAY 03 Etosha (Namutoni)
Today we pick up our camping transport for the next four days and leave Windhoek. We will be journeying around the North of the country in a special Mercedes Benz safari and Man truck with a professional driver. It is equipped with all the equipment we need to camp out in the African bush to get the fantastic experience of safari. We will journey north to the internationally renowned Etosha National Park where we will arrive in the late afternoon. Etosha is the major nature reserve of Namibia, covering over 20 000 square kilometres with a large variety of animal and bird species.  The park is situated around the Etosha Pan, and has an extensive network of gravel roads that enable us to get to close to the animals of the bush. A feature of the park is the floodlit water holes at both Namutoni and Okaukuejo.  Evenings can be spent sitting on the specially constructed viewing benches watching the game as it comes in to drink.

DAY 04 Etosha (Okaukuejo)
Continuing our journey across the Etosha Pan we have another full day of game driving as we make our way across 150kms of the park from east to west. Today we will have the opportunity to explore the remote areas of the park where African game, including the Big 5, can be seen. The day should provide a great opportunity to get close to Lion, Rhino and Elephant amongst others.  Tonight we have another evening at leisure around the fantastic floodlit waterhole which promises for a true sense of the wild and chances of great nocturnal game viewing.

DAY 05 Twyelfontein
Leaving Etosha National Park we head for Twyelfontein and explore the rock paintings of the bushman. Africa was a key location in the evolution of man due to its warm climate and the paintings that can be found in the continent are some of the oldest evidence of human habitation. Resembling a large open-air art gallery, this treasure house of rock engravings is regarded as one of the richest collections of rock engravings in Africa. The evening will be spent camping out in the desert of the infamous skeleton coast.

DAY 06 wakopmund
Making our way to the coast we leave the Damaraland and its eerie inland shipwrecks that can be seen along the skeleton coast. Our journey takes us through bush spotted scenery before we get to the desolate coastal belt surrounded by flat plains and further south continuous dune belt. We arrive in Swakopmund early afternoon which gives us the afternoon to explore this interesting and historical coastal town. Swakopmund is the second biggest town in Namibia and has a distinct feel for its history. Founded in 1892 during the German colonial rule, the distinct colonial character has been well preserved.  Swakopmund has several excellent restaurants and coffee shops as well as many arts and crafts shops selling Namibian rural art. There are fine beaches to walk along as well as a great museum, aquarium and galleries to visit. Dinner this evening is one of the great restaurants of Swakopmund.

DAY 07 Swakopmund to Windhoek, Fly to the UK
Leaving Swakopmund we head back to the capital of Namibia, Windhoek. We will drive through the western drylands where the old marble and gold mines can be found. The early afternoon will be available for last-minute shopping and sightseeing. We leave for the airport late in the afternoon to catch our evening flight back to the UK.

DAY 08 Arrive UK
We will arrive back at London Gatwick early in the morning.