Group Trip Namibia: Wilder­ness Experi­ence Wild Damar­a­land

You will either fly into Walvis Bay International Airport, which is the preferred option, or into Windhoek. If you arrive in Walvis Bay, you can be collected from the airport at no additional cost.

If you fly into Windhoek, we can help arrange a transfer to Swakopmund at an additional cost. Depending on your arrival time, you may need to arrive in Windhoek the day before our PWE starts.

The PWE group spends the first night in Swakopmund, as the first day is intentionally kept relaxed, giving you time to arrive, settle in and get to know your fellow travellers before the adventure begins.

Accommodation: Luxury Suites, Swakopmund

After breakfast, you travel inland through Namibia's desert landscapes toward Base Camp in the Ugab region, arriving in the late afternoon. Once settled, the group takes a short walk to a nearby spring, where guides introduce the basics of track identification and field awareness.

The day closes with a sundowner over the Ugab River valley, your first real, unhurried look at the terrain ahead.

Accommodation: Base Camp, Ugab region

The morning is spent at the local Environmental Education and Information Centre, learning the fundamentals: elephant behaviour and social structure, desert adaptations, and the drivers of human-elephant conflict.

A shared drought has pushed elephants, livestock and people onto the same waterpoints, and guides explain how this plays out on the ground, along with the coexistence strategies communities are using to manage it. In the afternoon, an easy hike introduces desert ecology and the first tracking exercises.

Evenings throughout the trip are spent at the campfire preparing meals together; guests keen to learn bush cooking are welcome to join in.

Accommodation: Base Camp, Ugab region

Let’s set out to explore and go mobile camping! You’ll travel through the Ugab region in a vehicle with the guides, learning to read tracks and interpret other signs in the area to find desert elephants.

The day also includes a visit to a local coexistence project: protective walls around watering holes, solar-powered water systems, and early-warning infrastructure. Here, the realities of the conflict, and the practical solutions to it, become tangible.

The mobile phase begins that night; you'll camp in a remote location under mosquito-netted tents. In the evening, your guide will introduce you to the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere and teach you how to navigate the desert by the stars.

Accommodation: Mobile camping

On Day 5, the search for clues continues; on foot and by vehicle, the group follows herds of elephants across the landscape, including descendants of the five resident matriarchal herds that have returned to the Ugab and Huab since the 1990s.

Once elephants are located, you observe from a safe distance while guides interpret what you're seeing: herd structure, matriarchal leadership, behavioural signals, and movement patterns specific to this desert environment.

There's no rush to move on; time is built in to simply watch. Tracking skills continue to develop through fresh spoor and signs of recent activity.

Accommodation: Mobile camping

The Private Wilderness Experience takes you deeper into the desert, through dune systems and open plains to the Doros Crater, an impressive geological formation. Black rhino sightings are possible here, but they are rare and not guaranteed.

From here, there's no mobile reception and no drinking water beyond what's carried in the vehicle. It's remote in a way few places still are, and a real chance to disconnect fully.

Accommodation: Mobile camping

On Day 7, a hike to the crater rim offers sweeping views of the desert landscape, while the guides explain more about geology, ecology, and wildlife along the way. The ascent is about 700 meters in elevation, gradual rather than steep, and manageable for most fitness levels. The potential heat remains the main factor to take into account.

The afternoon is yours to enjoy as you wish: relax, read, or continue discussing what you’ve seen with the guides. This is the “slow” part of Slow Safari—a time when nothing is planned and you can simply take in your surroundings in all their different facets.

Accommodation: Mobile camping, special spot

Day 8 begins with a flat, easy hike to !Gai-as, a natural spring and a lesser-known petrified forest, where the guides explain the geological history and ecological role of these rare desert water sources. More geological formations follow before the group returns to the shade for lunch.

The afternoon is yours to enjoy as you wish: relax, read, or continue discussing what you’ve seen with the guides. This is the “slow” part of Slow Safari—a time when nothing is planned and you can simply take in your surroundings in all their different facets.

Accommodation: Mobile Camp, special spot: "Hyena Camp"

The camp is taken down, and the group sets off on the return trip to the Ugab River region. We’ll make stops along the way if fresh tracks pique our interest or if we even spot elephants. We’ll spend another night camping in the desert before heading back to base camp.

Accommodation: Mobile camping

On the last full day, we’ll slowly make our way back toward Base Camp. We’ll continue to keep an eye out for signs of desert elephants and take in the region one last time.

Back at Base Camp for our final evening, there’s time to reflect on the past few days and deepen your understanding of what you’ve learned about elephants, tracking, and the desert itself. The evening ends with a fun nature conservation quiz to test what you’ve retained.

Accommodation: Base Camp, Ugab region

After breakfast, the group will return to Swakopmund, where the Private Wilderness Experience comes to an end.

Accommodations in Swakopmund are no longer included at this point. If you’d like to continue your trip and would like some suggestions, please contact us. We’d be happy to help you plan the next leg of your journey.