Namib Desert Ride

Crossing the oldest desert in the world on horseback is a journey of a lifetime! Central Namibia offers spectacularly fascinating contrasts: from Khomas Hochland Mountains and escarpment to the Kuiseb Canyon, Tinkas, Tumas and Welwitschia plains, Moon Valley, seasonal Swakop River, coastal dunes and the Atlantic Ocean. This ride is not for the faint hearted, it is one of the toughest rides in the world and tremendously rewarding. It brings horse and rider together in patience and respect for one another.

Itinerary

Day 1: You will be met on arrival day at Windhoek airport ( Hosea Kutako airport ) and transferred to a specified B&B in Windhoek. Here you will meet the rest of your riding group for dinner and a Namibia Horse Safari company representative to brief you about the ride.

Day 2: After breakfast we depart Windhoek on a transfer to the starting point of our ride (2-3 hours). After a light lunch we get to know our horses on the first ride. The evening will be spent at a tented camp or guesthouse depending on circumstances, whichever a good meal and drinks will settle us all into the flow of the ride.

Day 3: We continue on our riding adventure: cross-country on game and cattle tracks through the bush savannah and plains with stunning views of endless hills and steep rock faces in constantly changing colours. The night’s camping spent around a campfire in either a tent or stretch out under the stars.

Day 4: A long and exerting, but particularly memorable day awaits us! We ride over tricky terrain, along dry riverbeds and on the tracks of mountain zebra, oryx and baboons. This is unspoiled countryside with stunning panoramic views... and you are sure to appreciate a hot shower and a good meal at the end of this day! Our camp is somewhere down the escarpment, remote and rugged on a Namibian desert farm.

Day 5: Another memorable day, riding to the fringe of the Namib Desert ever further away from our sentinel, the Gamsberg, the third highest mountain in Namibia. Sunset is usually stunning after another beautiful day.

Day 6: We enter the largest nature conservation area in Africa (an area as large as the British Isles). The Skeleton Coast Park, Namib Naukluft Park and Sperrgebiet Park extend along Namibia’s entire coastline (2000km) up to a width of some 100 km. We ride through the bizarre Kuiseb Canyon and camp at Aruvlei, the place where Henno Matin and his friend hid their car. Marvel at the incredibly beautiful African sunset and myriads of stars.

Day 7: A long, tough riding day and non-stop sunshine! See mountain zebra, oryx, ostrich, springbok and if you’re lucky some of the desert warthogs while crossing the desert’s gravel plains as the crow flies. Here it has been known for the mountain zebra to run alongside us on one of our many canters. We stop at Ganab, a borehole that provides much-needed water for the game in the desert. Then we are off again, to Hotsas (Tinkas and Tumas plains).

Day 8: We canter happily towards Poacher's Turn and Marble Mountains, encountering strange shapes and mirages, fascinating survival devices of desert adapted creatures, infinite space and tremendous solitude.

Day 9: Continue through true desert landscape where you will see unique Welwitschia plants. Close to the coast we enter the spectacular Moon Valley. It is our last night on the ride and we camp out under the stars, around the campfire in the dry riverbed of the Swakop near Goanikontes.

Day 10: Joyfully ride along the Swakop valley until you reach the dunes and then at last the ocean shore at Swakopmund. Our first glimpse of a town in ten days! And the possibility of riding your horse for the last time along the beach!! For the night we stay in comfortable holiday chalets/guest house and our horses enjoy their well-deserved rest in a sandy paddock. We meet for a farewell dinner in the evening.

Day 11: We all say goodbye at breakfast and you will return to Windhoek and Windhoek International Airport on a 4-5 hour transfer, unless you opt to stay on in Swakopmund for a few extra days.

Routes can be changed due to unpredictable weather (sandstorm!) and other unforeseen conditions!

• Stay a few days extra in Swakopmund where activities available include: dolphin cruises, scenic flights over the area which we rode, sand boarding, sky diving, desert tours, quad biking etc.
• Visit Etosha National Park before or after the ride for excellent African game viewing opportunities.
• Visit Sossosvlei sand dunes after the ride.

To avoid the travelling time by road to Windhoek it is possible to make special road transfer to Walvis Bay International airport at the end of the ride, and then fly direct from Walvis to Johannesburg.

Since this is one of the toughest rides in the world you have to be physically fit as well as fit to ride; you should have a good sense of humour and extensive riding experience. Six to eight hours in the saddle per day, all paces.

• All Riding, accommodation and meals
• All Drinks (except in lodges, restaurants, petrol stations, etc.)
• Ground transfers on arrival day from Windhoek airport to the guest house and from the Windhoek B&B to starting point of ride and return transfer to central Windhoek and Windhoek International airport on day of departure.

Any extra transfers (for any reason including flight delays) other than those included in the itinerary – will be for guest’s personal account.

• Additional horses for riders over 85kg in riding gear. Please enquire for rates asvaries according to weight and the ride you choose.
• Single supp - will be waived if prepared to share guesthouse accommodation.
• Personal drinks and refreshments at all lodges, restaurants, petrol stations, etc.
• Accommodation and transfers not listed on the itinerary.
• Additional activities and packages. Please see itinerary recommendations.
• Safari staff gratuities. (Recommended pounds 8-10 per day per guest)

	Please download or print detailed intinerary here (PDF, 46 KB)
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