Shipwreck Lodge

Namibia's Desert & Coast

Family Classic + 3 more + 3 more

Self-drive highlights of Southern Namibia.

12 days

from £4,975 pp

Flying Namibia's Skeleton Coast

Wildlife & Nature Luxury + 3 more + 3 more

An unforgettable sky high adventure through one of the world’s most remote landscapes.

9 days

from £12,100 pp

Namibia's Wildlife & Conservation

Family Classic + 2 more + 3 more

Namibia’s big skies, rare wildlife & real conservation in action.

12 days

from £5,835 pp

Canyons & Ghost Towns

Off-the-beaten-track Adventure + 1 more + 2 more

A road trip through Southern Namibia’s lesser-visited highlights.

13 days

from £5,145 pp

Classic Namibia Self Drive

Family Classic + 3 more + 3 more

Our classic self-drive adventure through deserts, dunes & wildlife.

13 days

from £4,875 pp

Namibia on a Shoestring

Classic Wildlife & Nature + 2 more + 3 more

A simple, self-drive introduction to Namibia.

9 days

from £4,525 pp

Quirky excursions

View all excursions in Namibia

Dune Drives

Guided desert drives in Namibia always tend to involve dune bashing, roughly translated as navigating a veritable desert roller coaster by 4WD vehicle, often as quickly as possible while still remaining safe. This obviously requires a skilled driver and an appropriate vehicle, both of which are provided on Skeleton Coast Safaris itineraries. At various, utterly remote spots along the Skeleton Coast, you will board a vehicle while your driver / guided weaves a thrilling path through the desert. One potential site is close to Terrace Bay, within the Skeleton Coast National Park, but the attractive flexibility of these trips means that there are various sites which could be utilised, depending on exactly where your landings take place. At some point, the driver will turn the engine off and slowly glide down the dunes, when you will hopefully hear the haunting sounds of the roaring sands as you slide down into a valley. While this can get the pulse racing, there is no genuine danger involved and the experience creates a genuine sense of adventure.

Nature Walks - Skeleton Coast

It's difficult to generalise about the exact nature of walks over such a large and diverse area as the Skeleton Coast, but it's safe to assume they will include fascinating insights into life in the desert and some decent levels of exertion amongst the rugged terrain. Serra Cafema Camp in the far northern Kunene region is surrounded by the Hartmann Mountains, with some highly enjoyable and challenging unguided hikes in the gullies, peaks and valleys within a stone's throw of camp. Getting further afield, you might pause on a quad biking or nature drive excursion for a short walk and a period of quiet contemplation amid the genuinely spectacular landscapes for which the area is renowned. On a mobile, light aircraft Skeleton Coast Safari, there are stops for walks on various beaches along the coast, perhaps pausing to mingle with a cape fur seal colony or to explore an eerie shipwreck. The further you enter the dense dunes away from the coastline, the more these excursions resemble the dedicated desert walks in Sossusvlei, the Namibrand Nature Reserve and Swakopmund, opening up keen insights into the smaller details of life in the desert. Perhaps most attractively of all, there is no better way to appreciate the stark, peaceful atmosphere of this incredibly remote area than by getting out on foot, far away from engine noise.

Nature Drives - Skeleton Coast

A strikingly different experience to the dune bashing drives that explore the sandiest stretches of the Skeleton Coast in exhilarating fashion, nature drives are more relaxing affairs that focus on the unique flora and fauna. There is a surprising diversity of wildlife that can cling to life in the harsh, arid conditions of this desert eco-system, with minimal food and water available during the dry season. Drives on a Skeleton Coast Safaris itinerary include searches for desert elephant and giraffe in the Huab and Hoarusib River Valleys. Further north in the Hartmann Valley, there are mountain zebra, ostrich and oryx to be found, and these will also be on the agenda during a drive from the permanent Serra Cafema camp. You may even get lucky and happen upon a true rarity such as a brown hyena or desert lions. Along the way, there will be numerous stops to explore the smaller details which you might otherwise miss, from birds and reptiles to distinctive desert vegetation. There is certainly not the volume of animals you will find in Etosha, but the rugged, unspoiled scenery is absolutely breathtaking, meaning these drives are about far more than the wildlife.

Skeleton Coast Safaris

Getting to the most remote corners of the Skeleton Coast and the Kunene Region will inevitably involve light aircraft travel, unless you are lucky enough to find an expert navigator with whom you can travel in convoy. Scenic flights needn’t necessarily be tailored excursions then, as your transfers to and from Serra Cafema camp for example will give an incredibly picturesque, sweeping overview of this unique terrain. For something utterly special though, the numerous flights undertaken on a Skeleton Coast Safari, landing in areas that others simply can’t reach, are Africa’s best series of scenic flights. These scheduled itineraries with the Schoemann family are genuinely unforgettable, staying in rustic camps in the most remote destinations imaginable, with numerous flights and activities per day. In amongst the picturesque aviation, there are also nature drives, Himba visits, shipwrecks and guided walks. From the more conventional desert dunes around Sossusvlei and Swakopmund to the dry river beds of Damaraland and the rugged mountains of Kunene, there is a searing range of breathtaking habitats that are uniquely appreciated from the skies. For those without the time or budget for a light aircraft safari or a stay at Serra Cafema, scenic flights from Swakopmund provide an airborne taster of the striking collision between desert and ocean.

Quad Biking - Skeleton Coast

Having been lucky enough to sample many of Southern Africa's most thrilling excursions and memorable wildlife spectacles, quad biking in the remote Kunene region from Serra Cafema camp is still one of our absolute favourite experiences. The terrain is rugged, beautiful and absolutely perfect for quad biking, with steep hills, wide verdant valleys and scattered sand dunes. Potentially exhausting on foot and necessarily navigated by your guide in nature drives, there is a great thrill to being in total control at the wheel, with a guide to ensure that you don't get disastrously lost in one of the most remote, uninhabitable corners of the continent. While there are some tricky stretches and it can become tiring after a couple of hours, there is no prior level of expertise required to explore these fabulous landscapes by quad bike. Durations and routes can vary depending on the enthusiasm and skills of the group, and it may even be possible to drive to the airstrip while your luggage is transferred in a separate vehicle, should there be other guests at camp willing to participate. No matter the itinerary, there will be some truly inspirational scenery combined with stops to learn about the history, geology and wildlife of this little explored wilderness. And reassuringly, with Wilderness Safaris running the camp and the quad biking operation, environmental impact is minimised.