Itinerary:
5/18, Fly from PDX at 10:27am. United Airlines. Arr. San Francisco at 12:17pm. LV S.F at 2:40pm. Lufthansa airline
5/19, Arrive Frankfurt at 10:30am. Leave FRA at 9:55pm Lufthansa Airline.
5/20 (D1), Country Club, Windhoek 温得和克
Arrive Hosea Kutako International Airport at 8:00am, pick up by travel agent and transfer to the hotel, and then go signhtseeing in the city. We will visit the famous Lutheran Cathedral, the Parliament Gardens, the National Museum and other landmarks. In the evening, go to the Bar on the 5th floor of the National Independence Museum to shoot the sunset. Overning stay at the Country Club next to the golf course with beautiful scenery.
5/21 (D2), Quarry Tree Manor 箭袋树庄园, Windhoek - Keetmanshoop (5 hours driving)
Early breakfast, visit the Naankuse Animal Care Base at 8am, enjoy walking with cheetahs for one hour, then head to Quarry Tree Manor in late morning. After dinner, take photos of the nano starry sky with the quiver trees as the foreground.
Blue hour: 6:37pm – 6:55. Getting dark: 7:41pm. Milky way arise: 7:50pm. Milky way highest: 9:17pm – 10:25pm. Moon rise: 12:02am
5/22 (D3), Nest Hotel, Keetmanshoop - Luederitz (5 hours driving)
Capture the quiver trees in the sunrise and morning lights. Go to the mysterious and lonely ghost town “Kolmanskop” in southern Namibia. This “ghost town” was named Carmansko, very close to the port of Luderitz, which was born out of the diamond boom. Nowadays, it is swallowed up by the desert. 40% of the city's original buildings have been covered by sand dunes.
5/23 (D4), Nest Hotel, Luederitz 鬼镇
Take photos of ghost town in the morning and afternoon. Back to hotel taking a rest at noon.
5/24 (D5), Sossue Dune Lodge, Ludritz - Sossusvlei Desert (about 7 hours driving)
leave early in the morning and head to the famous Naukluft National Park, where the famous Dune 45 is located. Dune 45 is a star dune in the Sossusvlei area of the Namib Desert, its name comes from the fact that it is at the 45th kilometre of the road that connects the Sesriem gate and Sossusvlei. The Naukluft Park is in western Namibia, situated between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. It encompasses part of the Namib Desert, the Naukluft mountain range, and the lagoon at Sandwich Harbor. We would stop by the dunes for a while, under the low-light illumination at late afternoon, the bright and dark sides cut by the dune ridges give a powerful visual impact. The dune 45 is a 45-minute drive from our hotel, Sossue Dune Lodge, and we will see it many times for the next two days. At night, watch the starry sky of Namibia, one of the most beautiful stars in the world.
5/25 (D6), Sossue Dune Lodge, Sossusvlei Red Desert 红沙漠
Today's highlight, Deadvlei Sunrise and Dune 45 sunset. Departure at 5:30am in the morning, take one hour and a half (one hour of asphalt road, half an hour of sand, and will pass through the Dune 45) to the Deadvlei parking lot, and takes about 25 minutes walking from the parking lot to the valley, the sunrise is about 7:30am. Return to hotel at noon. In the afternoon, go to Deadvlei again, come out before sunset, and shoot the sunset at 6:20pm at Dune 45.
5/26 (D7), Flamingo Villa, Sossusvlei Red Desert – Walvis Bay鲸湾港 (5 hours driving)
Have a hot air balloon, or helicopter ride at sunrise to overlook the mysterious and beautiful Sossusvlei Red Desert. Feel the wonders of nature. (Optional items, reservation required). Otherwise, Go to Dune 45 to see the sunrise. The helicopter will take off within half hour after sunrise. After getting off the plane, we will stop at Dune 45 again.
In the afternoon, we will photograph flamingos in Walvis Bay. Walvis Bay is a port town on the coast of Namibia. Sheltered by the Pelican Point sand spit, its tidal lagoon is home to abundant birdlife including flamingos, pelicans and Damara terns. The harbor is busy with fishing boats and ships. Dolphins, whales and Cape fur seals inhabit the Atlantic waters around the Pelican Point Lighthouse. East of the bay, coastal sand dunes like Dune 7 mark the start of the Namib Desert. We will experience the seaside life with European heritage, enjoy the sunset and the sea breeze, and enjoy the elegant appearance of the flamingos by the lagoon, the largest flamingo habitat in southern Africa.
5/27 (D8), Flamingo Villa, Walvis Bay
Photo flamingo in the early morning. Take a yacht at the lighthouse pier at 8:15am to join The Sea Tour, to see dolphins, seals and pelicans on the way to the Pelican Cape. There are many seals, pelicans, seagulls and flamingos on the beach of Pelican Cape as well. The lunch is delicious oysters, champagne and variety of local snacks which will be satisfy the appetite. In the afternoon, take the off-road vehicles to the Sandwich Bay and join Sandwich Bay Desert Adventure Tour, admire the Atlantic Ocean on the towering sand dunes and watch the falling sand into the ocean. The guides will look for a variety of small animals for tourists such as beautiful lizards, transparent broad-toed tigers, sly chameleons and so on. At the end of the desert adventure, professional drivers will show off the downhill stunt from the top of the dune, give visitors a unique and exciting experience. In the early afternoon, before we go to the Desert Adventure Tour, we will stop by Pink Lake at salt refinery for shooting. This is Walvis Bay’s famous pink salt pan, the pink color of the lake water comes from an organism called Halobacterium, a halophilic archaeon. The creature increases the rate at which the lake absorbs heat from sunlight, which in turn causes the water to evaporate faster and increase the rate of salt production. (The main food of flamingos, Algae, a blue-green algae that has existed on earth for 3.5 billion years, also contains the mysterious halophilic archaeon Halobacterium. Therefore, the pink color on the flamingo also comes from this. The baby flamingo to be born is gray and white).
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5/28 (D9), Okaukuejo Camp, Walvis Bay – Etosha NP ( 6 hours driving)
Keep taking pictures of flamingo in the early morning, then visit the Pink Lake again before heading to Etosha NP. The area is vast and the terrain is complex, which is the habitat of many rare animals. There are 114 species of mammals and 339 species of birds in the park, including lions, leopards, elephants and rhinos in the African Big Five. This is a veritable animal paradise. There is a pond next to each hotel camp, where the variety of animals such as lions, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, gazelle, springbok, so and so gather in a drinking, sometimes people can see the precious scenes of lion hunting.
5/29 (D10), Okaukuejo Camp, Etosha NP 埃托沙国家公园
Whole day game driving at Etosha
5/30 (D11), Etosha - Old Trader Lodge, Erindi Private Game Reserve ( 4 hours driving)
we will go on a short ride in the morning. Departure to Erindi Private Reserve at 10:00am for an afternoon safari, after seeing the animals, driver will choose a place with a particularly good view to watch the sunset, or a place we can overlook the park, then we will enjoy the kind of platter that arranges an afternoon tea are for everyone. In the morning, Erindi provides morning tea and coffee snacks. Overnight stay at Old Trader Lodge in the park
https://erindi.com
5/31 (D12), Erindi PGR - Hosea Kutako International Airport, Windhoek (4 hrs driving)
Game driving in the morning. Heading to Windhoek around 9-10am. (three hours driving). Doing Covid-19 test in Windhoek or airport. Leave Windhoek at 6:50pm. Arrive Frankfurt at 5:25am on next day (6/1). Leave FRA at 10:25pm, arrive San Francisco at 12:40pm, LV SF at 4:55pm, arrive in Portland at 6:41pm. |
