Highlights of Namibia

Several factors have brought Namibia to the forefront of our mind recently. Wanderlust magazine readers have just voted Namibia their favourite country and March 2010 saw the 20th anniversary of Namibian Independence. It is one of the world’s newest and least densely populated countries (named after one of the world’s oldest and most beautiful deserts, the Namib). In April 2010 Voyages Jules Verne were a sponsor at a Royal Geographic Society special event which included a passionate talk by Joanna Lumley, whose visit to Africat at Okonjima was featured on her recent ‘Cats’ TV programme (note: an Okonjima stay is included on two of our itineraries, ‘A Namibian Journey’ and ‘Grand Tour of Namibia’). Photographer Chris Packham shared his Namibian wildlife shots and explorer Benedict Allen took us on his 1,000-mile trek along the Skeleton Coast and through the Namib desert.

We have negotiated and compiled a special programme, limited to twenty people maximum, through the varied landscapes of Namibia, including the coast, Sossusvlei desert dunes and Etosha National Park. Dominated by a massive mineral pan, the Etosha is one of Southern Africa’s finest and most important game reserves. Declared a National Park in 1907, it is home to around 550 species of mammal, reptile, bird and amphibian.

Adjoining Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, lying between the dramatic Atlantic coastline and desert dunes, offer an interesting contrast, the former reveals elaborate Germanic architecture, whilst the latter was once a British port and still has a cricket pitch!