Namib Desert Riding Safari

A shuttle service will collect you from Windhoek International Airport (Hosea Kutako) to your first overnight in Windhoek (your name will be on a welcome board). Meet your fellow riders and host/riding guide Andrew Gillies for sundowners and dinner. Andrew will give you a briefing about your adventure.

Early breakfast and then the exciting journey into the desert (approximately 4,5 hours) with a dramatic drop off the escarpment. You will meet the horses and crew for lunch and will then head on an excursion to Sossusvlei to climb Dune 45 for a spectacular view of this extraordinary UNESCO World Heritage Site. Finally, enjoy dinner around the campfire under the magnificent southern constellation of stars

Our first riding day starts amid the encircling Naukluft (narrow gorge) mountains - a short ride to lunch to get acquainted with your horse, the terrain and the delightful companionship. The landscape changes all the time and the pace quickens as the terrain allows.

As the soft evening light descends we’ll enjoy sundowners as the spectacular Milky Way appears overhead.

The next day will be spent similarly exploring the foothills and grassy plains on the edge of the desert as you get to know your horse and fellow riders.

While Namibia’s westward-flowing rivers rarely flow, they all run through deep valleys etched at a time when Namibia was wetter and sea levels were lower. We cross two river canyons on our way to the Namib plains; the Gaub and the much larger Kuiseb which forms a dramatic end to the 400-km long Namib Sand Sea.

Following the tracks of Mountain Zebra which crisscross the steep sides of the canyon, a technical descent requires some walking/scrambling into and out of the Canyon. The high, narrow walls of the canyon preserve an almost year-round supply of precious water for the game in this area.

Good going affords some fast-paced riding on the wide grassy plains on the Namib. Dry watercourses, distinguishable by the long lines of acacia trees marking their courses, are much favoured resting places of Giraffe, Springbok, and Oryx. As the plains become more arid strange shapes form and disappear in mirages and dinosaur-like plants, the gnarled Welwitschia Mirabilis, tell of a land of great antiquity and of tremendous solitude.

The Swakop River basin has eroded a truly ancient geology (600 million years old) exposing a bizarre moon-like landscape. Curious black ridges of dolerite intrusions form whalebacks on the hills surrounding the river basin. And finally to the sea with the last canter along the beach - the end of a truly epic adventure.

Early breakfast and transfer to Windhoek (just over 5-hour commute) arriving around 13:00 - in time for departure flights from Windhoek International Airport after 15:00.