Upon your arrival at the Cape Town International Airport you collect your rental vehicle and depart immediately for the start of your tour. From Cape Town you travel north along the icy Atlantic ocean to the holiday town of Langebaan. Along the way you can stop at Bloubergstrand to photograph the picture postcard view of Table Mountain across Table Bay. Just before reaching Langebaan you drive through the West Coast National Park, renowned for it’s rich birdlife and magnificent wild flowers during August & September.

Further along the Atlantic coast, through the seemingly endless expanses of Namaqualand to the town of Springbok. For a good nine months of every year Namaqualand is a dry and barren semi-desert stretching for almost 1000 kilometers up the west coast of South Africa, covering an area of 440,000 km2. But all that changes dramatically in spring, when after a short rainy season, the wide open plains are covered in glorious carpets of brightly coloured wildflowers.

North and then west along the B2 highway as far as the small town of Aus, and then even further north into the forbidding semi-desert interior of southern Namibia. Namtib is a privately owned biosphere reserve covering an area of 16 400 hectares situated at the edge of the Namib Desert in the Tiras Mountains. Farming and human activities are adapted to suit the arid climate prevailing in southern Namibia. The fascinating landscape of the farm offers an abundance of breathtaking views and hosts a wealth of fauna and flora.

Further north to the harsh & forbidding Namib desert, the oldest desert in the world. Sossusvlei, situated right on the edge of the sand sea of the Namib Desert, allows travellers to experience the contrasts of life in the harsh desert environment. You have a full day to explore this fascinating area. A visit to the dunes just after sunrise provides the opportunity to watch the sunlight unfold over the desert from the crest of Dune 45, unveiling red dunes marching off into the distance. As the sun rises higher, the dunes change colour, revealing pastel hues that are so beloved by photographers. The dead camelthorn trees of Hidden Vlei and Dead Vlei make magnificent photos, casting jagged silhouettes against the velvet textures of sand. And in certain years, when the rains have been good, there may be a magical opportunity to see water amidst the dunes. Sossusvlei is also a place of life, with opportunities to see desert adaptations that the desert requires. Oryx survive at temperatures that kill other mammals, dune lizards perform a dance to cool down their feet, and the head-standing ‘tok-tokkie’ beetle drinks condensation that runs down its back towards its mouth. But perhaps the greatest magic of Sossusvlei is the opportunity to experience it’s timelessness, solitude and silence.

Via the Remhoogte pass and the small town of Nauchas to Rehoboth, where you re-join the B2 main road for the final stretch to Windhoek, where you arrive in the late afternoon.

You travel to the Hosea Kutako International Airport where your rental vehicle is handed back in time for your flight home. Should you have some leisure time available before your flight, you could consider exploring Windhoek on foot. Please CLICK HERE to view a detailed walking map of the city.