Snowy77

Not quite sure where everyone is in their trip planning and whether this is still useful… Here is the feedback from my trip to Namibia.
We spent 2 nights at Mowani Mountain Camp. The tents were lovely with spacey views of hot rocky outcrops. We did all the guided tours on offer - to the Bushman paintings (great) and to look for the desert elephant (where we were unlucky but we saw and felt evidence of their presence) We did see rhino though.

Then onto 2 nights at Okahirongo Elephant Camp in Purros. We loved the lodge - the most impressionable aspect being the feeling of utter remoteness. Again we set off to look for the desert elephant where we had more luck this time. The other main reason for going there was to visit the Himba people. What an amazing experience. We spent most of the time with two very wrinkly elderly women and their little grandchildren.

We spent two nights at Onguma tented camp. The tents were more luxurious than we expected – almost a bit too fancy for the bush environment. Safari excursions into Etosha were wonderful. Saw lots of animals. The best was sitting at the waterholes watching the elephants farting and rumbling!

At Okonjima Bush Lodge we tracked cheetah and were impressed with the philosophy around the cheetah management. We felt privileged to witness a cheetah being darted and then being able to get up close and touch it.

Then at Wolwedans Dunes Lodge we emersed ourselves into the sandy desert experience. The rooms are like wooden cabins and unlike other places, they don’t supply shampoo… for environmental reasons. Makes you think doesn’t it. The setting is fabulous - red dunes as far as the eye can see, absolute silence. Also the staff really made the place.

Overall a pleasure to go back to the region!

pippa13

snowy77

i would definately think of going to serra cafema at the kunene river/hartmann valley. it's "out of this world" and they do excellent quad biking through the dunes up there! they also support a himba village close by where they have leased the place from. you visit the village in the "middle of nowhere" completely living isolated.
www.wildernesssafaris.com (i guess - check pls)

okonjima i think 2 nts there will be sufficient for cheetah tracking, visiting the edu centre, watching the leopard and visiting the lions.
would not encourage you to do the "vet-safari" means ask for darting or show interest in that. there is always the danger that darting might be done because of the demand and not due to necessity! especially cats react extremly sensitive to these drugs!
if you are keen on touching a cheetah: visit spiers in stellenbosch/cape where they have "cheetah ambassadors" - doubt the need to pet a cheetah but if some wants it desperatly that's the place to go or nairobi animal shelter where there is some more adrenalin with it because there are not THAT tame!

another place i would definately include is palwag rhino camp where you do black rhino tracking on foot.
this is also a wilderness property.

furthermore i would make sure - in case you are thinking of spending some time at a "guest farm" or "game farm" - that thea don't trophy hunting which is very popular in namibia - even cheetahs!
the percentage of farm who allow trophy hunting is wuite large! mostly they won't tell deliberately about these acvtivities!

happy planning!

mkhonzo

Glad that the trip came up trumps: You stayed at arguably Namibia's fines lodgings, finest for their remoteness, setting and quality of management.