Day 1: 23rd July

You will start your trip in Windhoek. Spending your first night at The Weinberg. A comfortable and stylish hotel in a top location in the city centre. Whilst here, you will meet the Executive Director and co-founder of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) for a pre-trip dinner and a relaxed chat (dinner location to be confirmed).

Day 2-3: 24th-25th July

Your conservation work starts here in the beautiful and game-rich Etosha Heights Private Reserve situated adjacent to Etosha National Park in northern Namibia. A conservation success story, it was once a hunting concession, now the wildlife here roam freely between the private reserve and the national park.

With a good variety and density of wildlife the game watching opportunities for visitors are exceptional and reliable. You’ll see giraffe (obviously), lion, cheetah and many of Namibia’s fascinating desert species, but the reserve is probably most famous for its strong population of both black and white rhino. Here you’ll capture incredible sightings of these magnificent creatures, as well as an abundance of birdlife.

You will drive from Windhoek to Etosha Heights Private Reserve, spending the next two nights at Etosha Mountain Lodge where you will learn all about the conservation research carried out by GCF and their partners in the larger Etosha landscape from Martina Küsters, GCF’s Etosha Heights Conservation Centre Coordinator.

She will show you how to check the camera traps; help with giraffe identification; teach you to track the giraffe, as well as learn about the endangered black rhino, elephant and lions on the reserve. You’ll enjoy exclusive game drives and close encounters with a variety of wildlife species to understand firsthand how conservation plays its part in the reserve.

Etosha Mountain Lodge offers nine classically-Namibian chalets, a beautiful main ‘lapa’ area, and a cool swimming pool for the hot African days. Perched on a dolomite hill offering sweeping views of the Namibian landscape, no matter where you choose to relax, the camera-loving panoramas stretching ahead are magnificent.

Day 4-6: 26th- 28th July

Northwestern Namibia is the kind of raw and rugged wilderness that so many places claim to be but so few actually are. In the Kaokoland, mountains rub shoulders with desert expanses and nomadic Himba villages, fairy circles and desert-adapted giraffe dot the dry and dusty landscape.

Through their extensive work on the ground and partnerships with Governments, NGOs and universities, the GCF team has discovered that there are four distinct species of giraffe in Africa, whereas before there was thought to be only one. They are: Masai, northern, reticulated, and southern (the latter are found in Northwest Namibia).

These four species are geographically isolated and have unique characteristics. With only 117,000 giraffe remaining in the wild, understanding these differences is crucial for effective conservation efforts.

This finding has elevated the conservation importance of the different numbers, with some giraffe species so low in the wild that they are classified as Critically Endangered.

Today you take an early drive from Etosha to Kaokoland, driving through the picturesque Grootberg Pass and remote villages that pop-up along the way. Hoanib Valley, located deep in north-western Namibia, is a melee of towering mountains, sand dunes, and huge expanses of desert, scattered with unique wildlife and nomadic Himba settlements. It’s also one of Namibia’s most remote and wild environments, and one that not many will get the chance to discover in a lifetime.

This is where the hands-on giraffe conservation work begins!

Working alongside Dr Julian Fennessy (GCF Co-founder and Director of Conservation), as well as Dr Sara Ferguson (GCF Conservation Health Coordinator), over the next three day’s you will be spending time observing the desert-adapted giraffe living in this tough environment. You will get the once in a lifetime opportunity to be involved in a tagging operation, where you can assist the GCF team in fitting GPS satellite tags to giraffe, so they can be followed remotely and the team can learn more about their movements and how they use their habitat in this remote landscape.

These activities are part of the longest running giraffe monitoring and research programme in Africa and help to inform GCF’s conservation actions throughout Africa. After your days out in the field and if time allows, enjoy game drives, a dip in the camp swimming pool, and some well-deserved sundowners.

Hoanib Valley Camp is an elegant, tented camp, offering a simple aesthetic that matches the rugged landscape paired with absolute comfort. There are 6 luxurious tents raised on spacious decks, each with their own veranda and the perfect place to sit back and marvel at the magnitude of your surroundings.

Day 7-8: 29-30 July

There is remote. And then there is the Skeleton Coast, a raw and rugged sweep of coastline along the Namibian Atlantic Ocean that is both desolate and breathtaking. Here towering dunes and wind-swept plains are buffeted by the icy Atlantic seas. But beneath this seemingly barren exterior lies a vibrant tapestry of flora and fauna that has adapted to thrive in one of the harshest environments on Earth. Notorious for its rough seas, rocky shallows and thick fog, Namibia’s Skeleton Coast has claimed the lives of many sailors. But there’s much more to the area than simple isolation. Here you’ll discover unique, desert-adapted wildlife and flora, absorb the camera-bending vistas and enjoy a selection of activities that truly make the most of the environment.

Spending time in this concession is a naturalist’s dream. You’ll get to see some of the endangered desert dwelling predators that have adapted to life in the desert. The lion here are known for their unique hunting techniques and resilience, whilst the brown hyena scavengers for food along the coastline and is known for its solitary nature.

Discover the desert-adapted elephant that roam the dry riverbeds, going for long periods without water to survive. This area is also home to the largest colonies of Cape fur seals in the world, and if you are lucky enough you’ll see Angola giraffe traversing the sand dunes.

Get ready to enjoy the best transfer drive on the continent. Today you drive from Hoanib Valley Camp to Shipwreck Lodge (approximately 5 hours). You’ll pass incredible rock formations and desert elephant digging for water, before arriving at the crashing waves and rolling dunes of the Skeleton Coast.

Shipwreck Lodge itself is located in the Skeleton Coast Central Concession Area, a piece of land between the Hoarusib and Hoanib rivers. This restricted area, within the National Park, contains irreplaceable and vulnerable wildlife habitat for species of the highest conservation importance, including elephant and the elusive brown hyena. Importantly, it also hosts the only other viable desert adapted lion population in Namibia outside of Etosha National Park

By visiting Shipwreck Lodge you will discover why this area is so important for the critically endangered species that live here, and how your stay contributes to the conservation efforts of these desert-adapted animals.

The lodge itself is a haven of luxury and comfort in the midst of this rugged landscape, a sanctuary where you can relax and rejuvenate after your unforgettable journey. The 10 cabins uniquely designed around the enigmatic shipwrecks that line the coastline, provide a peaceful retreat.

Game drive in search of the desert-dwelling wildlife; discover the enchanting desert flora (succulents and lichens); sit atop the dunes as the sun sinks below the horizon; spend the day beach-combing for whale bones and debris from centuries of shipwrecks; and marvel at the geologically remarkable Clay Castles. Really, there’s nowhere like it on earth!

The perfect end to an extraordinary giraffe conservation focused safari.

Day 9: 31 July

HOMEWARD BOUND…

Today you take a scenic flight back to Windhoek, or onward arrangements to your next destination.

Kate Ahl & Emma Wells

Having followed similar career paths, Emma and Kate’s paths crossed when they started working together at the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) in Namibia. They both ran and managed a long-term conservation research programme in Northwest Namibia and know everything there is to know about the organisation and the desert-dwelling Angolan giraffe.

With years of experience in the conservation space, they love nothing better than to inspire wildlife conservation and connect guests with nature. Joining the Natural Selection team in 2021, they now live in Botswana and habituate the giraffe at Thamo Telele, taking guests on a giraffe experience where they learn about giraffe biology, conservation and research, as well as facilitate a country-wide Giraffe Genetics Programme. Still working closely with GCF they also help with research into population numbers, taxonomy and the distribution of giraffe in Botswana, a much-needed giraffe conservation initiative.