Signature Namibia 12-Day Family Self-Drive Safari

At a glance

Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Damaraland and Etosha

The Signature Namibia 12-Day Family Self-Drive Safari is a Namibia family safari built around children: your own 4x4, driving days of about five hours or less, family rooms at every stop, and three nights at the places that matter most. Climb the red dunes of Sossusvlei from Kulala Desert Lodge, spend three days on the coast at Swakopmund with dolphins, seals and sandboarding, look for desert elephant in Damaraland from Mowani Mountain Camp, and finish at Etosha Oberland Lodge on the edge of Etosha National Park, where elephant, lion and rhino come to the waterholes. It is the self-drive safari we would plan for our own families: eleven nights, five lodges, and memories for everyone in the car.

Self-drive is the way most of our guests see Namibia. The roads are quiet and well kept, the distances are honest, and we plan each day so that you arrive in daylight with time for a sundowner. Every lodge is booked and every transfer arranged; the driving is yours.

Windhoek

Night 1 · Am Weinberg Boutique Hotel

Sossusvlei

Nights 2 to 4 · Kulala Desert Lodge

Swakopmund

Nights 5 to 7 · Atlantic Garden Boutique Hotel

Damaraland

Nights 8 to 9 · Mowani Mountain Camp

Etosha South

Nights 10 to 11 · Etosha Oberland Lodge

Travel dates

Travel any time · best from May to October

The dry season, May to October, brings cool clear mornings, thin bush and animals concentrated at the waterholes; it is also the busiest, so the lodges book out early. November to April is hotter and greener, with dramatic skies and far fewer vehicles at the waterholes.

Travel dates are yours to choose. Tell us roughly when, and we check availability at every property and on every flight before anything is held.

When to go

May to October is the classic season: dry, cool at night, and the best game viewing in Etosha as the waterholes draw everything in. Desert mornings can be close to freezing in June and July, so pack a warm layer for early starts. November to April is the green season, hot inland with short afternoon storms that clear quickly, newborn antelope and, in a good year, water on the pan. Swakopmund is cool and often foggy in the mornings whatever the month; the fog burns off by late morning.

What is decided: the shape of the trip: the areas, the order, the properties and the number of nights in each. It is the version we would build first for most travellers.

What we confirm together: your dates, who is travelling, room categories and any extensions before or after. Every safari is tailored from here, and nothing is held until you ask us to.

The route

A loop from Windhoek, eleven nights on the road

The loop runs from Windhoek through Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Damaraland and Etosha South and back to Windhoek. Most travelling days are four to five hours of driving with stops, and we plan each leg so that you arrive in daylight. Roads are gravel between the desert and the coast and in Damaraland, tar elsewhere, and none of it needs low range: the 4x4 is for comfort and clearance, and for the sand road into Sossusvlei. Roughly 1800 km in all.

WindhoekArrival · 45 min from the airport
Sossusvlei350 km by road from Windhoek
Swakopmund320 km by road from Sossusvlei
Damaraland310 km by road from Swakopmund
Etosha South270 km by road from Damaraland

Distances shown are approximate road distances. Fuel and park entry fees are paid as you go. We plan the daily legs so that you are never driving after dark.

Press play to follow the route. Dashed legs are flights, solid legs are by road. Drag to explore, scroll to zoom.

Day by day

Twelve days, five properties

Windhoek

Arrival, Windhoek

Your Secret Namibia representative meets the family at Hosea Kutako International Airport, hands over the tour file and a 4x4 with room for everyone and the luggage, and talks you through gravel driving before you set off. It is about 45 minutes to Am Weinberg Boutique Hotel in Klein Windhoek, which has family rooms, a garden and a calm first night after the long flight.

Overnight · Am Weinberg Boutique Hotel · bed and breakfast

02-04

Windhoek → Sossusvlei

Sossusvlei

The drive to Sossusvlei takes about five hours, over the Khomas Highland and down one of the escarpment passes into the Namib, with plenty of places to stop and stretch. Kulala Desert Lodge sits on the 30,000 hectare Kulala Wilderness Reserve: 21 thatch and canvas rooms including two family units, a pool the children will not want to leave, and flat roofs where you can sleep out under the stars.

Three nights mean no rush. Use the lodge's private gate to reach Sossusvlei early, while it is still cool enough for small legs to climb Big Daddy and run down the dune, walk to Deadvlei, and explore Sesriem Canyon. Afternoons are for the pool, a nature drive or an e-bike ride on the reserve. Meals, local drinks and the lodge's guided activities are included.

Included at the lodge: Guided Sossusvlei and Deadvlei excursion, Sesriem Canyon, Nature drives, E-biking
Optional: Hot-air balloon flight

Overnight · Kulala Desert Lodge · fully inclusive · 3 nights

05-07

Sossusvlei → Swakopmund

Swakopmund

Drive north through Solitaire, where the apple pie is a rite of passage, over the Kuiseb Canyon and past the flamingos of Walvis Bay to Swakopmund, about five hours. Atlantic Garden Boutique Hotel is in the centre of town, a short walk from the beach, the cafes and the jetty, with a palm garden to come back to.

Two full days on the coast are the children's favourite part of most Namibia family safaris. Take a catamaran cruise on the Walvis Bay lagoon, where seals climb aboard and dolphins ride the bow wave, go looking for chameleons and sidewinders on a Living Desert tour, try sandboarding on the dunes behind the town, and leave time for the beach and an ice cream on the jetty.

Optional: Walvis Bay dolphin and seal cruise, Living Desert tour, Sandboarding, Quad biking (age limits apply)

Overnight · Atlantic Garden Boutique Hotel · bed and breakfast · 3 nights

08-09

Swakopmund → Damaraland

Damaraland

Leave the coast behind for Damaraland, past the Brandberg, about four and a half hours. Mowani Mountain Camp is tucked among giant ochre boulders near Twyfelfontein, and it welcomes children: little ones can sleep in a children's tent or on extra beds in the room, and the pool and the sundowner rock with its 180 degree view are close by.

On the full day, go out with the Mowani guides to look for the desert-adapted elephant along the dry riverbeds, and visit the Twyfelfontein rock engravings, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with the Burnt Mountain and the Organ Pipes on the way. Dinner and breakfast are included.

Optional: Desert elephant drive, Twyfelfontein, Burnt Mountain and Organ Pipes excursion

Overnight · Mowani Mountain Camp · dinner, bed and breakfast · 2 nights

10-11

Damaraland → Etosha South

Etosha South

Drive east through Khorixas and Outjo to Etosha Oberland Lodge, about four hours, on a 5,000 hectare private reserve that shares a ten kilometre border with Etosha National Park. Fifteen chalets and three family chalets look over the savanna, and the infinity pool faces two waterholes, so the game viewing carries on while the children swim.

Spend day 11 in Etosha itself, entering through the Andersson Gate about twelve kilometres away. Drive from waterhole to waterhole around Okaukuejo, where elephant, giraffe, zebra and lion come to drink, with a picnic lunch in the rest camp and the white expanse of the Etosha Pan on the horizon. The children will count more animals in one day than they thought existed.

Optional: Guided game drive into Etosha

Overnight · Etosha Oberland Lodge · dinner, bed and breakfast · 2 nights

Etosha South → Windhoek

Departure

After breakfast it is about four and a half hours back to Windhoek and Hosea Kutako International Airport, where you return the 4x4 in time for your flight home.

Overnight · Departure day

Where you stay

Where you sleep

Night 1 · Windhoek

Am Weinberg Boutique Hotel

A boutique hotel on the hillside of Klein Windhoek, with views over the city and the Life Day Spa on the Am Weinberg estate.

+ Read more

Standard, superior and loft rooms and seven family rooms, a bar and a lounge, and a quiet garden: an easy first night after a long flight, and close to Windhoek's best restaurants.

Bed and breakfast, about 45 minutes from Hosea Kutako International Airport.

Visit website

SettingWindhoek

BasisBed and breakfast

Nights 2 to 4 · Sossusvlei

Kulala Desert Lodge

Twenty-one thatch and canvas rooms, including two family units, on the 30,000 hectare Kulala Wilderness Reserve next to Sossusvlei.

+ Read more

Every room has a flat roof for sleeping out under the stars, and the pool is a favourite with children. The lodge's exclusive gate into the Namib-Naukluft National Park means an early start at the dunes of Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, with nature drives, walks along the Tsauchab River and e-bikes on the reserve.

Fully inclusive of meals, local drinks, twice-daily activities, park fees and laundry. Hot-air ballooning is extra.

Visit website

SettingSossusvlei

BasisFully inclusive

Included activitiesGuided Sossusvlei and Deadvlei excursion, Sesriem Canyon, Nature drives, E-biking

OptionalHot-air balloon flight

Nights 5 to 7 · Swakopmund

Atlantic Garden Boutique Hotel

A boutique hotel with a palm garden in the centre of Swakopmund, about 185 metres from the beach.

+ Read more

Twenty rooms with air conditioning around a quiet garden, a small restaurant for breakfast, light lunches and coffee and cake, and underground parking for the 4x4. The beach, the jetty and the town's restaurants are all within an easy walk.

Bed and breakfast.

Visit website

SettingSwakopmund

BasisBed and breakfast

OptionalWalvis Bay dolphin and seal cruise, Living Desert tour, Sandboarding, Quad biking (age limits apply)

Nights 8 to 9 · Damaraland

Mowani Mountain Camp

A camp tucked among giant ochre boulders in the Uibasen Twyfelfontein Conservancy in Damaraland.

+ Read more

View rooms, luxury rooms and suites, a pool and a sundowner rock with a 180 degree view over the valley. The camp is child friendly: children up to twelve stay in a children's tent or on camping beds in their parents' room.

Guided drives for desert-adapted elephant and the Twyfelfontein, Burnt Mountain and Organ Pipes excursion leave from the camp.

Visit website

SettingDamaraland

BasisDinner, bed and breakfast

OptionalDesert elephant drive, Twyfelfontein, Burnt Mountain and Organ Pipes excursion

Nights 10 to 11 · Etosha South

Etosha Oberland Lodge

Fifteen chalets and three family chalets on a 5,000 hectare private reserve that shares a ten kilometre border with Etosha National Park.

+ Read more

A large infinity pool looks over the tree savanna to two waterholes, each chalet has a private terrace and an outdoor shower under a tree, and dinner is a five-course menu. The lodge runs on solar power.

About 12 km from Etosha National Park, so you can be at the Okaukuejo waterholes early in the morning.

Visit website

SettingEtosha South

BasisDinner, bed and breakfast

OptionalGuided game drive into Etosha

The practical side

Good to know

The vehicle: A 4x4 with two spare wheels, a cooler box and a full handover briefing at the airport. Gravel roads are the norm between the desert and the coast and in Damaraland; nothing on this route needs low range. Keep to 80 km/h on gravel and you will have no trouble.
Driving days: No driving day is longer than about five hours, with stops, and the two longest stays are three nights, so the children get proper time in each place. We plan every leg so that you arrive in daylight, and the tour file gives distances, fuel stops and the numbers to call if anything changes.
Fuel and park fees: Both are paid as you go and are not included. Fuel is available in every town on the route; park entry fees are paid at the gate, per person and per vehicle, and cover the day.
Meals: Kulala Desert Lodge is fully inclusive, with all meals, local drinks and its guided activities. Mowani Mountain Camp and Etosha Oberland Lodge are dinner, bed and breakfast, and Am Weinberg and Atlantic Garden are bed and breakfast, with family-friendly restaurants close by in Windhoek and Swakopmund.
Optional activities: Scenic flights, dolphin cruises and desert excursions on the coast, hot-air ballooning at Sossusvlei and guided drives at the Etosha lodges are all bookable in advance and paid locally or added to your itinerary.
Connectivity: A local SIM card is available at the airport on arrival. The lodges have Wi-Fi in their main areas; coverage on the road is patchy, which is part of the appeal.
What to pack: Layers: desert mornings in winter are cold, afternoons hot. A warm jacket for early starts and night drives, a hat, good sun protection, closed shoes for walking, and soft bags rather than hard cases.
Travelling with children: Every property on this safari takes children and has family rooms or family units. Tell us the ages when you enquire: we size the 4x4 for the family and the luggage, arrange child seats, and check the age limits for activities such as quad biking and guided walks.

Next steps

From this sample to your own safari

Tell us what appeals.Use the enquiry button on this page, or write to hello@secretnamibia.com, with rough dates, who is travelling and anything you would change: more nights, a different lodge, a few days somewhere else at the end.
We tailor it.Within a day or two you have a version built around you, the same shape if you like it or a different one, with a firm quote for your dates and party.
We hold the rooms.Once the shape is right we place provisional holds at every property and on the flights, at no cost and with no obligation, usually for a week or two.
Deposit and confirmation.A deposit turns the holds into confirmed bookings. The balance is due before travel, and we look after everything from there until you are home again.

This page is a sample itinerary, not a quote, and nothing on it is booked or held. If it suits someone you know, send them the link; we are just as happy to start from scratch for them.

Signature Namibia,
Family Self-Drive Safari

Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Damaraland and Etosha

When to go

A loop from Windhoek, eleven nights on the road

Twelve days, five properties

Arrival, Windhoek

Sossusvlei

Swakopmund

Damaraland

Etosha South

Departure

Where you sleep

Am Weinberg Boutique Hotel

Kulala Desert Lodge

Atlantic Garden Boutique Hotel

Mowani Mountain Camp

Etosha Oberland Lodge

Good to know

Your journey includes

Please budget separately for

From this sample to your own safari

Shall we plan your version?

Safaris

Namibia

Secret Namibia

Languages