Damaraland Horse Riding Safari

You will fly into Windhoek International Airport where you will be met and transferred to a guesthouse just outside Windhoek. Over dinner you will be introduced to the rest of your fellow riders and be briefed about what to expect on your adventure!

Day two starts with an early breakfast and then the exciting journey north (approximately 7 hour transit including a stop on the way for lunch) to our camp in the Aba Huab river. In the afternoon we visit the World Heritage site of Twyfelfontein with its 5000 year-old petroglyphs. Rock art played an important role in ritual practice among southern African hunter-gatherer communities.  Painting and engraving traditions developed over the last 20,000 years into a highly sophisticated way of expressing complex beliefs about the supernatural world. These are some of the best preserved engravings in Africa.

After your adventure, enjoy your first night under the stars.  Elephant sometimes walk through camp at night….light sleepers be warned!

On the morning of Day 3, you will start to get to know your trusted mount and find your ‘hooves’. With the rising sun at our back, you begin our westward journey to the distant Atlantic. In these ephemeral river systems, the cycles of rainfall dictate the seasonal movement of game which is not concentrated, but we can encounter elephants, rhino, oryx, springbok, and other desert-adapted game. The ride will take you through the sandy, open plains of Abu-Huab – ideal for long canters – passing some of the fascinating rock formations for which the area is famous.

As you set off  across the plains, you might spot wildlife which has adapted to desert life, such as springbok, oryx and if you are lucky, whilst you are following the dry river beds dotted with Mopani trees, you might come across the quiet, yet magnificent, kudu or the odd ostrich. A light lunch is enjoyed in the shade by the riverbed before continuing to traverse the rocky and sandy undulating hills as you make for your camp by the Huab River. Here huge glacial valleys, impressive tableland mountains exhumed by erosion, folds and fractures resulting from cataclysmic eruptions present a well preserved snapshot of a land of great antiquity.

Meandering along the Huab River, the trail continues under the shade of the huge ‘Ana’ trees – a favourite food for desert elephants so keep your eyes peeled! You will ride out across the land, aiming for Mikberg which will lead you to the lunch stop at ‘cheetah tree’ – it doesn’t take much imagination to work out what you might spot here. After lunch there is a long ride across the watershed which offers breathtaking views. The camp in the Huab will be carefully selected to provide an excellent place from which to admire the impressive colours of the Brandberg (Burning Mountain), Namibia’s highest mountain. From the Huab you will cross the mountains to the Ugab river valley, staying overnight at Save The Rhino’s campsite on the banks of the river

Riding out and greeting the African morning, you will find yourself weaving through reeds and kori bush thickets as you navigate the banks of the Ugab all the way to the open gravel plains. After lunch you will leave the Ugab River and make your way up a large gorge with spectacular rock formations. Camp is in a great spot, beautifully shaded and the perfect rest stop after a long day.

Leaving the river valley’s we now cross the vastness of open plains with the striking massive of the Brandberg (burning mountain) forming a dramatic backdrop. Here endless plains allow for some fast-paced riding as we approach the dramatic Messum Caldera, the eroded remains of a massive collapsed volcano. Sometimes you’ll follow animals tracks where the ground is stony, riding up ridges to get breathtaking views of the pains below. Camp is always set up in a scenic remote spot.

Our last ride takes us across huge desert plains to the ocean at last – the spectacularly formidable Skeleton Coast, apparently so called for the wrecked hulks of stranded ships whichdot this coastline. The cold upwelling Benquela current results in some diverse weather conditions from hot desert easterlies to cold south Atlantic westerlies and fog – a place of extremes! You overnight in the small coastal town of Henties Bay in a wonderful private house with the most spectacular view over the Atlantic Ocean

After a bit of a lie-in and a leisurely breakfast, you will be transferred to Windhoek for your departing flight (after 15h00). If you have extra time in Africa, extend your stay to visit the high dunes and desolated valleys of Sossusvlei, the wildlife of Etosha National Park, or travel further to South Africa or Botswana.