The Skeleton Coast - Namibia

  Days 1 - 3 

Windhoek to the Skeleton Coast Welcome to Namibia!    A shuttle service will collect you from Windhoek International Airport (Hosea Kutako) to your first overnight in  Windhoek (your name will be on a welcome board). Meet  your fellow riders and host/riding guide Andrew Gillies for  sundowners and dinner. Andrew will give you a briefing  about your adventure. Early breakfast and then the journey to the rugged Skeleton Coast - approximately 4 hours to our lunch spot in  the charming town of Swakopmund, and then a further 3  hours up the coast to our remote camp. We visit the Cape  Cross Fur Seal Colony on the way. The abundance of  oxygen will surely knock you out for a good nights sleep  tonight while the Atlantic Ocean roars in the background. Our first riding day begins with a saddling briefing and  getting acquainted with your horse. The landscape changes all the time and the pace quickens as the terrain allows  As the soft evening light descends we get into camp in  time to enjoy sundowners as the spectacular Milky Way  appears overhead. Here, where there is no light pollution, the stars are simply magnificent and sitting around a  companionable campfire with new acquaintances, sharing  the experiences of the day is a joy. The aroma of dinner  cooking in large black pots on the fire stirs the imagination  of what could possibly smell that good!  

Days 4 - 6 

Riding in a landscape which look like they belong on another planet means you need to have your camera ready!  The undulating terrain changes colour depending on the  desert substrate - from brick red to startling white, the yellows and greens of this unique fog-deserts’ lichen fields,  to dry river washes and interesting geological formations.   Damaraland has a violent geological history, leaving a  legacy of unusual landshapes and topographical features  which quite astound. Back to the Atlantic  Our last ride takes us across huge desert plains back to the  ocean. The Skeleton Coast, apparently so called for the  wrecked hulks of stranded ships that dot this coastline, has  a nutrient rich marine abundance which sometimes ‘spills’  onto the land  We overnight in the small coastal town of Henties Bay in  a wonderful private house with the most spectacular view  over the Atlantic Ocean. What a trip THAT was! 

Day 7

Departure Day  Early breakfast and transfer to Windhoek (just over 5-hour  commute) arriving around 13:00 - in time for departure flights  from Windhoek International Airport after 15:00