Luxury Adventure Namibia

Arrive at Hosea Kutako International Airport and transfer to The Olive Exclusive, an intimate boutique hotel in a leafy Windhoek suburb. Settle into your suite and meet your guide for a welcome dinner.

Drive north to the Okonjima Nature Reserve, home of the AfriCat Foundation. Settle in at Okonjima Bush Lodge and head out to track rehabilitated cheetah and leopard on foot and by vehicle. The reserve is a sanctuary for these big cats alongside hyena and honey badger.

A full day at Okonjima with expert guides. Track radio-collared leopard through the acacia thickets, learn about the AfriCat conservation project, and watch for brown hyena and the reserve's nocturnal species on a night drive. Suites at the lodge have uninterrupted views over the waterhole.

Travel north-west to the Etosha Heights Private Reserve, bordering the national park on its western edge. Check in at Etosha Mountain Lodge and take an afternoon game drive across the private concession for elephant, plains game and the cats that hunt them, returning for sundowners on the deck.

A full day exploring Etosha's western reaches, less visited and rich in wildlife. The salt pan, springs and open plains draw elephant, giraffe, zebra, springbok, blue wildebeest and the predators that follow them — lion, cheetah and leopard. Black rhino are regularly seen at the waterholes after dark.

A further day to enjoy sunrise and sunset game drives from the lodge, with a leisurely middle of the day at the waterhole hide or the lodge pool. The birdlife around the pan is exceptional — raptors, kori bustards, ostrich and flocks of sandgrouse at the waterholes.

Drive east to the Ongava Private Game Reserve on Etosha's southern boundary. Settle in at Little Ongava, an exclusive suite-only lodge with panoramic views, and take an evening game drive across the reserve. Ongava protects both black and white rhino alongside lion, elephant and plains game.

A full day of game drives, splitting time between the Ongava concession and Etosha National Park itself. The private waterhole hides here offer close-up photography of rhino, elephant and the cats that come to drink. Return to Little Ongava for a private sundowner and dinner.

Travel south-west into the rocky wilderness of Damaraland. Visit the UNESCO-listed Twyfelfontein rock engravings and the Burnt Mountain. Overnight at Camp Kipwe, a cluster of dome suites tucked among granite boulders, and search for the desert-adapted elephants that roam the Aba Huab riverbed.

Cross the Namib gravel plains and the Moon Landscape to reach the Atlantic coast. Arrive in Swakopmund and check in at the Strand Hotel on the oceanfront promenade. Afternoon at leisure to walk the beach or browse the German colonial town.

A day of optional activities from Swakopmund: a private catamaran cruise on Walvis Bay for dolphins, Cape fur seals and pelicans; a living desert tour finding chameleons, shovel-snouted lizards and sidewinders; or scenic flights over the dunes and shipwreck coast. A second night at the Strand Hotel.

Drive inland and south through the Kuiseb Pass to Sesriem. Continue to &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, set on a private reserve at the foot of the dunes with suites featuring private plunge pools and star-gazing skylights.

A pre-dawn start to reach the towering red dunes of Sossusvlei at sunrise. Climb Dune 45 and walk into Deadvlei's white clay pan and its fossilised camel thorn trees. Look for ostrich, oryx and the desert-adapted creatures of the sand sea. Return to the lodge for brunch and a shaded siesta, then an evening dune dinner under the stars.

Travel south-east to the Kalahari and settle in at Zannier Omaanda, an elegant lodge of thatched suites overlooking a private reserve. An afternoon game drive seeks springbok, gemsbok, blue wildebeest and the cheetah that hunt them, closing with sundowners on the dunes.

A final morning at leisure before the drive to Windhoek and onward departure from Hosea Kutako International Airport.