My previous trip to Namibia involved a ten-day flying safari, so this time I was intrigued to see how it felt to get around this vast country by road. I was pleased to say that despite the impressive infrastructure you can still manage to get really off the beaten track and we didn’t see anyone for days on parts of this trip. It is the perfect place to do some mobile camping out under the stars in huge areas of pristine wilderness and we were lucky enough to see some elusive desert elephants in the dry river beds of Damaraland.

Having said that, the highlight of this particular trip was, without doubt, the Skeleton Coast Flying Safari with Bertus Schoeman – still a wonderfully small and intimate family-run business offering a unique experience. There were just three of us with Bertus and he was our pilot, guide, chauffeur, captain and host for four whole days and not only did I feel like I was in a real-life wildlife documentary as we flew over seals, sharks, flamingos, elephant but I learnt and saw so much diversity of wildlife, scenery and geology that it felt like we had landed on another planet much of the time. There are not many occasions that you will land in the middle of one of the oldest deserts in Africa for a cup of tea and a slice of cake before continuing your journey further into the wilderness – beats the motorway cafe!

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Author: Steppes Travel