The guiding fee needs to be paid when signing up with us, either in full or as a deposit and after confirmation in full.

The guiding fee includes

• guiding services for the whole duration of the expedition in your language
• planning and organizing a basic itinerary for the trip
• assistance and help with preparations before the trip and during the expedition
• full knowledge and experience of your guides
• 5% of this goes to a selected wildife protection project in the country

The guiding fee doesn´t include

(prices are in USD)

• expenses for transport – flights can be between 600 to 900 USD, if you book them well in advance you can get a good price. We will start either from Windhoek.
• visa to Angola will cost around 70 EUR depending on nationality. Namibia is free for many Europeans. Visa regulations below.
• expenses for rental car – the price per person for a full car is 660 USD (3 weeks)
• fuel costs – maximum 180 USD
• food costs – depending on how we do it (cooking, restaurants) – max 250 USD
• accommodation costs – camps – max 300 USD
• entry to national parks – 180 USD
• alternative activities – 360 USD
• personal expenses – that depends on you, if you buy souvenirs, chips, sweets etc. – 200 USD

The above mentioned expenses are counted on a maximum basis, according to our experience with these kinds of trips and according to price lists for activities. Prices for fuel, food and accommodation depend on the exact itinerary, camping possibilities and driven kilometers.

We always check prices for different services and update them. The detailed expenses will be sent to each team member after signing up, together with our itinerary, a map and more info.

All services will be ordered on the spot, some expenses (like camping) will be paid directly by the traveller to the service provider. Since our first expedition with a group through Africa we have always used a simple system for group related expenses – a “group kitty” (expedition fund) – where every participant puts in a certain amount at the beginning of the trip and that money is used to pay for all group-related expenses (like fuel, fees, food etc.) Every expense is meticulously written down. Any other, not group-related expenses have to be paid for by the participant alone.

You can find more information about prices and expenses in Africa below, in our „IN AFRICA“ section and also in + RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES where you can find out what else to do during the trip and get an idea, what costs what.

Have you decided on becoming an expedition member to explore the unknown?

Fill in your registration with us, that is your first step into the adventure. This is where the preparations start.

Information about the itinerary

The detailed info about each expedition containing info about the car, equipment, what to take with you, what not to bring and much more will be sent out to you in our “information for team members”.

Visa

Please check with the Angolan embassy in your country if you need a visa. Many Europeans will need one and need to apply before entering the country. Angola runs an e-visa scheme, we will send detailed info with the information pack. At the Angolan embassy in Germany the visa costs around 70 EUR. For Namibia most Europeans can enter without a visa, some nationalities will need to apply beforehand. More on this in the info pack as regulations change all the time.

Personal meeting

After signing up of all team members we would like to have a personal meeting with the whole group, where we can get to know each other a bit and where we talk about the itinerary (you can have your say in this also!) If a personal meeting is not possible, we can organize an online meeting (skype, zoom) and we can talk about any questions you may have.

Consulting and advice

While you are preparing for your trip, we are at your disposition with hints, advice and recommendations.

You will receive an information pack after your sign up.

What and how to pack

Travel light and comfortable. Best is to have collapsible bags, not a suitcase. It should be resilient to dust and general traveling. What proved ideal is a normal backpack and a small day pack. Weight wise it can NOT be more than 20kg plus tent. You won´t need too many clothes, just the basics, light but also a sweater.

More info will be sent out to you after your sign up.

Passport

will have to be valid for at least 6 months after the trip and not contain an Israelian visa.

Vaccination

it is not in our competence to recommend you vaccinations or to make a plan for you, you will need to talk to professionals about it. Your GP is your first point, otherwise some health or travel medical centres will be able to help you. What we can recommend is that we think it´s a good idea to be vaccinated against some of the major diseases. It may happen that you will be asked to prove a yellow fever vaccination upon arrival. What we can also do is telling you what WE are vaccinated against and what is written in our international vaccination pass:

• Hepathitis A, B
• Meningitis
• Typhoid
• Tetanus
• Yellow fever
• Rabies

Travel insurance

travel insurance is something very important and a must-have. If you want to join one of our expeditions, you MUST have a travel insurance. This protects yourself and us.

In general – some countries, that you need visas for will ask about a travel insurance as well, for example Namibia for Czech citizens.

The main highlights and what we certainly shouldn´t miss in Angola:

• Etosha NP – The big white place” – that is how locals call this huge salt pan. Here, lying in a savannah and plains landscape there are more than 100 animal species and more than 340 bird species waiting for you. This is in Namibia, on our way to the Angolan border.
• Angola – we will visit new places that haven´t seen many tourists before
• Serra da Leba – Fenda da Tundavala – a beautiful lookout over the edge of the great Serra da Leba rift. The high plateau with an altitude of 2200m drops into a 1000m rift, the views are stunning. There is a snake like mountain pass going up.
• The Namib desert and giant sand dunes
• Angolan beaches and a few more places we want to show you. They are “TOP SECRET” for now.

To be updated, this will include some safari and other activities in Angola.

We are exploring different options at the moment.

The start of the expedition is in our city of arrival, in this case Windhoek and departure is from there also. It depends on our team and how we all will get to the meeting point. Just find yourself the right carrier, like Qatar, Turkish, Ethiopians or others. The flight price depends on your departure airport, it is wise to play around with different airports to fly from.

It is not necessary that the whole group is flying together, if someone wants, he/she can fly to Africa individually and extend their stay, either before or after our expedition. Just be reminded that then you are on your own, we just require you to be on our meeting point in time. Mostly, our meeting point will be at the international airport.

On our expeditions, we always choose a 4×4 vehicle, equipped for offroad and camping. Into the desert or bush one shouldn´t go with a different car, often we may be far away from civilization and need to rely on the car. An offroad car in this case is required. There are many different types, we often use a VW Transporter Syncro, which from the financial side and a travel in style we often use. We talk about driving when meeting and preparing for the expedition. You would need an international driver´s license.

What adds to the rental price is the fuel, expenses for fuel will be around the same as in Europe, mostly a litre of petrol in Namibia, for example, costs around 90 cents, Angola around 1 EUR. Because of the world crisis at the moment fuel prices have gone up to around 1,40EUR – 1,70 EUR per litre.

The maximum costs for the rent of an offroad vehicle with a full car will roughly come to 660 USD per person (example for a full VW Syncro with 8 pax). Rental price includes all equipment for camping, cooking and offroad driving. Our itinerary will roughly be around 4-4.500km long, so the maximum fuel price per person should be around 180 USD.

We will mostly sleep in tents, which are part of the rental car. You will only need to bring a sleeping bag and a matress. We will mostly have classical ground tents, when we stay anywhere for a few days we don´t need to pack or unpack the tent every day.

We will camp in official camp grounds, sometimes at a lodge and when off the beaten track we will use community camps or villages.

Prices are going to be from around 5-15 USD, depending on where and when. We calculate around 12-15 USD per person and day for accommodation, this is a maximum and by experience, we will be under, but this way we have a reserve in case we choose to camp in a prime wildlife spot for 30-50 USD.

The expenses for our camping should not be more than 300 USD

Note: In Namibia, wild camping is forbidden, in Angola, though, it is very often possible to bushcamp, that means the costs go down!

Mostly we will either cook ourselves or visit local restaurants and snack shops, if possible. On our rough itinerary, we will often be in the bush or little settlements where there are no restaurants. There, we will depend on ourselves and cook together from supplies we bought. If possible, we will cook on an open fire and use local products and if game meat is available, we will buy it. Other than that, beef in Africa is nice in general. A lot of cattle roams freely and doesn´t spend life in sheds like here in Europe.

When possible, we will always try to get you acquainted with local food culture and specialties for each country.

Vegetarians will be able to go meat free, we can always make a plan together. We have had vegetarians with us in the past and it worked just fine.

Expenses for a full stomach will come to a maximum of 250 USD

Angola doesn´t have any special limitations to consider. We will be respectful to nature and locals and keep it clean. If ever you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community, please be aware that in many African countries it is deemed illegal and forbidden, so discretion is necessary.

Weather

The expedition takes place in the African autumn time (our spring), but don´t be scared, autumn in Angola is not like our autumn. Temperatures will be around 25-23°C during the day. Take light clothes and don´t forget a sweater. Best is to layer up. We don´t expect rain as it´s the dry season.

Internet and communication

It may happen that your European sim card doesn´t work in Angola. Close to borders you may catch a signal from operators across the border. The best way is to buy a local sim card. The prices in Africa are not too expensive, you can get 1,5GB for about 18 USD.

Safety

The visited countries are safe countries. As everywhere else, one should always be on guard, not display expensive jewellery and other things. Just use commonsense. Angola had a long civil war raging so in parts there could still be ammunition or landmines in the bush although the South is clear now. We will be careful anyway.

In general, there are rules for travelling in Africa and those need to be adhered to. That counts for wildlife and crime/people. If you follow some simple guidelines, your holiday will always be a safe one. We will brief you thoroughly before the trip.