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 550 to 700 USD, if you book them well in advance you can get a good price.
• visa to Namibia is free for some nationalities, visa is required for others, please check if you need one.
• expenses for rental car – the price per person for a full car is 580 USD (17 days)
• fuel costs – maximum 140 USD
• food costs – depending on how we do it (cooking, restaurants) – max 250 USD
• accommodation costs – camps – max 300 USD
• entry to national parks – 100 USD
• alternative activities – 200 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 Namibian embassy in your country if you need a visa or not. Many Europeans only get a stamp when entering Namibia which is valid for up to 90 days, other nationalities will need to apply for a visa before entering Namibia and need to pay for it.

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.

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.

You will find some more info on each country in our online guide, which we prepared for you on our website.

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

• Namib Naukluft – the oldest desert of this planet will receive us with golden sand dunes, wide open spaces and plains, dried out salt pans and stark, dead trees to paint a fabulous picture.
• Skeleton coast – Portuguese seafarers called it the “sand of hell”. The misty, treacherous coastline wears shipwrecks like jewellery. It is an absolutely desolate place. But even here you can find jackals, hyena, antelopes, ostrich and even a seal colony.
• Kolmanskop – a city of ghosts. Once a rich diamond mining, now just an abandoned town in the middle of the desert. In the southern part of Namibia there are a few more of these – Pomono or Elizabeth Bay, those are in the so-called Sperrgebiet.
• Fish River Canyon – The 2nd largest canyon in the world. The original riverbed of the Fish river widened over thousands of years, rocks eroded away and left us with this natural wonder. The deepest place is 549m deep, between April and September one can do treks at the foot of the canyon.
• Etosha national park – „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 your.
• Kaokoland – he “wild North” of Namibia with extreme landscapes, the Kaokoland is ethnically very rich and diverse. In Namibia´s Northwest there is an area about the size of Switzerland, with some beautiful scenery like the Epupa Falls, the Kunene River as a natural border line with Angola and the hard to reach Marienfluss Valley. You can find wild roaming desert elephants and other animals.
• Herero, Himba and San bushmen – Namibia is known for its iconic tribes that still follow a traditional lifestyle, and most of those are actually in the Kaokoland.

Our itinerary is filled with a lot of known and unknown places. Into each expedition we include places, which we discovered by ourselves and all places have been visited by us many times. Here, you will be an explorer and adventurer – so you have something to look forward to

Enrich your trip with some unforgettable outdoor or culture experience.

• safari with cheetahs – 35 USD
• trekking in Fish River canyon –50 USD (multiple day trek)
• Quiver tree forest and Giant playground – 20 USD
• “A day with the bushmen” – a complete experience with lots to learn – 65 USD
• Quad tour in the dunes – (40 USD)
• thermal hot springs and camping – (20 USD)

The start of the expedition is in our city of arrival, in this case Windhoek. 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 cheaper than in Europe, mostly a litre of petrol in Namibia, for example, costs around 90 cents. Due to the world crisis and rising prices we have to take into account that a litre now costs around 1,40 – 1,70 EUR.

The maximum costs for the rent of an offroad vehicle with a full car will roughly come to 580 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 150-180 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, for example in the Halali Camp in Etosha.

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

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, antelope steaks etc. Namibia has very nice beef so we will use that certainly. Cattle here is not locked up in sheds but spends its time roaming the Namibian landscape.

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

Namibia doesn´t have any special limitations – the only important fact is that it tries to be on the eco-tourism side and that wild camping is forbidden! You will not find any tarred roads in national parks, you will not find an unlogical or uneconomic infrastructure in camps, unlike its South African neighbour. Namibia tries to syncronize with nature. And we try to do the same when traveling. We will be demanding when it comes to keeping nature clean and respect local communities.

Weather

The expedition takes place in the African winter time (our summer), but don´t be scared, winter in Namibia is not like our winter. Temperatures will be around 20-25°C during the day and nights will be cooler, some areas warmer, some colder. In the Kalahari desert, nights can be freezing, in Kaokoland, nights will be much warmer. 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 Namibia. 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, but we have to stress that signal is very limited, Namibia is quite a big country with only few people in it. We had to climb trees before to try and catch a signal.

Safety

Namibia is a very safe country. Thanks to its low population and big surface there are lots of places where you won´t see humans for a long time. But: Even if Namibia is safe when it comes to crimes, dangers arise from the lack of experience of traveling by car and how to behave in remote and wildlife areas. You have to stick to the basic rules in the wilderness or in unfenced camps, it is very important. We will brief you thoroughly before the trip. If you stick to the rules, you will have a great experience!