Ride to the Sea

You will be met at the Windhoek International Airport and transferred to a Lodge with an impressive view over Windhoek. Meet the rest of your riding group for dinner and a representative will brief the group about what to expect on your adventure.

After breakfast we depart for about a 4 hour commute, getting the first enticing glimpse of the seemingly endless Namib Desert below. At our first campsite with a spectacular view over the Namib Sand Sea you will meet the horses and crew for lunch. In the pleasant early evening you can go for an excursion where you are welcome to attempt to climb the towering dunes for a spectacularly panoramic view. Return to camp for a traditional Namibian meal cooked over an open fire.

The start of our riding adventure takes us up a wide grassy valley flanked on one side by the distant Namib Sand Sea. Lunch is at a surprising desert oasis – famous for its wonderful apple crumble! To reach our evening campsite we enter the undulations that make up the foothills of the rugged Namib Naukluft Mountains. The nearby water trough at our campsite attracts numerous mountain zebra, kudu and oryx during the night.

Ride along a long ramp-like dune in the morning, enjoying some unspoiled wilderness that offers some striking scenery. In the afternoon the pace quickens as valley opens into a riverbed before climbing up to our campsite on a hill-with-a-view.

Today we cross some red dunes before a rugged descent into a canyon for lunch. Climbing out of the canyon we ride across the wide plains to a cave with a spectacular view of the badlands of the ephemeral river in the distance.

Now we negotiate the terraces leading down the to the bizarrely rugged river – with a technical descent into the riverbed before a short lunch break. It is this river which forms a dramatic end to the Namib Sand Sea, flowing just often enough to prevent the dunes from crossing the river. The tracks of mountain zebra criss-cross the steep sides of the canyon all leading to a year-round supply of precious water which is preserved by the high, narrow walls of the canyon.

Good going affords some fast-paced riding towards the water-point where mountain zebra, oryx, ostrich, springbok, and if we are lucky, some desert-adapted warthogs come to drink. Here the wide grassy plains are scarred by several watercourses, some only distinguishable by the long lines of trees which mark their course, sometimes giving shelter some desert-adapted giraffe.

Another day which affords some fast-paced riding past the water point of across the plains, which become ever less vegetated as we approach the coast. As we approach the mountains, ostriches and mountain zebra often run alongside the horses, curious about the unusual centaurs inhabiting their desert. From now on life-giving evening fog can be expected, producing 5 times as much precipitation than rainfall in this hyper arid area.

Now we ride through the hyper aridity of true desertscapes where we encounter the dinosaur-like of plants, the gnarled Welwitschia Mirablis. Strange shapes form and disappear in mirages and fascinating survival devices of desert adapted creatures astound; this is a land of great antiquity and also tremendous solitude. We will pass a spectacular valley on our descent to a wonderfully sheltered campsite on the river.

The last ride down the river to the coastal dunes and then, at last, the Atlantic Ocean. Our first glimpse of a town in days! The last stretch of riding is along the soft white beach sand of Swakopmund. Tonight’s accommodation is a comfortable guesthouse while the horses enjoy their well-deserved rest in a large sandy paddock with a wonderful view of the sea. After sundowners, we enjoy our last memorable meal together, reminiscing over an adventure unlikely to be forgotten.

We say a fond farewell at breakfast as the transfer to Windhoek (4 hour commute) leaves in time for the late departure flights from Windhoek International Airport for flights departing after 3:00pm