Windhoek to Victoria Falls Self Drive Tour

Sixteen nights from Windhoek to Victoria Falls, self-guided and tailor-made, across Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe in a 4×4.

One way across three countries is the shape of it, and self-driving the whole route is genuinely possible here in a way it would not be further north: the roads are good, the borders are straightforward and the camps expect it.

Sossusvlei comes first in the Namib-Naukluft, with Sesriem Canyon and Dune 45 at sunrise, which is the one everybody climbs and still worth the alarm. Swakopmund follows, then the Skeleton Coast and the Cape Cross seal colony, where tens of thousands of fur seals haul out on a single beach. Damaraland comes next with rhino tracking, then Etosha and its salt pan, and the Caprivi Strip by the Kwando River, the Mayuni conservancy and Bwabwata, which is a different Namibia entirely: green, wooded and full of water. Chobe in Botswana follows, with electric safari vehicles available at the Chobe Game Lodge, then the Falls and the Zambezi.

The itinerary is a tailor-made sample and the inclusions are not itemised in detail on the operator’s page, so the accommodation, the vehicle and the border arrangements are all worth settling in writing at booking; flights are not included. The price shown is per person excluding flights. The dry season from May to October is the window, when the game concentrates round the water and the Namibian gravel is at its best. No wildlife sighting can be promised, on the rhino tracking or anywhere else. Seventeen days one way means flying home from Zimbabwe rather than Namibia, which is worth costing in early, and the shape of the trip is a steady progression from desert to wetland.