park and reserve info

The Ai-Ais Richtersveld – Transfrontier Park spans some of the most spectacular scenery of the arid and desert environments in Southern Africa. Bisected by the Orange River, which forms the border between South Africa and Namibia, it comprises the Ai-Ais Hot Springs Park in Namibia and the Richtersveld National Park in South Africa.
Rugged kloofs (ravines), high mountains, dramatic landscapes and sandy planes form South Africa’s largest mountain desert park, covering 160 000 ha, The harsh Richtersveld nurtures 30% of all South Africa’s succulent species among which the famous “half man plant” and three quiver tree species. With less than 50mm of rain annually, the park is home to leopards, lizards, Hartmann’s mountain zebra, gemsbok, springbok, klipspringer, ground squirrel and suricate. It’s the land for adventurers and the indigenous Richtersveld people.

Some of the distinctive features on the Namibian side include the Ai-Ais Hot springs and the 2nd largest canyon in the world, the Fish River Canyon. Ai-Ais, which means, “burning water” in one of the local languages, refers to the sulphurous hot springs which are found in this area. The awe-inspiring Fish River Canyon measures 160 km in length, up to 27 km in width and reaches a depth of 550 m. Although the Park is not known as a game park, springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest, Hartman’s zebra, kudu, klipspringer and ostrich survive in this harsh land. AI-AIS/RICHTERSVELD TRANSFRONTIER PARK is included in Tours 09, 21, 22, 24, 25, 31-33

Etosha National Park, with its wealth of animal and plant life, lies in the north of Namibia and covers an area of 22,270 km². It is one of the largest game parks in Africa. The pans cover an area of 5140 km², of which the Etosha Pan, which is 120 km at its longest and 72 km at its widest, is the largest. Because of the diversity of soil types in the park, a large variety of vegetation occurs, which brings along a huge variety of animal life. The approximate number of larger animals is as follows: 1,500 elephant, 300 black rhino, 2,000 giraffe, 6,000 Burchell zebra, 700 mountain zebra, 2,600 blue wildebeest, 4,000 gemsbok, 250 eland, 2,000 kudu, 600 red hartebeest, 70 roan antelope, 20,000 springbok, 700 black faced impala, 1,500 ostrich, 300 lion and an unknown number of leopards and cheetahs.

Of the 340 bird species that have been identified in Etosha, approximately a third are migratory. Of the 35 raptor species, 10 are migratory. What makes Etosha different from many other parks is the excellent game viewing opportunities at the illuminated waterholes at the three camps Okaukuejo, Halali and Namutoni. Here you can sit and relax day and night and watch the behaviour and interactions of animals at the waterholes. ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK is included in Tours 47-50

Covering an area of 49,768 km², the Namib Naukluft National Park is not the only one of the largest parks in Africa but also one of the largest parks in the world. This desert park, bordering the cold Atlantic Ocean in the West, includes the Namib Desert, which is the oldest desert on Earth. The main attraction is Sossusvlei.

This clay pan is surrounded by red sand dunes up to 380m high, which are among the highest in the world. Other very impressive areas are the Naukluft Mountains in the east and the barren Kuiseb valley in the north, which was made famous by Henno Martin’s book “The Sheltering Desert”. Although this is extremely barren country, gemsbok, springbok, ostrich and the rare Hartmann mountain zebra can be seen here. NAMIB NAUKLUFT NATIONAL PARK is included in Tours 22, 48 & 50