Silvester (New Year's Eve) Exclusive

Well rested and relaxed, today we will hold a detailed travel briefing and provide thorough instruction on the motorcycles and GPS devices. This will be followed by an approx. 100 km familiarisation tour, where you can get used to the traffic, road conditions and technology, so that we can set off well equipped and fully prepared the next morning.

... those who wish to can drive (in a four-wheel drive) to the world-famous ‘Sossusvlei’ today, a salt-clay pan at the end of the Tsauchab River, surrounded by the highest dunes in the world. This unique landscape lies in the heart of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. To experience the first glow of these red dunes in the golden sunlight of the new year, you would have to get up very early – if you managed to get to bed at all? Otherwise, the motto for this day is: start the new year at a leisurely pace and enjoy the beautiful lodge by the pool...

Today, the coastal town offers us a ‘rest day’ that we can plan entirely as we wish. You can dip your feet in the cold Atlantic Ocean at least once. The most ‘German’ city in Africa has a lot to offer. Traces of the German colonial era can be found everywhere, and even many street names have not been changed. Due to the cool climate caused by the cold Benguela Current, many locals also like to come to the coast for their holidays. Many small shops and restaurants invite you in, and countless leisure activities such as desert tours – e.g. to the ‘little big five’ in the dunes, but also boat trips or sightseeing flights – make the choice perhaps not so easy. We'll meet again for dinner in one of the city's good restaurants...

After the briefing, we set off for northern Damaraland. We cross dry riverbeds, which can develop into impressive watercourses during the rainy season and provide a valuable habitat for desert elephants. The rust-red, scree-covered table mountain landscapes with their spherical, silvery-green broom-like euphorbias reflect the typical landscape of this region and are also home to springboks, giraffes and oryx antelopes, as well as the rare black rhino. We take a break at Twyfelfontein at lunchtime and reach Grootberg Lodge in the late afternoon, which is tucked away on a plateau with a magnificent view over the Klip Riviers Canyon.

From Vingerklip Lodge, our route takes us along charming gravel roads through the wild heart of Damaraland. The gravel roads, which are still very little used today, take us through the typical mopane bush savannah and past isolated farms, where dwarf antelopes, guinea fowls and warthogs can sometimes be found in the tall grass, as well as large kudu antelopes and giraffes. Behind every bend, new panoramas of dry river valleys and wide plains open up. Away from the main roads, we enjoy the unspoilt beauty of Namibia. Our destination for today, the striking Waterberg Plateau, appears on the horizon...

It's actually too beautiful to sleep in – when the hippos wake you up early or the lions roar in the distance: if not the night before, then today is safari day... we head into the bush in an off-road vehicle – on the lookout for giraffes, zebras, antelopes, rhinos and elephants! Afterwards, we set off on our final stage, back to Windhoek Mountain Lodge. We pass through remote farmland on remote gravel tracks and return to the central highlands of Namibia via Omaruru and Otjimbingwe. In the late afternoon, we reach our GravelTravel base on lonely side roads, where a very convivial evening with sundowners and a delicious barbecue awaits us.