Namibia Flying Safari Photo Workshop

This tour offers opportunities to photograph wildlife. We'll maximize our chances of encountering wildlife, but we want to remind you that we don't control wildlife and cannot guarantee encounters with particular species. Itineraries for wildlife trips are subject to change based on wildlife activity.

Day 1: Arrive in Windhoek

Arrive at Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH) before 2:00 PM on this day. Air travel delays are possible, so please consider arriving early, possibly the day prior. We don't want you to miss out on trip activities. Airport transfer is included on arrival.

We plan to stay at an exclusive Inn in Windhoek, giving everyone a comfortable place to recover from their international flights before we begin traveling through Namibia.

There are no major photography commitments today. Arrive, unpack and charge batteries.

That evening we’ll meet for our welcome dinner and workshop briefing. We’ll discuss the itinerary, photography objectives and what to expect during the days ahead.

Day 2: Fly to Ongava Private Game Reserve

After breakfast, we’ll transfer to Windhoek’s Eros Airport and fly north toward Ongava Private Game Reserve, bordering Etosha National Park.

This flight immediately establishes one of the themes of this workshop: we’d rather spend our time photographing Namibia than watching the road disappear beneath the tires.

We’ll settle into our camp before heading out for our first afternoon wildlife photography session.

Ongava has become one of our favorite wildlife locations in Namibia because it provides something increasingly difficult to find around major safari destinations: excellent wildlife opportunities without constantly being surrounded by other vehicles.

Day 3–4: Private Reserve Safari at Ongava

Depending on wildlife activity and local conditions, we may combine traditional game drives with a guided walking safaris on these two days.

Walking through African bush changes your perspective considerably. Things that disappear from a safari vehicle suddenly become important — tracks, sounds, wind direction and the realization that animals you normally photograph through a long lens seem considerably larger when you’re standing on the same ground.

Day 5: Ongava to Spitzkoppe

After our final morning wildlife photography, we begin the journey south toward Spitzkoppe.

Along the way, we’ll visit a Himba village to meet and photograph members of the community, with opportunities to create environmental portraits that reflect elements of their traditional lifestyle.

By late afternoon, we’ll arrive at Spitzkoppe, where dramatic granite peaks and arches rise from the surrounding desert. We’ll use the remaining daylight to scout compositions and photograph sunset before preparing for our first night under the stars.

Tonight we’ll work on long exposures, focusing in darkness, foreground illumination and compositions that connect Spitzkoppe’s distinctive landscape with the Milky Way above.

Day 6: Spitzkoppe & The Milky Way

A second night at Spitzkoppe gives us something every astrophotographer values: a second chance.

Weather is never guaranteed, so staying two nights improves our odds of photographing the Milky Way under clear Namibian skies.

At Spitzkoppe, we’ll spend daylight exploring the granite formations, ancient artwork, scouting foregrounds and photographing the changing colour across the mountains at sunset. After dark, we’ll focus on Milky Way composition, exposure, focusing techniques and natural-looking foreground lighting.

Day 7: Spitzkoppe to Walvis Bay & Sandwich Harbour

We’ll leave Spitzkoppe and continue toward Namibia’s Atlantic coast and Walvis Bay.

Later in the afternoon, we’ll take a private 4×4 and head south into the dunes of Sandwich Harbour.

This isn’t simply a dune tour. We’re deliberately going late.

The afternoon sun begins producing long shadows across the ridges while the warm light emphasizes the colour and texture of the sand. We’ll stop at several elevated locations overlooking the enormous dunes and Atlantic coastline.

We’ll remain in the desert through the best part of the evening light before returning to Walvis Bay.

Day 8: Fly to Sossusvlei

Today we take to the air again, flying from the coast toward Sossusvlei.

Our planned accommodation is one of our favorites, located inside Namib-Naukluft Park.

That location is one of the most important decisions we’ve made in designing this workshop.

Staying inside the park gives us a head start toward Sossusvlei and Deadvlei rather than beginning our morning outside the main entrance with everyone else waiting for the gates to open.

After settling in, we’ll head into the dunes for our first afternoon photography session.

This is our introduction to one of the most extraordinary landscapes in Africa.

Day 9: From Deadvlei to the Dunes

We’ll leave before sunrise and travel deep into the Sossusvlei dune corridor. Our destination is Deadvlei.

The objective isn’t simply to photograph its famous camelthorn trees.

Timing is everything here.

As sunlight begins reaching the enormous dunes surrounding the clay pan, sections of the landscape move from shadow into intense orange and red light while the floor of Deadvlei can remain in shade.

For a short period, the contrast can be extraordinary.

We’ll work the scene rather than rush through it, looking beyond the obvious compositions and helping everyone find different relationships between trees, dunes, light and shadow.

After returning to the lodge during the harshest part of the day, we’ll head back into the dunes later in the afternoon for another golden hour landscape session.

Day 10: Doors-Off Over the Namib

Today introduces an entirely different way of photographing the Namib Desert: by helicopter.

We’re planning two 60-minute aerial photography flights during our Sossusvlei stay, scheduled around the best available conditions. Each guest will take part in one flight, while the rest of the group continues photographing the dunes and desert landscapes from the ground.

The flights are designed specifically for photography, with opportunities to photograph dune ridges, shadows, abstract patterns in the sand and desert-adapted wildlife such as oryx from above.

This gives everyone two very different perspectives on the Namib in the same day — one from the air, and one from within the landscape itself.

It’s one of those occasions when you look through the open side of a helicopter and think:

“Well, this was worth coming to Namibia for.”

Day 11: Fly to Lüderitz & Kolmanskop

After breakfast, we’ll fly south toward Lüderitz.

Just outside town sits one of Namibia’s great photographic locations: Kolmanskop.

Once a prosperous diamond-mining settlement, its abandoned homes and public buildings are slowly being reclaimed by the Namib Desert.

Sand pours through doorways. Wallpaper peels from walls. Wooden floors disappear beneath dunes. And shafts of desert light move through the buildings throughout the day.

We’ll begin exploring and photographing Kolmanskop, learning which rooms work best at different times and how to use the architecture, sand, colour and directional light to build compositions.

Day 12: Chasing Light Through Kolmanskop

Today we return to Kolmanskop for a second photography session.

The light changes quickly here, and different rooms come alive at different times of day. A composition that works for only a few minutes can look completely different once the sun moves.

Because we have photographed Kolmanskop many times, we know the buildings, the rooms and how the light moves through them.

We’ll help you find the classic compositions, while also looking for quieter details and images that feel more personal.

Day 13: Depart Luderitz and Fly to Windhoek

After a slower morning, we’ll transfer to the local airfield for our flight back to Eros Airport in Windhoek.

By flying instead of driving, we eliminate another long overland transfer and gain something far more valuable: time. Once back at our Windhoek hotel, we’ll use part of the afternoon for an image review by the pool, looking through photographs from the workshop, discussing editing and answering any remaining questions.

That evening, we’ll gather one final time for our farewell dinner and reflect on an incredible journey through Namibia.

Day 14: Depart Namibia

After breakfast, transfers will be provided to Hosea Kutako International Airport for departing flights.

The workshop officially ends today.

Departure from Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH). You can book your return flight for anytime this day. Airport transfer is included on departure.