We collected our guests off their flight and took them to The Olive Exclusive. This stylish hilltop boutique hotel is our favourite layover in Windhoek. Each of the seven suites is individually decorated and features striking images by SA photographer Micky Hoyle. We enjoyed a meal on the terrace overlooking the olive groves. An ideal spot in which to unwind after a long flight and to prepare for the adventures to come! Stuart took us on a short tour of Windhoek, viewing the Christ Church, Ink Palace, Kudu statue, Parliament Gardens and the Namibian Craft Centre.

We drove three hours on the excellent road to Okakakara and to visit the project - very informative. We had lunch at Waterberg Guest Farm – with a view onto the Waterberg. We then headed up onto the plateau to the Waterberg Wilderness Lodge, set into a deep and green valley that cuts into the mountain. We climbed the steep rocky path up behind the lodge to sit on the warm rocks, glowing red and gold in the evening light, for a sparkling champagne sunset. The next morning we took a gentle history hike up the verdant valley to learn about the local Heroro people. We set off, again on one of the excellent Namibian roads, for the three-hour drive to the Ongava Private Concession on the Western border of Etosha National Park.

We settled into two of the magnificent stone, wood and thatch suites of Little Ongava, There are only three, set among the hilltop rocks, and then gazed at the sunset from the dining deck over the plains and waterhole below. In the morning we took a game drive into Etosha’s endless flat, bare, white vistas. We took the obligatory (!) mid-day safari siesta, and, late afternoon, we went out onto the concession. This never disappoints, and we saw rhino several times, and great game viewing from the hides.

After a leisurely breakfast, we drove the four hours to the simply stunning Mowani Mountain Lodge, set amongst huge, rounded, ochre boulders, under a blue, blue sky. We visited Twyvelfontein to view the beautiful rock etchings carved by San Bushman. On the way back to the lodge we spent time at the fascinating Damara ‘living museum’ and learnt about some of these people’s ancient traditions and skills. On this evening we enjoyed our sundowners, reclining against large comfortable cushions, on the rocks above camp.

After a walk below camp to again marvel at the soft beauty of the rocks, we departed for the Spitzkoppen and Pondok mountains – less than four hour’s drive. The cool cabins of the stylish Spitzkoppen Lodge are built among the rocks, and have the lightest of footprints. We admired another dramatic African sunset – this time with our toes dipped into the natural rock swimming pool. The walk to our tents after dinner, between the beautifully lit rocks, was a memorable highlight.

We rose early to take photographs of the famous rock arch in the lovely morning light. We then travelled on to the Erongo wilderness area, where desert, mountain and bushveld combine. Our rooms at Erongo Lodge were stone under thatch, with bathrooms open to the beautiful surrounds. We were a little ‘lazy’ and did not go out, but took the opportunity to just relax and revel in the peaceful setting.

We left for Maun – the gateway to the Okavango Delta, overnighting at Kalahari Bush Lodge. This small guest house, on a Kalahari game farm, is a very pleasant overnight stop. The lawns were emerald green, the grasses golden - just before the rains.

This was the longest stretch on our journey – six hours - past interesting commercial farm lands (on an easy tarred road) - to Maun. Here we chose charming tented Royal Tree Lodge to overnight. The tents are set under huge riverine trees, the biggest Bird Plums we have seen. It is on a small, hidden private game reserve on the banks of the Thamalakane River, just twenty minutes from Maun. Convenient, but away from the bustle of the tourist gateway to the Delta.

We took our leave of the couple here, dropping them at the airport for their air safari into the Okavango Delta. Their first stop was Chitabe, a classic tented camp, on a private concession on an island. The area is famed for the numbers and diversity of wildlife, in particular predators, such as leopard and the endangered Painted Hunting Dog. The guests enjoyed game drives, observing the wildlife in an intricate mosaic of floodplains, waterways, marshlands, dry acacia and mopane woodland, riverine forest and grasslands. They enjoyed fine leopard sightings.

The couple again flew in a light aircraft to Duba Plains Camp, in the northern part of the Okavango Delta. This private reserve shows off the area’s unique landscape of palm-filled islands, grassy flood plains and green woodlands. It is the home base of Dereck and Beverly Joubert, acclaimed wildlife documentary makers, who also designed the tents, which evoke the classic safari style of the 1920’s. The guests could simply sit on their deck and appreciate the steady stream of wildlife drifting by. Duba is one of only two Relais et Chateaux lodges in Botswana, and our ‘foodies’ appreciated their dining experience greatly. The wildlife experiences – by boat and vehicle - were wonderful too - from lions and leopards to elephants and buffalo and everything in between. They also saw the recently reintroduced rhino .