Kaokoland, Angola and the Caprivi for Jennie

After a long flight you want a quiet first night, not a city hotel. Omaanda is a small lodge of thatched huts on the Zannier Reserve by N/a’an ku sê, close to the airport, so you’re on the reserve within the hour and the trip begins gently.

Spitzkoppe is the granite peak you asked to see, and the lodge sits right below it, its chalets tucked among the boulders. It’s the first night on your own, and an easy, beautiful one.

Damaraland Camp sits in the Huab valley in the Torra Conservancy, run in partnership with the local community. The river valleys here are home to desert-adapted elephant, though sightings always depend on the day. It’s the gateway to the wilder north.

Okahirongo looks over the Hoarusib River at Purros, in country that desert-adapted elephant move through. Two nights give you a full day in the valley with the lodge’s guides. Purros is also where the way to the Skeleton Coast begins, if you’d like to add it (see the optional add-on below).

Shipwreck Lodge is the only lodge inside the Skeleton Coast National Park: ten cabins built to look like wrecks, near the mouth of the Hoarusib, with wood stoves for the coastal chill. Getting there is half the adventure: down the Hoarusib riverbed from Purros, in your own 4x4, led by the lodge’s escort. If you want it, we’ll confirm the arrangements and the exact number of nights with the lodge.

Namibia’s only Himba co-owned camp: five chalets built into one of the highest hills above the Onjuva plains, north of Orupembe, with views all the way round. It’s the self-catering stop you said you’d enjoy, and the camp’s staff can also cook for you, including a traditional Himba dinner. It’s our base for the far north-west, the country towards the Marienfluss and the Kunene.

A comfortable night on the hill above Opuwo, the main town of Kaokoland, after the long road back from Etaambura and before the Kunene.

Epupa Falls is where the Kunene, the river that forms the border with Angola, drops through a gorge lined with palms. Omarunga sits right by the falls, so you can walk to them in the late light.

A bush lodge near Ruacana, so you cross into Angola fresh in the morning. This is where your guide joins you.

This is what the whole trip is built around. Your guide leads the whole way, in at Ruacana and out at Santa Clara, through some of the least-visited country in southern Africa: the dunes where the Kunene meets the Atlantic, Iona National Park, wild beaches, sandstone canyons, and the escarpment up to Lubango. It’s wild country, so the days are a plan rather than a promise, and you can reshape any of them with your guide.

After ten nights in Angola, a quiet night on the banks of the Kavango near Rundu, chosen to break the long road east to the Caprivi.

Luiana Plains is a new camp in Luengue-Luiana National Park, across the river from the Caprivi: ten tents on the Cuando floodplains, in country where wildlife such as elephant, buffalo, lion, sable and roan is returning. Very few people have seen it yet. You leave your car at the border near Kongola and the camp takes you in. The camp is new, so we’re confirming with them that it’s fully running on your dates.

Namushasha River Villa is a single villa on the Kwando River, built for two guests only: two storeys with a bedroom and balcony, a lounge and kitchen, and a deck over the water. You leave your car at Namushasha River Lodge, just south of Kongola, and the boat takes you across, so after Luiana it’s a short, easy day. After a month on the move, two quiet nights on the water, with the river all to yourselves.

Chobe River Lodge is in Kasane, on the Botswana bank of the Chobe River, close to the gate of Chobe National Park, a park known for its elephants along the river. It’s your base for the last two nights, for a game drive in the park and a day at Victoria Falls, both arranged through the lodge. And Kasane’s airport is close by for your flight home.