The Skeleton Coast & Garden Route

Nights

11

Party

2–4 guests

Countries

South Africa · Namibia

From

US$ 36,250 per person, based on four guests sharing, including private aircraftExcludes international flights to and from Africa.

Best season

May–Jun · Sep–Oct

This is the golf safari that goes into the desert. You start at Ellerman House in Cape Town and play Pearl Valley in the Winelands. Then the aircraft takes you to Namibia. At &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge in the NamibRand you climb Big Daddy in the dark to watch the sun find Dead Vlei. Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp, a Wilderness camp, is reached by a low flight over the wrecks and seal colonies of the coast, and from there you track desert-adapted elephant on foot and fly out to the rock engravings at Twyfelfontein. Then you fly back to Fancourt and play all three courses.

Highlights

• Pearl Valley and all three Fancourt courses
• Dead Vlei from the top of Big Daddy at dawn
• The Skeleton Coast from low altitude
• Desert-adapted elephant on foot
• An astronomer under the NamibRand dark sky
• Twyfelfontein's rock engravings

1. Day 1

   Cape Town · Ellerman House

   We meet you at Cape Town International and take the coast road to Ellerman House in Bantry Bay, thirteen rooms and two villas above the Atlantic. The afternoon is for the terrace and the art collection, and dinner is in the house as the sun goes into the sea.

2. Day 2

   Golf · Pearl Valley

   A private drive into the Winelands for Pearl Valley, No. 5 in South Africa and a Jack Nicklaus Signature course on the floor of the Paarl-Franschhoek valley, with mountains on every side. Non-golfers spend the day in Franschhoek village. Everyone meets for a late lunch in the valley before heading back to Ellerman.

3. Day 3

   Cape Town → NamibRand · Sossusvlei Desert Lodge

   A Citation XLS+ flies you to Windhoek for immigration, and a Cessna Caravan takes you on south-west to the NamibRand strip, with a low pass first to move the oryx and springbok off the gravel. &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge has ten suites on a 45,000-hectare private reserve. After dinner an astronomer takes you through the sky over the NamibRand International Dark Sky Reserve.

4. Day 4

   Dead Vlei at dawn

   You leave in the dark and climb Big Daddy by torchlight, reaching the top as the sun comes up over the Namib. Below you Dead Vlei's white pan and black trees come out of the shadow. Then you walk down into the vlei while the light changes. The afternoon is for resting at the lodge.

5. Day 5

   Skeleton Coast · Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp

   Your Caravan flies north along the Atlantic and drops low over the Skeleton Coast National Park: wrecks half-buried in the sand, seal colonies along the shore. Then it turns inland up the Hoanib River to Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp, eight suites in a remote valley in the Kaokoveld. Dinner is at camp, under a sky almost as dark as the NamibRand's.

6. Day 6

   Desert elephant on foot

   With your guide you track the Hoanib's desert-adapted elephant on foot. They are a small population living along the dry riverbed with no permanent water. You move slowly and stop well back when you find them. The afternoon is for rest, with an evening drive along the valley.

7. Day 7

   Twyfelfontein

   Your Caravan takes you east to Twyfelfontein, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where a guide of San descent walks you through engravings around 6,000 years old. They show the animals the San hunted and followed, and your guide explains what they meant. You fly back to Hoanib in the afternoon for a last evening in the desert.

8. Day 8

   Namibia → George · Fancourt Hotel

   The Caravan takes you to Windhoek, where the Citation XLS+ is waiting for the flight south to George. You leave the desert after breakfast and reach Fancourt by late afternoon, with time for a walk round the estate, a look at the practice ground and an early dinner.

9. Day 9

   Golf · Fancourt Montagu

   The Montagu comes first: No. 4 in South Africa, a Gary Player design upgraded in 2005, played in the morning with the Outeniqua Mountains behind every tee. Non-golfers take a private drive along the Garden Route to Knysna for lunch on the lagoon, back by late afternoon.

10. Day 10–11

    Golf · Fancourt Outeniqua and The Links

    Day 10 is the Outeniqua, a Gary Player design ranked No. 22 in South Africa. Day 11 is The Links, No. 1 in South Africa for 2025 and host of the 2003 Presidents Cup, and the course where the wind has the most to say. Non-golfers can visit the Golfing for Change project in Oupad, Knysna, or take a quiet day at the spa.

11. Day 12

    Departure

    Breakfast at Fancourt and a short drive to George Airport, where your Embraer Phenom 300 takes you to Cape Town or Johannesburg for your international flight. Your Journey Architect has the luggage checked through. Thirty days later the coffee table book of your trip reaches your door.

Flown by turboprop and light and super-light jet. How we choose the aircraft