Iconic Namibia
2025
A once-in-a-lifetime experience covering all the best photography locations of Namibia.
Trip highlights
Night photography in Quiver Tree Forest
Our trip is scheduled so that you can photograph the iconic Quiver Tree Forest with perfect Milky Way visibility. Learn advanced night photography techniques to create stunning compositions in one of Africa’s most unique landscapes.
Desert elephants
Encounter Namibia’s rare desert elephants in their natural habitat. Guided by expert trackers, we’ll position ourselves for unforgettable photographic moments that highlight these majestic creatures against dramatic desert backdrops. If we are lucky we might even see the rare and elusive desert rhinos and lions!
Sossusvlei and Deadvlei
Photograph the world’s highest and oldest sand dunes in Sossusvlei and the 700 years old petrified trees of Deadvlei. These surreal landscapes provide endless photo opportunities, with a light show that is always magic.
Etosha National Park
Discover the wonders of one of Africa’s oldest and largest national parks. Spanning over 22,000 square kilometers, Etosha’s vast salt pans and diverse ecosystems are teeming with wildlife, offering unparalleled opportunities to capture unforgettable moments with Paolo’s expert guidance.
Only 6 spots available in this once in a lifetime photography experience!
When?
Sept 20th - Oct 2nd, 2025
Group Size
Max 6 people
Price
5900 €
5310 € EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT
PHYSICAL DIFFICULTY
Easy, although participants should be prepared to deal with heat.
Expect to walk up to 20 minutes to reach some locations (unless you will decide to climb a dune in Sossusvlei, that might take up to 1hr).
Experience
Amateur, enthusiast and semi-pro photographers.
What makes it special?
After many trips to every corner of Namibia, Paolo gained a deep knowledge of the country. This allowed us to design a tour that will make the most of your time there, ensuring that you will always be in the right place at the right time. Plus, we will have access to locations at times that are normally closed to normal tourists, giving you the chance to take unique photos at the best time of the day.
We aim to take you to beautiful locations and give you every opportunity to get great images while improving your technique throughout the workshop. We limit the number of participants in our workshop to just six which gives us plenty of time with everyone in the field, meaning Paolo will be close at hand to provide you with any advice or help you need, from lens choice to composition and camera settings. From day 1 Paolo will assess your photographic level and what you’d like to focus on, then tailor the sessions accordingly.
We selected the dates of our workshop to ensure we are in each location at the best time of year. The trip takes place at the peak of the dry season when water is very scarce and wildlife activity tends to gather around waterholes. We also aligned the trip around the moon phase so that we can photograph Namibia’s incredible dark skies at their best.
Finally, we want to share with you our passion for nature and landscape photography in this incredible place. Travelling in such small groups means we can quickly build a great learning environment where people feel comfortable together and at ease with asking questions and making the absolute most of the trip. We aim to make your experience here in the beautiful landscapes of Namibia a memorable one and a trip from which, as well as getting some great images from amazing locations, you’ll also go home having had a true adventure with great company in a very special place.
What will I see?
Locations include:
Quiver Tree Forest
The famous ghost mining town of Kolmanskop
Luderitz
Sossusvlei, where you will see the world's highest sand dunes
Deadvlei, with its iconic petrified forest provides endless photo opportunities
The coastal towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund
Spitzkoppe, the iconic rock formation that gained the name “Matterhorn of Africa”
The magic landscape of the Damaraland desert, where you will get to see astonishing sunset light and, with a bit of luck, the rare desert elephants, rhinos and lions
Etosha National Park, one of the biggest parks in Africa, where it’s possible to see and photograph 4 of the big 5
Expect to see and photograph plenty of giraffes, zebras, various species of antelopes, elephants as well as lions, leopards, black and white rhinos, cheetahs, hyenas and many more
What will I learn?
Understanding the light and choosing the best exposure
Learn how to adjust your camera settings for different scenarios (landscape, wildlife, night photography etc.)
How to frame natural scenes, from wide landscapes to tight wildlife portraits, to create balance and harmony in your images
How to use shutter speed and aperture settings to create unique images
What lens to choose based on your vision
How to shoot wide panoramas stitching together multiple images
Astrophotography techniques and composition to properly expose the night sky
Wildlife photography. All the basics to capture images of animals in a truly wild landscape
Post-production basics, how to organize your files and backup strategies to make sure you won't lose your precious files
Our itinerary
Day 1
After meeting at Hosea Kutako International Airport and a brief stop in a mall in Windhoek, where you have the chance to buy everything you might need for the trip, we start heading south towards our first destination, the Quiver Tree Forest. We will reach our destination in time to check in at our lodge and to go out for a first sunset session. After sunset, we will have our dinner before coming back for a Milky Way session that will last till around midnight.
Day 2
After an optional photography session at sunrise and a good breakfast, it’s time to hit the road and drive East towards the coastal town of Luderitz. We will cross some incredible desert landscapes and, if we are lucky, we might even be able to see the wild horses of the Namib, the descendants of a group of horses rumoured to have escaped from a German fort in the early 1900s.
We will have time to walk a bit around Luderitz before setting out for our first session in Kolmaskop, an old mining town that was established when diamonds were discovered in the area in the early 1900s and has now been abandoned since the end of WW2, with the desert slowly claiming it back. We will take our time to explore the countless rooms, each one telling us a different story. After sunset, we will drive back to our accommodation in Luderitz.
Day 3
The day starts early as we have special access to photograph Kolmaskop with the sunrise light shining through the rooms. We will then travel back to Luderitz to have a good breakfast before saying goodbye to this little town.
It will take us around five hours to reach Sossusvlei, our next destination. Following scenic gravel roads and crossing the Namib Rand Nature Reserve. At Sesriem, the entrance point to the Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, after everyone has settled into their spacious tented rooms on stilts that will be our home for the next three days, with a stunning view of the dunes in the distance, we all go on a drive into the park to discover the beauty it has in store for us. Expect to see lots of oryx roaming freely at the base of the world’s highest dunes, providing endless photography possibilities as the sun slowly goes lower.
Our lodge is located inside of the park gates, so while most of the people must leave around sunset time to exit the park gates before it closes, we can stay till late making the most of the magic dusk light fading on the dunes.
Day 4
We have a full day in the park. The days start very early and we drive off when it is still dark, in order to cover the approx 70 km (including 6km on sand) and reach Deadvlei with the sunrise light. first rays of sunlight over the dunes. We will photograph pre-dawn and sunrise in Deadvlei until 9.30 am when the light gets harsher, the temperature gets higher and the regular tourists arrive.
After a good breakfast at the lodge, we have some time to relax before meeting in the afternoon for some post-production lessons and one-on-one sessions with Paolo. Then, we head back to Sossusvlei for some sunset dune scapes. Dinner will be at the lodge.
Day 5
After one last optional sunrise session and breakfast in the lodge, we leave the Sossusvlei region behind and head further north. The drive is approximately five hours, with a quick stop in the small town of Solitaire and then up towards the coastal town of Swakopmund. Prepare yourself for a complete change in weather, as Swakopmund can be foggy and quite chilly, especially after the warmer temperatures we have gotten used to in the south of Namibia and the Sossusvlei region.
After the check-in to our boutique guesthouse located just under the dunes, we take another short drive along the coast to Walvis Bay. This coastal town, home of Namibia's main commercial harbour, is famous for its flamingos feeding in the lagoon and the surrounding wetlands. It is considered one of the prime locations worldwide to see flamingos, with numbers reaching over 40,000 individuals. You will be able to see both the Lesser and the Greater flamingo here and photograph them from a close distance, with a magic light as the sun disappear behind the ocean. Alternatively, we can decide to spend the sunset on the spectacular sand dunes facing the ocean, where we can get creative with the shapes created by the dunes’ texture and the fading sunset light. For tonight's dinner, we will go out to a restaurant in Swakopmund.
Here we also have more time for private portfolio reviews and one-on-one sessions with Paolo.
Day 6
On day 6 we have a free morning. You can choose between a sunset session on the dunes close to Swakopmund, a 2-hour scenic flight over the Namib desert (not included) or a simple walk around Swakopmund, a town with a distinct German influence. After lunch, we drive a couple hours to Spitzkoppe, known as “the Matterhorn of Africa”. This is a stunning area to photograph huge boulder formations in the golden light of the afternoon. We take accommodation in a nearby lodge that gives us on foot access to this wild landscape, which we can explore freely looking for the best compositions.
After dinner, we can also photograph this location at night, trying to capture the stars as they twinkle above the rock arch that made this area famous.
Day 7
In the morning we can photograph Spitzkoppe as the first rays of sunshine hit the rocks. After a nice breakfast, we pack our 4x4 again and start another adventurous drive through the amazing views of Damaraland. As we proceed we will find fewer and fewer people while the landscape will change dramatically giving us the impression of being on Mars.
Our destination is a small lodge with access to one of the main riverbeds of Damaraland. Our afternoon drive will focus on the desert-adapted elephants that can only be found in this area. The riverbed is also home to a wide variety of mammals including rhinos, leopards and lions adapted over time to live in these dry lands. The lack of resources forces them to spread over a really wide area so they are not easy to locate, but with a bit of luck, we might have some amazing encounters.
Day 8
We will drive out of the lodge at dawn with a professional tracker who will try his best to follow rhinos and elephant tracks in the desert to hopefully see and photograph these elusive animals. If we are really lucky we might even see some desert lions!
After the safari, we will have a good breakfast and here we go, our next destination is the Etosha National Park, one of the largest parks in the whole of Africa. The transfer will be around 4 hours to the gate of the park - Namibia is a really big country! After registering at the gate we will keep driving for about 75km to reach our destination, in the heart of the Etosha.
With a surface almost as big as Switzerland, the Etosha is home to a wide range of mammals and birds. While this is still wild nature and not a zoo, it’s almost guaranteed to see large herds of antelopes, elephants, rhinos and lions, and with a bit of luck we might even see leopards and cheetahs. The dry season is at its peak and as the water becomes more and more scarce in the bush, animals are coming to the waterholes to drink. That’s where we are going to find them, targeting some of the best waterholes where rhinos, elephants and lions usually come to drink.
After checking in to our accommodation we head out with our 4x4 to check some selected waterholes where predator activity tends to be higher. Once back at our camp, we will have 24-hour walking access to an artificially lit waterhole, where we can see animals during the night hours when they are most active. Expect giraffes, elephants, rhinos and lions to be here between sunset and sunrise. The scenes here are so good that the waterhole appears for a long chapter in the “Night on Earth” series by Netflix!
Day 9
Today we spend the whole day in the park, heading out well before sunrise on our private game drive; as early morning and late afternoon are the moments when most animals are more active, we will try to spot some wildlife while is still dark so that we are ready to take our photos when the first light will arrive.
After the drive, we go back to our camp to have lunch and take a look at the waterhole; the central hours of the day are usually the ones with less wildlife activity, but sometimes animals show up even at midday!
In the afternoon we will have some time for a photography review and Q&A before heading out on another safari session where we will explore the surrounding waterholes looking for predators coming out of the Etosha pan.
Day 10
Another early start today, as we head out again with our private safari guide. Today we will focus on lions, trying to spot some of the big prides that roam these areas, so have your camera ready!
In the afternoon we will drive to the eastern border of the park, where we will check into a private reserve that borders the main Etosha National Park. Being in the reserve will give us more exclusive access to animals, with the possibility of driving off-road to find the best photography angles. We will go out for our afternoon session with very skilled guides that will be able to track and spot any wildlife activity. Dinner at the lodge.
Day 11
Today we go out at 6 am looking for leopards and cheetah. The drives are about 4 hours long and we come back to the lodge around 10 am for breakfast and some relaxation. In the afternoon we will meet again for some photo reviews before heading for another private safari till after sunset. Dinner at the lodge.
Day 12
After a final sunrise game drive in the Etosha, we drive south to Windhoek, our last destination. The drive south will take around 6 hours, with a break in Otjiwarongo. We will arrive in Windhoek in the late afternoon and, after a bit of relax, we will meet for a farewell dinner where you will have the opportunity to try some of the best Namibian food.
Only 6 spots available in this once in a lifetime photography experience!
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Continuous assistance with your photography and image processing by Paolo Sartori
10 private safari game drives; we will have a dedicated vehicle where each guest will have a “window” seat, giving you the best chances to see and photograph rare animals like desert elephants, lions, leopards, cheetah and rhinos
12 nights lodging
Two persons per room (i.e. shared double occupancy), unless single supplement option is exercised and secured at the time of payment of deposit; note that in some locations single option might not be available
Ground transport for the entire duration of the tour; our vehicle will be a Land Cruiser specifically modified to fit our 7 people group
All tourism taxes and park entry fees
Two meals a day (breakfast and dinner) commencing with dinner on Sept 20th and finishing with breakfast on Oct 2nd; drinks are excluded; the dinner on Sept 25th and Oct 2nd are not included
Snacks and beverage during game drives
Plenty of time for Q&A and one-on-one learning with Paolo
Access to a private Whatsapp and Facebook group to share, plan, and collaborate with Paolo and other attendees leading up to, and after the workshop
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Airfare to and from Windhoek, Namibia
On the nights of Sept 25th in Swakopmund and Oct 2nd in Windhoek we will have dinner at a restaurant; both dinners are not included
Mealtime drinks
Non-mealtime snacks and drinks
Credit Card surcharges
Any purchases of a personal nature
Tips and optional extra activities
All wines and liquors
Travel Insurance (highly recommended)
Personal transfer to catch up with the group in case you will arrive in WDH later than 10AM on Day 1
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The workshop is limited to 6 seats. Apply via the button at the end of this page. If there is still a spot available, you will be given instructions to make your deposit to secure your spot.
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The price of the trip is 5900 €.
A deposit of 1500 € will be due to confirm the booking.
The remainder will be due 90 days before the trip departs.
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To reserve your spot we do require a 1500€ deposit. That deposit is only refundable for 48 hours after booking.
Once you pay for the rest of your trip you can receive the following refunds on the rest of the trip (deposits not included):
More than 90 days before the trip = 100% refund.
Between 90 and 60 days before the trip = 50% refund.
Less than 60 days before trip departure = 0% refund.
We highly recommend trip insurance.
We may cancel a trip prior to the start date for reasons including (but not limited to) insufficient participation, weather conditions, or other instances that may impede trip operations. In this case, you will receive a refund for funds paid towards the trip cost. You will not receive any refund for hotels, flights, or transportation you booked before or after the trip.
A legal language version of our trip cancellation is this...
We reserve the right to cancel any trip, at any time, prior to the scheduled departure date for any reason whatsoever, including without limitation, insufficient participation, local weather conditions or logistical problems that, in our sole judgment, may impede trip operations. In the event we cancel your trip for any reason whatsoever other than a force majeure event, your sole and exclusive remedy shall be the refund of all payments we received from you as of the date of cancellation. The payment of the refund shall release us from any and all other or further liability in any way related to such cancellation. We may make payments to our suppliers (permits, transportation companies, etc.) far in advance of the scheduled trip departure date. Accordingly, if a trip is cancelled due to a force majeure event (e.g. war, labor strikes, earthquake, flooding or any other cause beyond our control), we will undertake commercially reasonable efforts to promptly refund the portion of any amounts paid by you that have, in turn, not already been advanced to suppliers. In addition, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to recover and refund to you the balance of your payment amounts that were advanced to suppliers, less our expenses, if any, of such recovery, as promptly as possible. However, we do not guarantee you recovery of any portion of advance payments made to our suppliers. We are not responsible for, and you hereby release and forever discharge us from, any expense or cost incurred by you in preparing for or arising or resulting from a cancelled trip. If you cancel your trip, we will refund your payment as follows: (a) cancellation 90 days or more prior to trip departure – 100% of your payment will be refunded, with the exception of the deposit amount; (b) cancellation between 90 - 60 days prior to trip departure - 50% of your payment will be refunded, with the exception of the deposit amount; or (c) cancellation less than 60 days prior to departure, or during trip – no refund will be made.
Camera Equipment
With the focus being on landscape, nightscapes and wildlife, you will ideally (but not necessarily) need to cover a focal length of 16-400mm. Let’s see a bit more in detail…
Camera Body
You will need a dSLR or a mirrorless camera; for the kind of work we’ll be doing you need a camera that can be operated completely manually to ensure we get the best exposure with interchangeable lenses allowing you to cover a range of focal lengths.
Landscape
The landscapes on this trip mostly require telephoto focal lengths as a lot of it is vast, rolling dune landscapes, which look best when compressed with a longer lens. Expect to use your telephoto zoom (70-200, 100-400 or similar) and a polarizer a lot. However, you will also need a wider zoom lens (15-35mm or 24-70mm) for places like the Quiver Tree Forest and Kolmanskop.
Astro
This trip has been planned to fall perfectly around the new moon, visiting the various locations at the right time to make the most of the incredible African sky. In this brief period of the year it is possible to shoot a bright galactic core in the late evening. Having a dedicated astro lens (the best being prime wide angles as 20mm f/1.4 or 24mm f/1.4) will make a huge difference to your astro shots; however, a wide angle of 24mm (or wider) with a f2.8 aperture will be more than enough to get amazing shots.
Wildlife
We expect a lot of wildlife encounters on this trip; in addition to the iconic orix we will see plenty of flamingoes, mountain and plains zebra, various species of antelopes, brown and spotted hyenas, wildebeest, ostriches, jackals, giraffes, black and white rhinos, elephants and big predators like lions, cheetah and leopards. These encounters will happen in the wild and we will be shooting from an open safari vehicle, with sometime limited possibilities to change our position relatively to the subject. As main lens for these situations we recommend a zoom in the 100-400 or 200-600 mm. If you also have a prime telephoto (400mm f2.8 to 600mm f4) we highly recommend that you bring it along, but expect to use the telephoto zoom more than the prime.
Panoramas
This section of the desert is panorama paradise with its sweeping views. Make sure you have a solid tripod with a spirit level or leveling base. That will also be essential when shooting night photography, sunset and sunrise images.
Batteries & Memory cards
We will have regular access to electric power; however we recommend to bring enough batteries and memories for at least a full day of shooting.
Laptop to review and edit images
We’ll be shooting RAW, and as part of each day will be dedicated to post processing workflow and techniques. You will need a laptop with a good RAW processing software; we suggest either Adobe Lightroom or CaptureOne. Together with your laptop we highly advise at least one external small hard drive for storage and backup of your photos. Post processing workflow, backup and storage strategies will be discussed by Paolo during the trip.
YOU WILL RECEIVE A MORE DETAILED INFORMATION DOCUMENT WITH ALL THE INFOS ABOUT WHAT TO PACK 90 DAYS BEFORE YOUR TRIP. THE DOCUMENT WILL INCLUDE SPECIFICS OF WHEN AND WHERE TO MEET, GEAR AND CLOTHING RECOMMENDATIONS AND ALL THE VARIOUS INFORMATIONS YOU MIGHT NEED.
Getting there
We will pick you up on day 1 at Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH) which is located around 40 minutes out of Windhoek. There is no time difference between Namibia and Europe so you will be good to go.
If you are travelling from different time zones or landing later than 9 AM on day 1, we recommend flying to Windhoek one day prior to the start of the workshop in order to get rested and adapt to the new time zone. Let us know if this is your case and we’ll be happy to arrange airport transfer and accommodation for you.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Over the last year we had an incredible high rate of delayed flights, especially the Discover flights from Frankfurt. It seems that whenever the flight is not full enough it gets canceled and passengers are moved on the following day flight. For this reason, we highly suggest to plan being in Windhoek 1 day prior to the tour departure. This will give you peace of mind and also some more time to rest and get ready for the adventure. Our team will be happy to help with your accommodation. If you will not be there by day 1 the tour will start without you; you can then join the group later but the additional transfer cost to rejoin the group will be on you.