Do yourself a favour and consider arriving a couple of days early. You should devote at least one of them entirely to food. You're going to be camping for a while, so you need to stock up.

Fish River Canyon is home to a yearly ultra-marathon. We're not entirely certain what the "ultra" prefix alludes to, but we're pretty sure it means it's really, really hard. Luckily for you, participating in the ultra-marathon is not an included activity.

Getting down the sand dunes is way more fun than getting up them. Be warned, you'll have red sand in your nether regions for weeks.

Shake things up with skydiving, surfing, quad biking or sand boarding. This place is often described as more German than Germany, so have your beer and schnitzel stomachs ready.

It's worth dragging yourself out of bed for sunrise over these massive rocks. We don't laugh at your Hello Kitty pyjamas. Promise.

Etosha is a huge salt pan which makes for some nice pics and a handy addition to any meal.

You know the main guy in God Must Be Crazy? He's a San Bushman. You'll meet members of that tribe here, and spend the next few weeks trying to master the art of their clicking language...probably without success.

Rundu's on the border with Angola and it's as good a place as any to break up the long drive. Head to the Khemo open market for Kavango wood carvings.

Hippo alert. Our ride in the mokoros (traditional dugout canoes) is relaxing until you realise you're surrounded by hippos. We think it helps to imagine them in tutus doing ballet. Suddenly they don't seem so tough.

After a long day on the road you'll probably just want to relax with a cold Tafel lager. Warning: Namibians believe they have the best beer in the world, so don't argue with them.

This place is famous for elephants - we get pretty close to them on a boat trip down the river.

Make sure you take your daggy waterproof jacket to see the falls. You'll look like a berk in photos, but better safe than soaked, right?

Take your pick: hunt for tigers in northern India, listen to monkey chatter and birdsong in the jungles of Costa Rica and Peru or gawp at the Galapagos’ diversity. And of course, there's the big one: Africa. The names alone evoke images of wildlife: the Serengeti, Masai Mara, Kruger. And the reality’s even better. Africa’s got the lot, so go beyond the Big Five by hiking to close encounters with gorillas in Uganda’s forests, walking with lions at Zimbabwe’s Antelope Park, or canoeing past crocs on the Okavango Delta. From the Cape’s loveable penguins to Egypt’s loping camels, Africa’s animals await.

16 breakfasts, 16 lunches, 15 dinners

International flights, local payment, arrival and departure transfers, airport/departure taxes, visas, pre-tour or post-tour accommodation, all other meals, drinks, sleeping bag, pillow, all optional additional tours or activities during free time, transfers outside of the tour program, travel insurance, tips and items of a personal nature, laundry and flights (unless specified).