Namibia & Ultimate Safaris COVID Update

We hope that all of you are enjoying the changing of the season, and the renewed enthusiasm for travel which is slowly starting to show again. We are encouraged by the early signs of this, with increasing arrivals in Namibia coming into our care. We have days where it feels like we have returned to some semblance of normality, but we are also acutely aware that there are bound to be periods where our optimism is temporarily dashed. However, the reality is that we are getting closer to the end of this every day.

There have been some changes in local conditions recently, so we thought it time to send an update on everything COVID related to Namibia :
 
1.    ENTRY REQUIREMENTS; these continue to become less onerous, with the only requirement for entry into Namibia being a NEGATIVE PCR OR RAPID ANTIGEN TEST no older than 7 DAYS! We are lobbying hard for fully vaccinated travellers to be exempted from the testing regime altogether, and we feel confident that this should be in the next amendment to the requirements. We will keep you updated!

2.    Testing in Namibia for departing passengers is getting easier by the week. We are now able to offer express testing, at a higher cost, for both PCR (6 hours for results) and RAPID ANTIGEN (4 hours for results) in Windhoek! Some remote testing continues to be on offer where there is no alternative but, with new developments, this may be less necessary before too long. There are also plans to offer rapid testing at Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport, and this may be available within a few weeks. The latter will cater primarily for fly-in safaris where the guests need to leave immediately and can’t spend a final night in Windhoek. We will keep you informed about these developments but, as you can see, testing in Namibia has become a well practiced routine for us now. 

3.    Covid infection levels in Namibia remain very low, with only around 1,500 active cases at any given time!

4.    Vaccinations have begun and tourism is now considered a frontline business and tourism personnel are being prioritized as a result. Ultimate Safaris’ tribe have almost all been for their first jab of the Astra Zeneca Oxford vaccine, and we are set to be the first tourism company in Namibia to be fully vaccinated. 

5.    Please also remember our extremely flexible terms for new bookings which allow refunds up to 48 hours prior to travel if guests are prevented from traveling by genuinely Covid-related reasons. We believe that there are few more flexible and encompassing policies in the market, if any, and we are ensuring that those party to this policy see the vast majority of our new bookings. The latter is easy enough as all our preferred partners have signed up to this policy. 

6.    We continue ensuring that we keep our tribe, our travellers and the communities in which we operate as safe as possible. Measures for this include testing guides before each safari, and isolating returning camp staff, but please do view our SAFETY MEASURES for more detail.
 
A huge thank you to everyone for their incredible support through this challenging period. We are so excited to be welcoming your guests back to Namibia.
 
All the best,
 
THE ULTIMATE SAFARIS TRIBE