Thread: Namibia self drive safari, any one done one?

No, but its definitely something we'd like to do, so also keen to hear of others experiences.

Steve

I flew to Windhoek in 1998 and hired a car and did that basic trip myself staying in Rondavels in camping grounds and the like in the national parks, I choose to take a commercial trip on the skeleton coast etc and or the trip to dunes on the coast, its a big country but I love the desert type environment and the animal life, I would recommend it to anyone and the high light for me was the skeleton coast and the north of Namibia right up to the Angolan border, you might be able to go into Angola now as well.
There is great fishing on the skeleton coast and I met South Africans who would would drive 24 to 30 hours to get there to go fishing.
Big distances but no problem to an Australian!!!
Check your season patterns there for heat and rain which can affect your trip enjoyment depending on how cope with heat etc. and what animal life you may get to see.

Rondavels (huts) :[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondavel"]Rondavel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Originally Posted by steveG

No, but its definitely something we'd like to do, so also keen to hear of others experiences.

Steve

Exactly

Did notice no machine gun?

I've wanted to do this trip for the last 25 years, since Namibia got its independence and became stable.

I told my family that we could put the 110 on a ship and work passage to Cape Town, then drive up to Namibia, across the Caprivi Strip to Botswana and circle back to South Africa.

The suggestion was popular with my two youngest only, so I suppose that delays it a bit more, but on the upside, three in the car is easier than five.

SWMBO and I did this area in a "truck/bus" 2 years ago.

Generally the roads in Namibia are better than outback Australia and it is debatable whether you would need a Defender. I met a young European couple in Hire Hilux at Sossesflei and it had a very dodgy Engel installation but looked OK. They had hired it in Windhoek.

If we go back we will probably just hire in Windhoek as driving in Namibia is easy with rest areas about every 50K in the Caprivi Strip. The roads except around Sossesflei are mostly good bitumin, and there are Spar supermarkets in every town even with a Deli and sammos if you want em.

I loved Namibia Botswana and Zambia and Etosha was just spectacular, and the lodges are excellent. Camping in Summer is a bit problematic as it is HOT but many campgrounds have elevated sites on stilts to get off the ground and get a breeze. First time I have seen that.
If you have any specific questions please PM
Regards Philip A

Hi
We did something similar a few months ago, we flew to Cape Town picked up a hire 4wd (sorry a hilux!) we then drove south for a couple of days before heading north up through SA into Namibia across into Botswana round the ocavango delta up to the Zambian border where we dropped of the car.
We then carried on by foot for another week.
Trip total of 5 weeks 3 in the car, we did 5000kms the most in Namibia.
It was a fantastic trip done entirely on our own, without a hint of trouble and we would do it again tomorrow!

Cheers
Phil

Hi
should have added this is the company we used:

4x4, 4WD Car Hire South Africa - 4x4 Rental - Vehicle Hire - Southern Africa - Botswana

They were fantastic and come very well recommended.

But our trip was not guided we organised it all and drove ourselves, it's really easy to do yourself.

Always happy to discuss our travels.

Cheers
Phil

Originally Posted by PhilipA

SWMBO and I did this area in a "truck/bus" 2 years ago.

Generally the roads in Namibia are better than outback Australia and it is debatable whether you would need a Defender. I met a young European couple in Hire Hilux at Sossesflei and it had a very dodgy Engel installation but looked OK. They had hired it in Windhoek.

If we go back we will probably just hire in Windhoek as driving in Namibia is easy with rest areas about every 50K in the Caprivi Strip. The roads except around Sossesflei are mostly good bitumin, and there are Spar supermarkets in every town even with a Deli and sammos if you want em.

I loved Namibia Botswana and Zambia and Etosha was just spectacular, and the lodges are excellent. Camping in Summer is a bit problematic as it is HOT but many campgrounds have elevated sites on stilts to get off the ground and get a breeze. First time I have seen that.
If you have any specific questions please PM
Regards Philip A

I used to drive the 'truck/busses' that you talk about, and have very fond memories of Namibia and want to get SWIMBO and my 101 there one day! We never had any confronting issues whilst there, Windhoek is great. Look into going quad biking on the dunes. Awesome fun. There's also a long dead Ghost Town called Kolmanskop that's well worth the visit! Never done the self drive bit... (Well unless you call me driving a Merc 2421 with 20 pax self drive!)