Travel Answers

We are planning a trip to do a self drive safari in namibia and we hope to start in Windhoek and finish in Kasane (botswana), does anyone have any experience of doing this sort of trip and I amparticularly interested in experience of rental companies as i have heard some bad stories about their practises in charging for damage to vehicles, also concerned that one ways may be expensive with some of them. I am also interested in experience of Africa flight passes and how they work as I also plan to go to either mauritius or the Seychelles for a fort night afterwards. Any suggestions on any of this will be very useful, the schedule is likely to be summer 2014 so a bit away but we are planning at this stage.

I would like to know if there is anyone or group travelling next weekend and want some company. I am living in Windhoek and could use some company to travel around on easter weekend.
Thanks,
Maria

I will have about 8 hours in Walvisbay and there will be around 1500 people on our cruiseship.
Will there be enough capacity for most of these 1500 to get on a tour to watch the pelicans & seals ?

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone out there has any strong opinions on favourite campsites in Etosha? We want to enter in the western section of the park and exit in the east. We are thinking 2 different sites over the 3 days.

Also, we are spending 3 days in Damaraland and are planing on basing ourselves at the Hoada campsite. Is this a good area of which to base yourself?

Lastly, we are planning on spending 2 nights at the Sossus Oasis Campsite in and around Sossusvlei, is this a good site to base yourself? I've also heard great things about Sesriem. would it be better to choose that campsite?

Thanks in advance for all the help,

Jeremy

After great feedback and careful consideration, we've managed to cut out a few places from our itinerary in hope of having ample time to enjoy what we feel are the more important areas of Namibia.

We would love some feedback before we commit to this and start booking places to stay.

9/1/2013 Windhoek 9/2/2013 Waterberg 9/3/2013 Etosha 9/4/2013 Etosha 9/5/2013 Etosha 9/6/2013 Etosha 9/7/2013 Damaraland 9/8/2013 Damaraland 9/9/2013 Damaraland 9/10/2013 Skeleton coast/Swakopmund 9/11/2013 sossusvlei 9/12/2013 sossusvlei 9/13/2013 sossusvlei/Windhoek

ok

My wife and I are going to visit Namibia and Victorea Fall area for 28 days during mide June to mide July and would like to get your opinion in selecting between the following options.

First something about ourself; we take our time during traveling. We love watching animals, nature, different local cultures, local schools (my wife is a teacher of special education) etc.; as we are keen in photography, we are traveling slower than many other travelers.

I traveled in Namibia 4 years ago covering Windhoek, Sesriem, (little sossus lodge) Swakomund, Cape cross; skeleton coast, Damaraland; Palmwag lodge; Kaokland; Camp Aussicht, Opuwo, Epupa falls, Ermo and Etosha in 23 days, we did it with a 2x2 (Corola) and it was fine.

I didn't drive manual transmission for many years and my capability in driving in tough roads is minimal

Our basic itinerary is : Swakomund, Cape cross, North to the The Himba and Herero ; A private farm or two, Etosha, Victoria Falls (Zambezi cruise, Livingstone Island Chobe trip perhaps both Zim and Zam sides, maybe Mukuni Big Five Safaris) all this in approx. 28 days.(south Namibia is not desired now)

We start from Johannesburg; so we see two main options:

Option one:

Fly JNB to WDH, rent a car at WDH (as we did last visit) do all the tour till Caprivi, return the car; find a way to ride to Victoria; visit the area and fly from Victoria to JNB and home

Option two: Rent a car at JNB; drive to Namibia (while visiting few interesting places on the way 3-4 days), do all the Namibia tour, drive to VF (via Bots and Zimb); visit the area and drive to JNB in 3-5 days in one of the two options:

1. Via Botswana (e.g. drive to Maun and arrange a local tour in the Okavanga Delta) Or
2. via Zimbabwe (e.g.via Antelope park or Hwange/Matopos perhaps using local tour).

We would like to get your opinion about the options.

If we rent the car in JNB we have to cross many boarders with the car (to Bots and to Namibia and to Bots, and to Zimb and to Bots again and to SA)

How complicated and expensive is all those borders crossing with a rented car?

In case you recommend this option, shall we select Bots or Zimb as main way south to JNB ? (I saw some post below with favore on Zimb)

Can all this be done with 2x2? (For the long drives; 2x2 is more comfortable and for 4 weeks it can be 1500-2000 USD difference with respect to 4x4.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

HPeri

Hi,

Planning a trip this September, doing a self-drive of namibia and have a tentative itinerary made that I would love to have critiqued before I start making reservations. Any and all help is very much appreciated.

Arrive Sept 1st (pick up car and equipment and spend the evening in Windhoek) Sept 2 - 3: Waterberg Sept 3 - 6: Etosha Sept 6 - 7: Damaraland Sept 7 - 9: Swakopmund Sept 9 - 11: Sossusvlei Sept 11 - 13: Luderitz Sept 13 - 15: Fish River Sept 15 - 16 Mariental Sept 16 -17 Windhoek Sept 17 fly home

With the time I have, am I missing anything of great importance? Any substitutions that can be suggested, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Hi, I'm invited to make my leave at Swakopmund because there leave friends of my parents. Now I have read about the seal hunt and barbaric slaughter at this country. Asking the familiy they denied that and saying it is totally blowed up by international press. So my question is, is it true or not and if yes, is it ongoing? If I google for that I get tears in my eyes and if it's still true I think I do not want to go there. Please let me know. Thank you very much in advance. Best regards, Peter

I am traveling to Namibia in March. Originally I was only doing fish river canyon, but I'd love to head North and over to Swapokmund. Is it touristy in March? Would I be able to sign up and do excursions in the dunes with people or have most left since the summer is over?

Hi, I'm planning a safari in Namibia during the month of July. Is this a good time to see them? Where is a good place to get maps, travel books and the realiable place to rent a car? Thank you

I am trying to find the best way to see Etosha & Erindi Game Reserve and get back to Windhoek. I don't want to do a self-drive so any suggestions for a tour company that can put something together for me would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to leave Otjiwarongo on the 18th or 19th of January, spend about 4 days at Etosha then travel to Erindi Game Reserve to spend the nights of the 24-27th of January and head back to Windhoek on the 28th to catch my flight out in the afternoon. I can always get Erindi to arrange a shuttle for me but I really need to get from Otji to Etosha, then Etosha to Erindi. Any suggestions? Thanks for the help, Di

I'm looking for (a) travel mate(s) especially to share a care and travel around in Namibia. I have already gained experience in travelling, an international driving license and am a reliable, easy to handle person. If you are interested please get in contact with me!

I plan on renting a 4WD vehicle with a rooftop pop up tent. I will be traveling in Namibia sometime between January 15- Feb 15, 2013. I do not want to be tied to an itinerary. How difficult is it to show up at a campground without a reservation and get a spot? How about if I call that morning? A day in advance? Thanks WS

My wife and I are travelling to Windhoek in early Jan and intend to pick a 4 x4 up in Windoek and travel to Opuwo and the area beyond. This is our first time to do anything like this and were seeking advice on whether it is neccessary or not to use private local guides and if so how does one locate them ?

Hi Everybody, We are the 9th of November and we don't have anymore car for our trip in Namibia begining the 14th ! My driving licence, sent to be translated, has been lost by the post. Anyway I'm looking for any solution to enjoy our stay : We are arriving the 14th (2pm) and we leave the 27th of November from Windhoek. So - If you know any D-system to get a car ? Or how can we have a chance to find one when we will be there ? (I guess not on internet) I only have the photocopy of my french driving licence, that's it. I'm a confident driver, even on the left hand side as I'm currently living in the UK. - If we can find anybody who has 2 spare seats, we would love joining you. It can be from windhoek or Swakopmund, for a part of your trip, just a few days (in Namib, Dramaraland, Etosha...). - Any suggestion about what's possible without a car ? Or what we can visit around Windhoek ? Because we have a very short stay, I guess we will just have time to visit Windhoek, Swakopmund and maybe find a small safari farm close to a city. Or maybe some quick and CHEAP organized tours/excurtions exists from Windhoek ? Thank you in advance for any help/advice you can give ! Lise & Quentin

Is there a tortoise anywhere in the streets of Swakopmund? Please!

Hello from Canada; we are doing a 3 week self drive around Namibia in November and we like photography and real life as opposed to too much touristy stuff. Is the drive to Epupa Falls much more real Namibia with the tribes people and the falls please? Thank you for any input.

Hi there. Does anyone know of people that can organise a day at the beach for kids? activities like volleyball, etc? kids aged from 2 years to 16 years? please let me know. Thanks

Hi all, this was a suggested travel plan to drive from Johannesburg, to Namibia. What are your feelings and suggestions. Is traveling to Namibia in October or September advisable. From JHB drive past Upington and over night at Augrabies Falls. Then cross the border at Noordoewer and go to Ai Ais and the Fish River Canyon. Here could stay for a day or two. From the Canyon off to Luderitz. From Luderitz to Konkiep From there to Sossusvlei and Sesriem overnight at Solitair. Solitair to Walvis Bay and Swakopmund for a day or two. Swakopmund to Windhoek. Windhoek to Khorixas. Khorixas to Etosha. ( atleas two days exploring Etosha) From there to Rundu. Rundu in to the Okavango Delta.( this is only camping...in the Delta for a night or two) Delta to Katima Mulilo. From there straight to Vic Falls. ( border crossing in to Zimbabwe is a headace...takes long) From Vic Falls could go for the day to Zambia. From Vic Falls 2 day drive back to Jhb overnighting in Botswana.

So I've read a few tips on this area, and have decided to go all the way to Sossuvlei and see Dune 45 on the way back. (As per your advice, Cathy) We have a 4WD, but will probably park at the 2WD area as not confident to drive on sand! Some of the tips say that Dead Vlei is much better than the main Sossuvlei. Is it possible to do both in the one day and then Dune 45, or is that asking too much? We are all fit, but not hyper-fit.

We'll be driving in one day from Tsumeb down to Omaruru. I've planned to do the golden triangle and on the way stop in Grootfontein (and before that the Hoba Meteorite). How is the M63 road. Has anyone been on it? I figure it will be better to take that road than the B1 and B2, which whilst sealed, will be many more kilometers.

It seems that this area is well-recommended. namibian.com.na/news/full-st... As this harvest begins in July, would July not be a good time to go and see it?

Hello, I'll be in Namibia for two weeks in June/July and just would like to run this itinerary by everyone. 30/6 Saturday – Arrive in Windhoek at 14:20. Sunday – Windhoek Monday – Etosha Tuesday – Etosha Wednesday – Etosha Thursday - Omaruru Friday – Swakopmund Saturday - Swakopmund Sunday - Sossusvlei Monday - Sossusvlei Tuesday - Luderitz Wednesday - Luderitz Thursday - Seeheim Friday - Windhoek 14/7 Saturday – Fly out of Windhoek at 07:15 Is it possible to drive from Swakopmund via Walvis Bay to Sossusvlei or is it best t backtrack via main roads? The reason for the stops in both Seeheim and Omararu is to break up the distance travelled. I feel like there's a few things nearby in each of those places? Any advice/concerns would be greatly appreciated!!

Hello I am planning my first trip to this area and I would like suggestions about an itinerary of 15 days including Etosha, Caprivi, Okavango and Vic falls. Is it possible to do a round trip leaving and finishing in Windhoek? Self drive? Do I need to book ahead lodgings? Is it easy to cross borders with a rented car? I inquired about tours but I found very expensive...is that area that expensive or the companies overprice? thank you

Hello, In 2014, me and +/- 10 other Belgian guys will be travelling for 10-14 days. where, that's still not decided, we're still looking for the right location. Last year, we travelled from LA to Vegas (route 66, grand canyon, parc Zion, ...) I've posted a question on the forum earlier, asking for suggestions. Basic rule: it should be something you wouldn't visit with your partner. (I know this is debatable, a lot of women do see the fun of driving on route 66. But you get the picture.) The locations we got: Namibia, Japan, Iceland, Finland/Norway. Now I want to work out the possible trips more in detail, all information is welcome: If we would go to Namibia: - what would be the best time of the year to go there - cheapest/best way to fly in? - road trip suggestions - what not to miss - off-the-beaten-track suggestions? - any festivals/events we should try to attend ? - would you advice to rent a car? What's the alternative? Thanks in advance, Raf Hendrickx

How easy can you pay in Namibia with credit card? Are they widely accepted at petrol stations, restaurants, travel agents?

We will be 2 days in Twijfelfontein driving our rented 4WD. What are the sights in the neighbourghood we should definitely visit??

In some guidebooks I read you can fly with a light plane from Swakopmund over to the skeleton coast (by means of a scenic flight since that coast is difficult accessible). Has anyone done such a private flight? Was it worth while?

During our Namibia self drive we have a 2 night stay planned in the Canyon Road house. What would you recommend to visit the Canyon? Are there short hikes you can do on your own? Do they allow for a good view of the canyon? Or is there a trail you can follow by car with different viewpoints of the canyon? Is everything signposted clearly?