We have rented a car for a month-long tour of Namibia, in June 2022. Here you can read about planning the trip, and information about traveling in Namibia.
Edit 30.06.2022
After the trip has been completed, an update on the price level has been added. 1 NAD = 0,06 Euro
Read more about our trip in Namibia: overlanding namibia
Many people dream of overlanding in Africa, like driving from the Cape to Cairo. So do we. Maybe not the whole continent, but a somewhat shorter route, from Namibia to Kenya. It will be a trip of about 5000 km, and it avoids conflict areas and Egypt which is very expensive and quarrelsome if you bring a car.
But before we pack the car and ship it in a container to Walvis Bay, we thought we would take a test drive, to see if we like ourselves down there. Namibia is considered to be one of the most beautiful countries in Africa. It’s easy to get around, good roads if you want to get away quickly, and bad roads if you prefer that. And it is perhaps the safest country in Africa.
With the exception of the northern part, Namibia is a lot of desert and has one of the world’s lowest population densities. A vast country with only 2.6 million inhabitants. Along the coast in the west is the world’s oldest desert, Namib, and to the east is the Kalahari Desert.
Namibia was a German colony until the First World War. There is still a small part of the population speaking German, but the official language is English. Place names are a mixture of German, Boer and local languages.
The best time to visit Namibia is June – October. Then it’s winter and a comfortable temperature, and you avoid the rainy season. The daytime temperature is 20-25 degrees. At night it can get quite cold, down to zero degrees in the desert. If you want to see wild animals, this is also easiest outside the rainy season as they search for water holes when there is a drought.
The disadvantage of going at this time is of course that everyone else does the same, and it can be very cramped for space at the major sights, especially in July and August. For that reason, we chose to go in June, before the big hordes arrive.
Table of Contents
Rent a car
To get around, you depend on a car, if you do not choose to travel with a tour operator. There is a railway, but it is notoriously slow. And there are some bus routes, but they hardly go where you are going.
You can get around with a normal car, but if you are going on the smaller roads you should have good ground clearance and preferably four-wheel drive. We chose to rent a car from Bushlore, one of the larger rental companies. They have Land Cruisers and Hiluxes for rent. We chose a Hilux. It is cheaper than a Cruiser, and does the same job as long as you are not driving extreme off-road. And it is more comfortable to drive and uses less diesel.
The car is delivered with a roof tent and all necessary equipment, including bed linen. Our car is equipped with two roof tents since we are four people traveling.
You must expect about 100 Euro a day in rent, depending on how much insurance you want. You are insured as long as you stay on the road, or on road-like tracks. Wading up to the approved depth is also allowed. But for offroad driving, such as in dunes, the insurance does not apply.
Some car rental companies:
bushlore.com
namibia4x4hire.com
4×4-namibia.rentals
drivebotswana.com
and more…
Arranged tours
There are many tour operators that sell tours from budget to luxury. Many of the tours are in smaller cars such as Land Cruisers and accommodation takes place in a mixture of tents and lodge (cabins). It is a bit like overlanding on your own where you have to participate.
safaribookings.com provides an overview of tours from several organizers.
Camping
Wild camping is allowed in Namibia, and it is no problem as long as you stay away from populated areas. There are many large private farms, and if you want to camp on one of these, you must ask for permission.
Tourism is important to Namibia and there are campsites everywhere. From the simplest to more up market places with swimming pools. There are generally only a certain number of car parking lots so you should book in advance during the high season. Many private places are connected to lodges and you have access to the pool and restaurant.
There are many so-called Community campsites run by the local community and the income goes to them. So you support the locals financially by staying overnight here. Guided tours in the local area are often offered.
The pricing is normally per person, approx. N$ 100 – N$ 300. (6 – 18 Euro)
Lodges and Guest farms
If you want to live more luxuriously, there are many so-called lodges that are cabins or tent camps. They can be very luxurious and expensive, up to N $ 12,000 per day. We stayed in 3 normal lodges and paid about 1500 NAD for a twin room incl breakfast.
Guest farms are private farms engaged in tourism. These can offer guided hikes, safari excursions to see wildlife, and hunting. The farms are often very large and they help to protect the wildlife as it is the tourism they live off, and tourists want to see living animals. Hunting is therefore in controlled forms and contributes to the economy.
Attractions
The desert country Namibia is also a mountain country, and magnificent nature awaits you. Even though there is a lot of desert, not everything is so-called real desert. There will be some precipitation, and vegetation and wildlife have adapted so it is not a barren landscape that meets you.
Our plan is to first drive north to Etosha, with a 2 night stop at Gabus Game Ranch, before heading towards the coast and then south. Camping in Etosha must be booked a long time in advance so we wanted to do this first, and then take things a little more as it comes.
Here are listed some of the most famous tourist destinations, from north to south.
Etosha
Etosha National Park is one of Africa’s best for wildlife viewing. It is large, over 20,000 km2 and has 7 different camp areas with cabins and camping. All camps are located near water holes that attract animals during the dry season. Etosha Pan which looks like a lake on the map has only water in the rainy season.
You should definitely spend a few days here. In high season, you must book a place months in advance. For July-August, maybe a year. We have booked for 6 days, and then drive from east to west, from Namutoni to Galton Gate.
Price for camping is about 500 NAD per person per day, including park fee of 150 NAD.
Read about our visit to Etosha here: Etosha National Park.
Kaokoland / Kunene
Kaokoland is the area in northwestern Namibia up to the border with Angola. It is the most desolate and unspoilt part of Namibia and thus it attracts the adventurer, and we plan to continue there after Etosha. Many say that it is one of the most beautiful areas in Africa. But “roads” are very bad, many river crossings and quicksand, and great danger of getting stuck. Recommended only if there are several cars and drivers who are used to such conditions. And with rental cars and going singles we want to be careful. Some roads such as Van Zyl pass (road D3703) and Robbies Pass are not allowed by the rental companies. But it is possible to drive inwards in the area and turn around if it gets too tough. So we are at least thinking of taking the D3707 from Sesfontein to Purros. Here there is a gravel road, but probably a lot of corrugations. D3703 from Opuwo in the direction of Van Zyl is also possible to drive.
Along the Angola border there are mines and armed bandits.
Twyfelfontein / Damaraland
Kaokaland merges into Damaraland in the south. Damaraland is not unlike Kaokoland, with wild nature and mountains. But there are significantly better roads, so we plan to set course there.
Read about our visit to Kaokoland and Damaraland here: Kaokoland and Damaraland
Skeleton Coast
The area is named after the whaling and the bones that were left along the coast. Today, it reflects more all the shipwrecks that lie here. The Skeleton Coast is the start of the Namib Desert that stretches along the coast all the way down to South Africa. You can drive down to the coast on C39 a little north of Twyfelfontein.
Swakopmund
Swakopmund is a lively town on the coast known for its beautiful German colonial architecture, and many tourists. But it is nice place to relax a few days for some swimming and restaurant visits.
Sossuvlei / Namib ørkene
Sossuvlei is the most visited part of the Namib desert with its spectacular dunes, the highest in the world. The highest are at 400 meters. Here you will also find Deadvlei, a dead forest that must be the most photographed in Namibia. You can drive to Sossuvlei from Sesirem which is the nearest place with accommodation options. Expect a lot of people in the season.
Read about our visit to Swakopmund and Sossuvlei here: Swakopmund and the Namib desert
Kolmanskop / Sperrgebiet
Kolmanskop is located at the northern end of Sperrgebiet, the “Closed area”. A large number of diamonds were found here in the early 1900s, and Kolmanskop is a now an abandoned mining town that is slowly buried in the sand. Extremely photognic and ditto many tourists. It is possible to buy admission outside the official opening hours if you want to be more alone.
The Sperrgebiet has now been transformed into a national park with fascinating mountains and natural formations.
Kalahari / Keetmanshop
The Kalahari is a semi-arid desert with a good deal of vegetation and wildlife. A good starting point for a trip into the desert is Keetmanshop. There are a number of accommodation options in the area.
Fish River Canyon
Fish River Canyon is Africa’s largest canyon, 160 km long and 550 meters deep at its deepest. It is fine to see and you can also go for a 80 kilometre hike through it. But you have to be fit. You have to carry everything you need and there is nowhere to break off once you are down there. There is a limited number of persons that can hike every day, so you must book well in advance. At the west end at Ai-Ais there is a camp down in the canyon where you have the opportunity to hike some distance.
Wildlife
Wildlife is one of the reasons to go to Africa. In Namibia you can see the 4 big ones, plus a lot of other animals. Namibia is a lot of desert, but many have adapted to the desert, and you can risk encountering lions, elephants and rhinos in desert areas. The probability of seeing lions and rhinos outside national parks is admittedly very small, and really an advantage if you like to go hiking.
But smaller animals like jackals, hyenas, antelopes, or Steenbok as they are called here, you will probably see.
The safest way to see the animals is to spend a few days in Etosha.
When driving or camping, you are safe for wildlife, except for elephants and rhinos. If you encounter these, be very careful. It is also recommended to exercise caution if you have an errand out of the tent at night, especially if you are wild camping, and always store food and rubbish inside the car at night.
It is a good idea to read a guidebook before you go.
Price level
Namibian Dollar (NAD / N$) is linked to the South African Rand (ZAR) so that they are always equal. You can pay with ZAR. Eating out is relatively affordable, around 10 – 20 Euro per person. A pint of beer is 1.5 Euro.
Diesel prices vary a lot in these times, but in April 2022 a liter costs 1.2 Euro.
In addition to accommodation and food, you must pay for visits to national parks and access to private areas such as hiking.
In May 2022, 1 N$ is 0.06 Euro
Covid has inflated prices
We experience that the prices have increased after 2 years without tourists due to Covid, and this must be made up again. NWR, Namibia Wildlife Resorts has the most expensive camps we have ever been to. At the Naukluft National park camp, which was nothing special, they should for example, have as much as 385 NAD for camping, plus 150 NAD in park fees, per person. So 130 Euro for 4 people to camp one night.
Vaccines
See https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/namibia
In addition, you may want to take a cholera vaccine against tourist stomach.
Guidebooks and internet resources
There are many guides to choose from. I chose Bradt Travel Guides, and some of the information here is taken from there. A very informative book.
If you want to go more offroad the Bible is Tracks4Africa’s “Self-Drive Guide” shop.tracks4africa.co.za/
Best information about road standards etc can be found on the forum 4x4community.co.za Just search for the road number. Invaluable for info on Kaokoland.
The Facebook group Overlanding Africa also has some info: www.facebook.com
Maps
Off the main roads you should have topographic maps showing the smallest roads and tracks. Open Street map has good maps that can be viewed in the Android apps Locus Maps, OsmAnd, OruxMaps and Navigator. See more at Navigation apps for car and mobile
The best offroad map is probably Tracks4Africa’s map which contains detailed information about the roads and tracks. But this is only for Garmin. You get an offline Windows version with the purchase. It’s great for planning.
We used OsmAnd for driving, and are impressed by the richness of detail in the map, and how good search options it has for names. It is easy to see main and smaller roads, and easy to use for navigation.
Tracks4Africa also has an online map that also is great for planning, as well as an app for mobile / tablets.
See https://tracks4africa.co.za/maps/africa/ and the app
Read more about our trip in Namibia: overlanding namibia
