Doing some trip planning, now that I have some time on my hands, I'm thinking of cashing in some miles and visiting southern Africa.
I normally travel solo, and on my list include: Cape Town, drive around the area and east along the coast, Namibia (Luederitz, Swakopmund), Vic Falls, maybe other stuff.
Any suggestions for the car rental and security issues while driving around?
I normally travel solo, and on my list include: Cape Town, drive around the area and east along the coast, Namibia (Luederitz, Swakopmund), Vic Falls, maybe other stuff.
Any suggestions for the car rental and security issues while driving around?
General hints to save on costs and travel safely?
I would not suggest traveling alone in Namibia because the road conditions are bad and cars can be few and far between on "the long black line in the desert." Best bet is to stay at hostels and find some other people to share a car rental with (which also helps on costs.)
It sounds like you're not really planning anything particularly off the beaten path and you could use public transit and/or backpacker bus services for much if not all of this trip.
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I hope you're not thinking about driving from Cape Town to Namibia and on to Victoria Falls unless you have oodles of time, like months. There's a lot of Africa in between and distances are long.
Better to fly between the main points and drive around while you are there. For example, rent in CPT and spend a week or more in Western Cape, fly to Windhoek and rent again, then fly to Victoria Falls. I haven't been but I suspect there are limited driving opportunities around Victoria Falls so you may prefer buses or other local transport.
Roads in Namibia, both tar and gravel, are excellent, courtesy of the Germans who properly surveyed the country and laid out a road and rail network with their usual thoroughness and efficiency. This road network has stood the test of time for over 100 years now.
Having said that, I would advise against driving at night, and keeping an eye out for kudus at any time.
Roads in Namibia, both tar and gravel, are excellent, courtesy of the Germans who properly surveyed the country and laid out a road and rail network with their usual thoroughness and efficiency. This road network has stood the test of time for over 100 years now.
I should perhaps have said that the road conditions are likely to be unfamiliar to most Westerners. They're certainly better than in many parts of the world, e.g. most of the former Soviet Union.
The problem is that the traveler may well want to go to places that are off the good roads (or where there are no roads at all.) We got three flat tires in the course of a half day, for example. (We had 2 spares, by the way - got a tire patched at some little shop in Solitaire which was also notable for having remarkably good bread.) We saw enough people having car trouble that I would continue to suggest that driving alone is not really a good idea.
There's a lot of Africa in between and distances are long.
