Namibia: just go! What a great place (mini-TR)
Jun 17, 2015, 5:59 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: MSY
Programs: BA GfL
Posts: 5,929
Namibia: just go! What a great place (mini-TR)
My mom, a friend and I just finished up a 16-day self-drive trip around Namibia. The whole thing went amazingly well, Namibia being much better set up for tourism than I would have expected. The roads (while mostly gravel) were well maintainted; signage was excellent throughout, even on minor roads (SA could learn from the Namibians here); corruption was nonexistent; and the lodges were uniformly excellent.
We flew into WDH from JNB on SA, picked up an Avis 4x4, and stayed our first night at the amazingly nice (for an emerging market) Hilton Windhoek. I was expecting this hotel to be tatty and old, but it was either new or newly refurbished, and extremely comfortable. The next morning we stocked up on provisions and drove to Swakopmund, passing through the "moon landscape" and Welwitschia flats area along the way.
In Swakop we stayed at the Hotel Zum Kaiser, which was fine, although we were dismayed to learn that they had screwed up our booking and walked us for the second night to the Europa Hof (much less desirable). That was the only negative moment in all of our nights in the country, though, so it's hard to complain much. Swakop in May was dead as a doornail but we had an amazingly great time kayaking at the Pelican Point seal colony in Walvis Bay--highly recommended. From there we drove to a succession of lodges: Mowani Mountain Camp, Desert Rhino Camp, Okahirongo Elephant Lodge, Grootberg Lodge, and Okonjima Lodge. All of these were just great, and each had a different focus for game viewing and a different landscape.
In general the countryside is stunning, with desert landscapes that seem to change every few minutes as you drive through the country. The isolation, lack of human habitation, clear and immense skies, and general unspoiled-ness are just amazing. Also, in contrast to South Africa and many other countries, in Namibia conservation of wildlife is a nationwide endeavor, not confined to national parks and preserves. You are more or less guaranteed to see things like ostriches, oryx, springbok, etc. roaming anywhere you drive, and there are even elephants and big cats around. In general, modern Namibia seems to be doing an excellent job of rebuilding its natural heritage after decades of poaching and over-hunting that nearly destroyed wildlife populations. It is working well.
If anyone would like more detail on the trip, I'm happy to provide it.
We flew into WDH from JNB on SA, picked up an Avis 4x4, and stayed our first night at the amazingly nice (for an emerging market) Hilton Windhoek. I was expecting this hotel to be tatty and old, but it was either new or newly refurbished, and extremely comfortable. The next morning we stocked up on provisions and drove to Swakopmund, passing through the "moon landscape" and Welwitschia flats area along the way.
In Swakop we stayed at the Hotel Zum Kaiser, which was fine, although we were dismayed to learn that they had screwed up our booking and walked us for the second night to the Europa Hof (much less desirable). That was the only negative moment in all of our nights in the country, though, so it's hard to complain much. Swakop in May was dead as a doornail but we had an amazingly great time kayaking at the Pelican Point seal colony in Walvis Bay--highly recommended. From there we drove to a succession of lodges: Mowani Mountain Camp, Desert Rhino Camp, Okahirongo Elephant Lodge, Grootberg Lodge, and Okonjima Lodge. All of these were just great, and each had a different focus for game viewing and a different landscape.
In general the countryside is stunning, with desert landscapes that seem to change every few minutes as you drive through the country. The isolation, lack of human habitation, clear and immense skies, and general unspoiled-ness are just amazing. Also, in contrast to South Africa and many other countries, in Namibia conservation of wildlife is a nationwide endeavor, not confined to national parks and preserves. You are more or less guaranteed to see things like ostriches, oryx, springbok, etc. roaming anywhere you drive, and there are even elephants and big cats around. In general, modern Namibia seems to be doing an excellent job of rebuilding its natural heritage after decades of poaching and over-hunting that nearly destroyed wildlife populations. It is working well.
If anyone would like more detail on the trip, I'm happy to provide it.
Jun 19, 2015, 9:52 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP >3 Million miles,HH Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 2,887
Completely agree. Drop dead gorgeous. Throughly enjoyed our visit last year. Soussevlei is spectacular and climbing sand dunes harder than it looks. Loved damara land and deseRT rhino camp. EtoSha was our least favorite, but interesting as well. On the non wild life side, found heroes acre in Windhoek and other N Korean built structures very interesting.
Jul 12, 2015, 1:42 pm
#10
Join Date: Aug 2010
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We did private tour with wilderness. They were fabulous from beginning to end, all arrangements and staff exceeded expectations. Hope your trip is the same. We had a few people asking us where Namibia was, and how we decided to go there. It has an interesting history, scenery, and really really wide open spaces where you might not see another vehicle for hours. That can't be said for etosha which was filled with cars and tour buses.
Jul 13, 2015, 1:34 am
#11
Join Date: May 2014
Location: London
Posts: 198
We did private tour with wilderness. They were fabulous from beginning to end, all arrangements and staff exceeded expectations. Hope your trip is the same. We had a few people asking us where Namibia was, and how we decided to go there. It has an interesting history, scenery, and really really wide open spaces where you might not see another vehicle for hours. That can't be said for etosha which was filled with cars and tour buses.
. Our inspiration was a BBC documentary.
Jul 13, 2015, 7:04 am
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 14,352
Jul 13, 2015, 9:20 pm
#13
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORD
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Posts: 2,887
And see a parliament built by the North Koreans, and an intersection of Robert mugabe and Sam Njoma streets, and in our case a wonderful Austrian guide in Windhoek named Adolf.. Who named their child Adolf in the early 1950's?? And know you are walking where hermann goring father was a colonial officer and the brown shirts started.
Jul 17, 2015, 12:40 pm
#15
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Trenton, NJ (PHL, EWR)
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Posts: 1,633
Picked Swakopmund for a totally random week trip back in 2012. Loved every bit of it. Great town, great things to do in/around the town. Just a perfect break. Namibia is on my list of countries I really want to visit again and more in depth.