toscanafoto

I want to share with the community some tourist information and experience of my recent trip in Namibia

A nice itinerant trip , a travel of interest mainly landscaped and naturalistic . The itinerary of about 2100 miles of paved and dirt roads has been done in 2 weeks crossing the Country in a circular way

To see the photo gallery of my trip click on the link below

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcod...7700399504984/

The Namib desert : it is a place of extraordinary beauty very very varied in the diversity of the landscape ; sandy , rocky , flat , hilly , mountainous , arid , verdant , lunar , exterminated , amazing there are many adjectives that describe this wonderful desert ; Sossusvlei ( or Sossus Vlei ) and Deadvlei ( or Dead Vlei ) they are among the most evocative places

Sandwich Harbour : it is certainly one of the most exciting places in Namibia where very high sand dunes ( as far as the eye can see ! ) enter directly into the Atlantic ocean ; even here the landscape is truly breathtaking !

Epupa : it is a small village grown next to the Kunene river located right on the border with Angola ; the landscape is really impressive : the river before it's getting larger then it goes down through different waterfalls creating a verdant area with lush vegetation , this contrasts a lot with the surrounding landscape which is mostly bare and dry . Nearby I visited 2 small villages where live people of ethnicity Himba ( or Ovahimba ) and Herero ( or Ovaherero )

Walvis Bay : it is surrounded by high dunes of the Namib desert and it is a very important commercial port ; it is interesting for tourists for the beautiful bay and the lagoon where hundreds of sea lions live , the area is also frequented by many pink flamingos , cormorants , pelicans

Etosha National Park : it is the largest and most famous park in Namibia , the main animals that live here are : lions , elephants , rhinos , giraffes , springbok , oryx , cheetahs , hyenas , jackals , leopards , kudu , wildebeest , ostriches , impala , zebras etc. etc

Cape Cross : it is a small town of Skeleton Coast where thousands of sea lions live

Moon Valley : it is located inland about 25 miles from Swakopmund ; it's called with this name for its very special and beautiful lunar landscape

Twyfelfontein : is located in the Damaraland , the landscape of the area is mostly arid , mountainous and it is characterized by red sandstones . The area is interesting as well as for the beautiful landscape also for the 2000 paintings and rock engravings of the Bushmen that are present in the area . Nearby to visit the Museum with the petrified forest of Khorixas with wooden logs dating back to more than 250 millions of years ago

Uis : it is a small mining center located near the Brandberg Massif ( they are the highest mountains in Namibia )

Opuwo : it is a small city , not particularly interesting but it is useful access door to Kaokoland

Swakopmund : it is a coastal town surrounded by the Namib desert ; numerous German-style buildings characterize the city and make it strangely particular

Mariental : it is a small town without particular tourist attractions located at the edge of the Kalahari desert ; nearby there is a private reserve with zebras , rhinos , impala , ostriches , oryx , giraffes , elephants , springbok

Henties Bay : it is a small fishing village

Naankuse : it is a private reserve which deals of recovery of animals ; there are : cheetahs , lynx , warthogs , african wild dogs , giraffes , lions , baboons , leopards

Under my daily itinerary of the places I have visited ( may be useful to better plan a trip )

Day 1 : departure

Day 2 ( 210 miles ) : arrival in Windhoek and transfer near Mariental

Day 3 ( 180 miles ) : transfer to the edge of the Namib desert near Sesriem

Day 4 ( 75 miles ) : visit of the Namib Naukluft National Park , Sossusvlei , Deadvlei and Sesriem Canyon

Day 5 ( 230 miles ) : transfer to Swakopmund crossing the Gaub , the Kuiseb Canyon , the Moon Valley

Day 6 ( 100 miles ) : transfer to Walvis Bay for boat tour of the bay , off-road ride on the dunes near Sandwich Harbour , return to Swakopmund

Day 7 ( 210 miles ) : transfer to Henties Bay ; subsequently Cape Cross , Uis and arrival in Damaraland in Twyfelfontein

Day 8 ( 220 miles ) : transfer to Opuwo

Day 9 ( 115 miles ) : crossing of the Kaokoland ( or Kaokoveld ) to arrive in Epupa

Day 10 ( 30 miles ) : visit of the Epupa area

Day 11 ( 335 miles ) : transfer to Etosha National Park ( Okaukuejo )

Day 12 ( 95 miles ) : safari in the Etosha park

Day 13 ( 305 miles ) : transfer to private reserve of Naankuse

Day 14 ( 25 miles ) : transfer to Windhoek to return

P.s. to know the location where the photographs were taken , enlarge them individually clicking on it and read under the picture

zip10001

Thank you!
Was it a group tour? Did you hire any driver/guide?

toscanafoto

The trip was organized for me and my friends , yes we had a guide / driver ; my best regards .

Michele De Acetis

Thanks for the info and photos (magnificent!). Let me ask you some questions (I would like to visit Namibia together with my family this or next year).

1) How is the weather in August? It should be winter there, is it cold in the evening?

2) Could you recommend a local travel agency to arrange reservations, car and driver hire, etc.?

3) Which airline and route did you use to get there from Europe (Rome)?

Thanks again.

M.

johan rebel

Depends on where in Namibia, but temperatures can drop below the freezing point in August.

Are you looking for a chauffeur, or is it a guide you need?

Johan

toscanafoto

Thank you very much ! It is necessary to dress in layers ... cold in the early morning and after sunset but pleasant during the day , however it also depends on the areas , surely you need light clothes but also heavy jackets for the cold . There are many good quality local tour operators that can be found by searching the internet , My tour operator was good but there are so many of all prices . My flight was: Rome > Addis Abeba > Windhoek with Ethiopian Airlines . My best regards !

Michele De Acetis

I suppose that self-drive is not recommended there, due to road conditions and safety concerns (but correct me if I'm wrong), therefore I need a driver AND a guide (maybe the same person can be both).

M.

Michele De Acetis

Thanks again for the info and the suggestion about the flight, I'll check with Ethiopian Airlines. Ciao!

M.

SanDiego1K

We did a lot of self drive in Namibia on two separate trips. Roads were built by the Germans and are quite good. There are game lodges that you can only access by flying.

If you want a travel agent, I recommend Chris Liebenberg of Piper and Heath. He is Namibian and has extensive knowledge of the country.

johan rebel

Yes, you are wrong.

Namibia is one of the more pleasant African countries to drive in. The infrastructure is good, traffic light. As long as you take it easy on gravel roads and make sure not to hit a kudu (rather not drive at night!), you'll be just fine.

Having said that, there are a few mountain passes (e.g. Van Zyl's) you should stay away from unless you really know what you are doing.

Johan

Michele De Acetis

I've just returned from Tanzania. There self drive was a bit risky and 99% of the tourists I met had a driver/guide. That's why I expected the situation in Namibia to be more or less the same.

johan rebel

It's very different, take it from me.

Namibia is a former German colony. When not busy killing off 80% of the indigenous population, the colonial masters designed and built and excellent road and rail network, which had stood the test of time. Well over 100 years later, this network serves the country well, with only minor changes and upgrades.

Namibia is empty. There are almost twice as many people in the city of Dar es Salaam alone as there are in all of Namibia, even though the country is not much smaller than Tanzania. Outside of Windhoek there's hardly any traffic.

Namibia is fairly well administered. Very few people buy their driver's license at the fish market. You will see fewer unroadworthy vehicles in a month than you see in an hour is just about any other African country.

It's really just those kudus you have to watch out for. Seriously. Hitting one is no joke.

I've covered many thousands of kilometers in the country. Despite the sometimes very long distances, I find it a relaxing experience. Beats driving in just about any other country I can think of.

Johan

DeepUnderground

I also did self drive with my family in Namibia. No sweat. In South Africa I had hired a guide, but probably not really necessary there either.

Michele De Acetis

Thanks everyone for the info. Very useful.

DeepUnderground

Here is a video I made of my family's self drive Namibia trip (we make them for every vacation - not any commercial thing) may be interesting for you.