Self drive around Namibia?

[chocaholic]

Hi, we are thinking of doing a self drive through Namibia, does anyone have any advice regarding safety issues and the best places to visit?
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[apoint]

From Namib Desert's famous Kolmanskop Sossesvlei monumental star shaped dunes to Meeting Bushmen tribe, Namibia offers quite much to see and experience.You can also consider visiting Etosha National Park where you will meet the beautiful Himba people and learn of their timeless culture and experience their way living.
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[robertb]

I drove from Kasana, near border with Botswana, eastern corner of the Caprivi Strip to Grootfontein via Rundu.
Then went to Etosha Ntl park, Otjiwarongo, Skeleton Coast, Swakopmund, Sossusvlei, Keetmanshoop, and then into S. Africa by the Kalahari.
All as part of a 3 week trip in Bots and Namibia. Used a rented Toyota Fortuner with roof tent.

Driving tips we were given:
1. Don't drive at night, you can't see the animals that lay on the warm roads.
2. Keep your speed down, the gravelly roads are easy to skid out on, and there can be unexpected bumps. There's plenty of tourist deaths every year due to this. In fact some friends of mine were first on the scene of one such accident involving an Italian family, their son was dead. Very unpleasant.
3. Plan your journeys so that 1&2 are unnecessary

Car problems:
1. Make sure you get the hire company to show you how to change a tyre. Punctures are common, and trying it the first time at 5pm in the middle of nowhere is quite intimidating!
2. Try to get a decent car jack, ours only barely lifted the car high enough, which is a problem when the ground is uneven or soft.
3. There are loads of tyre garages to get your tyres fixed, cheap and quick. We had 2 spares.
4. Make sure your tow cable is v. strong, although there probably isn't too much need for it in Namibia. We got very stuck in Botswana and broke 2 cables trying to get out before someone turned up with a decent tow cable.
5. Allow a spare day for breakdown. Our fridge failed twice as did our aircon.

Visit the South African 4x4 forums, there's a good chance those guys know what they are on about!
e.g. http://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=168

Charges for the National Parks are going up and up for foreigners. You're looking at around US$100 per night camping for a couple if you have your own stuff. If you can afford it, great, otherwise there are places outside the parks you can stay, but the parks usually open later to people staying outside, e.g. you miss sunrise and sunset at Sossusvlei.

The only place that we went to that wasn't massively advertised is the Quiver Tree Forest in Keetmanshoop. It was pretty cool, they had pet cheetah's you could pet.

Overall, awesome place.
Let me know if you need any detailed info. I am also a qualified Field Guide so can give you some pointers on wildlife if you need it, and advice on good books.
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[chocaholic]

Thanks for all the replys, they are very helpful.

Robert stated you nead to drive at a slow speed, could you tell me what sort of speed you mean. We have driven across the out back in Australia in a Toyota 4x4 would it be similar to this experience?

Thanks again.
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[robertb]

Unfortunately I can't really remember the speed!!

The rental company did tell us though, so I'm sure when you rent they'll give you advice.
60-80kmph sounds about right on the less decent roads. I was generally careful approaching bends and humps. There is quite a bit of tarmac around though, only the Skeleton Coast and between Swakopmund and Sossusvlei stand out in my memory as being a bit tricky.

I've only driven a little in Australia, but not properly off-road.

Also, just thought, petrol stations do run dry. One town was advertised in LP as having the most petrol stations per capita in Namibia. So, we expected to fill up there easily. In the end we had to visit all of them before finding one with any fuel!
So, fill up regularly!

We used these people btw:
http://www.bushlore.com/
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[Afvac]

Hentjies bay is a quaint fishing village with a real Namibian charector. Cape Cross seal colony is facianting.
Etosha is a must and Mushara Outpost is a good option for a self drive safari. They are on a private reserve just outside and do safaris into the park itself every day.
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[travel4eva]

Two years ago we drove from Cape Town to Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi, then down through Botswana.
I dont recommend driving at night, if you do, keep your speed down. Most areas we were in had a speed limit of 80KM when there is game around. On the main national roads you can drive a lot faster, around 120KM I think.

I would recommend taking extra water, drinks and snacks in the car, sunblock, and of course when driving on a dirt road, drive slow. I have heard many times of people getting punctures on the dirt roads, because the front wheels of the car throw up the sand and stones that in some areas are like splinters, which pierce the back tires.
We went mainly on fully tarred roads all the way through Namibia and Botswana without incident the whole trip.

If you can, take some music cd's and things too, just to make the trip more enjoyable
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