Just Back From Namibia

We flew into Windhoek via Johannesburg and hired a car to drive straight up to Etosha National Park in Northern Namibia. Etosha is about a 4 ½ drive north of Windhoek. We hired a car through Holiday Autos in Australia (reps for Europcar). Their rate was unlimited kms and all-inclusive. For our trip – a 4WD wasn’t necessary, although some of the dirt roads were a little rough – so we just opted for the smallest air-conditioned car there was. It was a Toyota Corolla (manual) and more than adequate.

We’d brought our own tent, and were camping in one of Etosha’s three rest camps, Okaukeujo. There’s a variety of accommodation – from campsites to very comfortable chalets. A campsite for up to 8 people was approx AUD36/night and we brought sausages etc with us to braai (BBQ).

Etosha sits on the edge of a vast, dry, salt pan and usually, the animals tend to congregate around the permanent water holes. One of the best is actually at Okaukeujo camp. It’s floodlit and night, and it’s usually very popular with Rhino, elephant and endless bok.

(Un)fortunately – it had been raining a lot recently, so there was ample water all around the park which meant the wildlife didn’t have to come to the waterholes. I’d really recommend going in dry season. We didn’t see any cats at all (although there were lion just outside the camp fence who woke us up several times during the night). But we did see plenty of giraffe, bok, elephants, ostriches, wildebeest, zebra, jackals, warthogs and 1 hyena. The best time for game viewing is early morning and late afternoon/evening. You must be back in camp by sunset though.

The next 2 nights we were in Swakopmund, on the west coast about 500km from Etosha. Again, the roads were good and tarred the whole way. Swakopmund is a supposedly lively town with a large German influence. It’s a nice place to hang out for a day or so and a popular starting point for tours into the Skeleton National Park. We wandered round town for a day (eating apple strudel) and saw the very weird Welwitschia trees that are said to be up to 200 yrs old (I guess they look like a desert version of washed up seaweed – not at all tree-like). The highlight was definitely a morning spent quad biking on the endless dunes just outside town. We combined a quad biking and sand boarding trip. You can either lie on a piece of board or stand up on a proper snow board (with all the boots and kit). You basically put floor polish on the bottom of the board to make it slide. It worked out perfectly… sand board down, then quad bike up.

Nightlife in Swakopmund was incredibly tame the nights we were there… but it seems that our timing was a little off. It does get rowdy apparently.

Tiger Reef Beach Bar was excellent. It’s built right on the beach (the Aquarium end of town). Beer was plentiful, the burgers were great, and there was a campfire that we all sat around sharing travel tales. In the warmth of the firelight – we even went so far as to think that this could possibly be one of the best beach bars that we’ve ever been to!

Namibia is famous for the huge red sand dunes of Sossusvlei. It’s about a 5 hr drive from Swakopmund to Sesriem (where we camped). This drive through the Namib Nakluft Park is one of the most stunning day’s drives I’ve ever had. The dirt road stretched endlessly to the horizon across gorgeous yellow grasslands and blue skies. La la la – it really was great though!

From the camp at Sesriem, it’s about 60km to the dunes and it’s best to go as soon as the gates open to be there in time for the dawn light. It really is the most amazing landscape. Dune climbing is quite hard work – but really worth the effort. Most people seem to climb Dune 45 (45km from camp) for sunrise, and them continue down to Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei. Dead Vlei was amazing. Red dunes, blue sky, white vlei and dozens of dead, black, 800 year old camel thorn trees.

So… stunning, amazing, wonderful – can’t recommend Namibia enough. Hire a car, take a tent (or treat yourself to some fab-looking but quite expensive lodges), buy an Esky and just potter around soaking up the diverse and incredible landscapes. You could easily spend a month here – or if you’re really pushed for time – we did all this in a week.