Southern Africa’s desert country is the perfect mixture of adventurous, beautiful, accessible, and attainable. Start your trip to Francistown by creating a personalized itinerary on Inspirock. In this really amazing country we spent unforgettable 34 days from mid March to the end of April. Paula's Note: I rented a fully equipped 4x4 with a tent on top and used a mix of camping and low budget lodges. At nearly, 825,500sq km, the country is vast, but on my recent eight-day journey there, I enjoyed a fantastic overview of some of the wonders that are on offer. It is a four- to six-hour drive from Windhoek to Sossusvlei, depending on where you are staying. The property has been wonderfully renovated over the last few years and is a lovely spot to break up the journey. Here, I saw a remarkable gallery of engravings featuring rhino, elephants, giraffe, oryx and zebra, carved into the massive rock faces of freestanding boulders. Upon arrival at the Hosea Kutako International Airport, it's time to pick up a rental car and proceed to your hotel in the nation's capital—Windhoek—a great base to begin your road trip adventure.This tidy and modern city has a western flair that mixes nicely with the colors, sounds, and tempos of urban Africa. To start your road trip on the right foot, I’d suggest you pick up the hire car as early as you can, you want to make the most of your first drive day. As with many national parks, there are strict rules and regulations in place to protect the wildlife, such as keeping to the Tarmac roads, and it can also be busy with self-drivers. Enjoy this detailed day-by-day 11-day itinerary in Namibia. It really is a photographers paradise. They also give guests the best of both worlds: day trips to Etosha’s pans as well as game drives in a quieter private reserve and additional activities, such as walking safaris and night drives. A female travellers guide to exploring the world. This is how I first came to hear about the Schoemans and their adventurous flying safaris along Namibia’s remote Skeleton Coast. It truly is a sight to see; the vast white ground hidden amongst the bright orange sand. An online magazine by the experts at cazenove+loyd, Namibia from the air: a scenic flight from Swakopmund to Sossusvlei and back, Our experience at Ongava Tented camp, Ongava Reserve, Namibia. From the air, you really get a sense of the immensity of the desert. They even called the airlines and organised to pick up my Dad’s luggage that hadn’t made it on the way over. Most people take three hours up and down. Namibia is a big country with vast blue skies and unimaginable scenery. All prices are as off May 2019 and quoted in Namibian Dollars. Because it’s the middle of the Namib desert, once the sun rises it gets very hot, very quickly, with not a lot of shade for relief, which is why most head in so early in the day. We got lucky and ended up in Aus, a very small but quaint little town. B.) This tour is ideal for those with limited time or as an add-on from South Africa or Botswana. However, the scenery is spectacular. I'm a Melbourne girl, with a passion for adventure and exploring the world. Having fuelled up on our packed breakfast, we embarked on an ascent of this sand massif. We drove until we arrived at the smallest town in Namibia- Solitaire. Our Destination Experts have Africa in their blood and want all of our clients to fall in love with the place they have spent their lives exploring. We hired our car from Advanced Car Hire. We made a quick early morning, sunrise trip back into Sossusvlei, before continuing on to our next destination. We spent almost three weeks (19 days to be precise, not including international flights) in Namibia on an incredible Namibia self-drive tour. The best option is to hire a 4×4 car, and make your own way around, at your own pace. Namibian Road Trip – 8 day Itinerary. This is just a brief outline of the route we road tripped around Namibia, and the activities we chose to do. Early rise and shine. We had a free day in the Swakopmund area, so we decided to drive to the neighbouring town of Walvis Bay in order to see the massive flocks of Flamingos. Pick up your safari vehicle and explore the city, or simply recover from jet lag before you head out of the city. Where to stay :Camping & Accomodation – Skeleton Beach Backpackers. The Mushara Collection is spread along the East and only 8 km from the entrance to the park, enabling a different viewing experience of the park and a change to see many more animals on safari. You require a 4 x 4 vehicle for the last stretch of road to Sossusvlei. From Swakopmund, I took a scenic flight to Sossusvlei, which I cannot recommend highly enough. On this 12 day tour we focus on the southern half of Namibia. Be sure to have sun protection packed with you. As we ascended out of the canyon the sun began to set. I remember when I first joined cazenove+loyd, Susie Cazenove talking to me about some of her most memorable trips in Africa. We opted for something adventureous, but not quite as stomach churning- Quad biking. The camp has a restaurant on it’s grounds, where we dined for dinner and the food was actually really delicious. With its prolific wildlife and diverse landscapes, including wild coasts, deserts, canyons and mountains, Namibia is thrilling to explore. We had planned on making it all the way to Lüderitz on day one, however it got too dark for us to continue driving, and the next day we found that Lüderitz actually doesn’t have much to boast about and can most definitely be missed. Take a picnic lunch or afternoon tea and wait and watch the beautiful animals, we also saw a flock of ostriches lounging around. Etosha’s main hub is the Etosha Pan, which originated 12 million years ago from a shallow lake fed by the Kunene River, which later changed course and began to flow to the Atlantic Ocean instead. From sand dunes and dramatic mountains to lush plains and wild coastlines. Our last night in Namibia was at Okonjima Nature Reserve, a three-hour drive south of Etosha. It achieves this through farmer assistance, youth education and animal welfare projects. Exhilarated, we ran down the edge into Deadvlei, with its striking, centuries-old dead trees. On my visit, we stopped to help three vehicles that were stuck. Back in Windhoek, we returned our car and spent our final night, back at Urban Camp, relaxing by the pool, and taking in the last of our Namibian adventure… and what an adventure it was. We climbed some rocks to see the aptly named formation- The Bridge- to watch the sunset, which was one of the most magical moments of my life, something special I’ll never forget. From the main gates it’s about a 60km drive to the car park before the famous Sossusvlei desert and it’s extraordinary sights. 1 night: Camping at Spitzkoppe. The saltpan is breathtakingly beautiful. The itinerary makes sensible use of time and distance and gives the visitor a very good insight into the gems that exist in this half of Namibia, including places like Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei, The Kalahari and Swakopmund. Accordingly, we followed the classic Namibia itinerary above with two desert hikes added. Twyfelfontein (or /Ui-//aes), a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007, is another incredible place to visit. Itinerary #1: Best of Cape Town, Johannesburg, & Kruger Safari. I brought a bus Everyone meet Banjo, The perfect isolation picnic ☀️ So nice to be. A pleasant port city, Walvis Bay offers tourists a variety of urban entertainment options that complement its many natural attractions. Slowly the land becomes a bit greener and the flat grey plains give way to towering red rock mesas and deep cut valleys. There is a lot more wildlife alongside the roads on this journey, we saw all kinds of antelope. The conditions of this desert nation can often be harsh, but the scenery and landscape is like no other I have encountered, often looking as unreal as a painting. A pair of binoculars or a zoom lens are also handy to have. There are advantages and disadvantages of travelling by road and air in Namibia but here are five good reasons to drive rather than fly: Namibia is one of the few African countries where self-drive is a viable option, so it is the perfect place for those who are looking for a safe road trip on this amazing continent. The border post at Noordoewer opened 24 hours so you can cross it any time, it takes not more than 20 min. 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