Returning to Namibia

[Lrntolive]

Oh boy!

I thought my trip in 2017 would be the only one, but once my wife saw all my photos and videos, she demanded to go this year. Flights are booked and Otjandaue Hunting Safaris has our dates.

We're spending 13 days in country. I have to split my time between hunting and sight seeing, but I'm extremely excited to go.

Any of you AH members with better halves have advice for sights in Namibia? My wife wants to see the dunes in the Namib desert. I plan to take her to Erindi for two days as this will be our 15 year anniversary trip.

If anyone has any advice for places to take her, let me know. She also wants a warthog, so that works out well for our hunting plans.

Thanks,
WK

 

[Ridgewalker]

Can’t help you on Namibia, but it sounds like the start of a really fun trip!

I have read here on AH about visiting the “Ghost Coast” and visiting a market near Windhoek that had some very interesting art and crafts. It sounded intriguing!

Best of luck putting it all together!

 

[meigsbucks]

I was in Namibia last year. Although I didn’t do any sightseeing, I had done some research about side trips to Etosha National Park or to the Skeleton Coast and Swakopmund. Or you could head east and visit Victoria Falls.

 

[Adrian]

My first trip to Namibia was split between hunting and a self drive.
We went from Windhoek up to Etosha, stayed overnight en route.
Had a couple of nights/days there and then headed south west to Khorixas for a night and then down to Uis, across the desert to Hentiesbaai, down to Swakopmund and an overnight there.
Then it was inland again to the Sossusvlei area which took a day to drive. We stayed overnight and went to the Sossusvlei and Deadvlei for the day and another night and then drive back to Windhoek.
I would definitely recommend Sossusvlei and Deadvlei for the desert and dunes.
Etosha for the wildlife.
The landscape is stunning wherever you go and you will have a great time.

 

[Denvir Tire]

In 2014 hunted and toured in Namibia, returning this September to do it again.
Here is my two cents;
The roads are bad, almost all dirt and rock. I don't mean Rubicon style off roading, more like Maine or Nevada type driving.
There are no facilities AT ALL between major towns. This is desert, sand ,rock etc. During one long stretch of road I was travelling much too fast and was able to fly a Toyota Hilux a few feet and land succesfully without incident. Sh#t luck, had we broke something it would have been a bit uncomfortable. (see next point)
Bring Water with you, it's not the moon, but it's really dry.
Try not to fit too much and too many destinations. We tried to see as much as possible, ended up driving more than seeing.
If you go to Swakopmund, a must see is TOMMY'S DESERT TOURS, fun and educational. I'm going again.
Joe's Fish House in Windhoek. Terrific food and atmosphere
The Tug resturaunt in Swakopmund, and there is an authentic Gasthaus/Beerhall whose name escapes me
If you can, get to Erindi Game Park for the old world style game photo safaris and the bar overlooking the waterhole.
Bring your own map and rent the GPS from the car hire.
It's difficult to rent trucks with automatic trannys and the steering wheel is on the wrong side.
Sunblock is a must

Have fun and don't panic

 

[CAustin]

She will want to gooooooooo again! And that will make the trips over even better.

 

[Red Leg]

Not sure where others have driven in Namibia, but the road network and infrastructure is nearly as good as South Africa, and better than anywhere else on the continent except for perhaps Egypt.

Schedule a four-wheeler tour of the dunes on the Skeleton Cost. It is an amazing experience. Eat the seafood - to die for. Erendi is excellent, Etosha is world heritage class. Go there, ideally with your PH, and use his vehicle rather than the park cruisers.

Windhoek has a native cooperative with incredible crafts. We are talking art quality basketry, linens, and carvings rather than the usual tourist stuff. Several jewelry shops in town have first quality creations using local gems. There is a terrific gem dealer in Omaruru as well.

It is a wonderful destination for an accompanying spouse.

 

[mark-hunter]

If anyone has any advice for places to take her, let me know.

My plan for 2019, take some time off from the hunt, and go to Etosha N. Park, for photo safari.

For future hunts, I have my eye set on Fish river canyon to see.

Make visit to "trophaedinste" taxidermist work shop, this is 2 hours to spend..

 

[Lrntolive]

In 2014 hunted and toured in Namibia, returning this September to do it again.
Here is my two cents;
The roads are bad, almost all dirt and rock. I don't mean Rubicon style off roading, more like Maine or Nevada type driving.
There are no facilities AT ALL between major towns. This is desert, sand ,rock etc. During one long stretch of road I was travelling much too fast and was able to fly a Toyota Hilux a few feet and land succesfully without incident. Sh#t luck, had we broke something it would have been a bit uncomfortable. (see next point)
Bring Water with you, it's not the moon, but it's really dry.
Try not to fit too much and too many destinations. We tried to see as much as possible, ended up driving more than seeing.
If you go to Swakopmund, a must see is TOMMY'S DESERT TOURS, fun and educational. I'm going again.
Joe's Fish House in Windhoek. Terrific food and atmosphere
The Tug resturaunt in Swakopmund, and there is an authentic Gasthaus/Beerhall whose name escapes me
If you can, get to Erindi Game Park for the old world style game photo safaris and the bar overlooking the waterhole.
Bring your own map and rent the GPS from the car hire.
It's difficult to rent trucks with automatic trannys and the steering wheel is on the wrong side.
Sunblock is a must

Have fun and don't panic

I experienced the roads in 2017 on my first trip to Namibia. They can be rather rough. I didn't do much on that trip except hunt. I think my wife will really enjoy Erindi, but she really wants to see the dunes and some of the fossils. She has a degree in geology, so she's an addicted rock hound.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[spike.t]

If your not used to driving on dirt/gravel roads be careful as you will start speeding up without realising and then if you come to even a curve in the road you will be in trouble.. . ..driven vehicles from Walvis bay to zambia twice and the different terrain and vegetation or lack of it to start with makes it an interesting trip. You only get 72 hours to transit or lose the vehicle and possible jail time or big fine ....so couldn't hang around .. . But those sand dunes I saw on the coast road between Walvis and swapukmond were amazing..... Definitely worth a drive around . Try getting this book it will be very useful

https://www.amazon.com/Getaway-Guide-Namibia-Mike-Copeland/dp/1920289186

 

[MMAL]

I spent 10 days with my family in Namibia. Westfalen and you can read the report. I was with my wife and four kids. Hunted for 7 days, Etosha for one day was all we needed. Spent two in swakomund and needed three or four. I drove but it was dicey with the minivan we had. Make sure you have a spare and water because there is no triple a. The Land Rover dune tour is a must, if we had more time I would have looked into a ballon ride. But we did seals, nice but no more than an hour on site is needed, atvs in the dune, fun but not sure for just you and your wife it depends, horse back riding, nice but not strongly suggested. Etosha - saw plenty of animals but after hunting and seeing truly wild animals even the kids commented that it felt like a zoo. Saw all the animals up close but again needed only one day. Cheetah experience was awesome but not sure if it is close to you. Remember “b” roads are paved. C roads are gravel and grated periodically thus can be ok to rough, d roads you should stay off of unless in a truck with a couple of spares. I used I used a gps program on my phone that allowed me to download the map onto my phone. This didn’t need signal nor did I use any data. Be-on-road I think was the app. Good luck and feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

 

[Adrian]

Don't be too concerned about the gravel roads. I did 2500 kms in Namibia, many of them on gravel roads and in a pick up.
They are nicer to drive on than many roads in the UK and the US from experience.
The corrugated surface is the worst part so take it easy and be cautious approaching dips.
Don't take corners too fast and don't get over confident and you will be fine.

 

[Nkawu]

Maybe get your wife a book on Namibian geology off the web. As another geologist I can attest to the amazing stuff to be found in Nam.

 

[jeff]

My wife and I spent a afternoon and and the next morning in Etosha and stayed the night in the park with comfortable lodging and ate at a restaurant there . That part of our trip we still talk about.

 

[James Cook]

Oh boy!

I thought my trip in 2017 would be the only one, but once my wife saw all my photos and videos, she demanded to go this year. Flights are booked and Otjandaue Hunting Safaris has our dates.

We're spending 13 days in country. I have to split my time between hunting and sight seeing, but I'm extremely excited to go.

Any of you AH members with better halves have advice for sights in Namibia? My wife wants to see the dunes in the Namib desert. I plan to take her to Erindi for two days as this will be our 15 year anniversary trip.

If anyone has any advice for places to take her, let me know. She also wants a warthog, so that works out well for our hunting plans.

Thanks,
WK

Can't go wrong with Erindi. The park and wildlife there are incredible. Breakfast and dinner in the park dinning area, overlooking basin/lake with wildlife. Excellent food with a good variety on the menu. Late afternoon tour with sundowner. Early morning rides, getting unbelievably close to lions, elephants, wild dogs, pangolin, etc. We went to Namibia in '16 - we're booked again for '19.

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

Can't go wrong with Erindi. The park and wildlife there are incredible. Breakfast and dinner in the park dinning area, overlooking basin/lake with wildlife. Excellent food with a good variety on the menu. Late afternoon tour with sundowner. Early morning rides, getting unbelievably close to lions, elephants, wild dogs, pangolin, etc. We went to Namibia in '16 - we're booked again for '19.

Agree on Erindi. We went in May of 2017. It was truly remarkable!

 

[johnnyblues]

Not sure where others have driven in Namibia, but the road network and infrastructure is nearly as good as South Africa, and better than anywhere else on the continent except for perhaps Egypt.

Schedule a four-wheeler tour of the dunes on the Skeleton Cost. It is an amazing experience. Eat the seafood - to die for. Erendi is excellent, Etosha is world heritage class. Go there, ideally with your PH, and use his vehicle rather than the park cruisers.

Windhoek has a native cooperative with incredible crafts. We are talking art quality basketry, linens, and carvings rather than the usual tourist stuff. Several jewelry shops in town have first quality creations using local gems. There is a terrific gem dealer in Omaruru as well.

It is a wonderful destination for an accompanying spouse.

+1

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

+1

We rented a car in Windhoek after our hunt was over. Drove to Erindi, Swapokmund, Cape Cross, and back to Windhoek. We hunted near Omaruru with Nick and Isabel Nolte. We had absolutely no problems, and the trip was terrific. We didn't have time to get up to Etosha, but thoroughly enjoyed the game drives at Erindi. I second the idea of riding four wheelers on the dunes, truly amazing. The food everywhere was incredible.

 

[Mekis]

I was in Namibia in Oct of 2018. I was with Orpa Safaris near Otavi in the Grootfontein Region. I completed my hunting early in my 14 days and had some plans to see Skeleton Coast for surf fishing and shipwreck viewing. I saw Dune # 7 by Walvis Bay the 7th highest sand dune in the world. I saw the salt processing places near there too. We checked out some museums near there as well. Skeleton Coast is surprisingly cool considering that Namibia is a warm place. The Antarctic Current is responsible for that. We also checked some campsites along Skeleton Coast but I was not impressed compared to what we have in Wisconsin for camping. I visited a Himba Village in the North West by an unnamed mountain range and they were very primitive and interesting. Also in that neighborhood I toured a petrified forest. In the Namib Desert I saw a World War I German military unit crest made out of rocks. In the North East I visited the world's largest intact meteorite near the city of Grootfontein. Also in that general area I entered the Red Line Area and visited the Bush People village and that was enlightening about these primitive people. The blacktop roads and salt roads were fine but some of the gravel roads were washboard type and rough. I know that my outfitter Dirk from Orpa Safaris takes some clients to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe but that is a 3 or 4 day trip. I never made it to Estosha but I'd rather see animals in the REAL wild anyway. On these tourist trips I did see many different animals and your wife might like that. Also mostly for you there is a very large taxidermy place real close to the Windhoek airport that was awesome to see and they of course had a survenir shop there your wife might enjoy but maybe not your pocketbook. I hope this helps you and I hope my wife decides she needs to go to Namibia like yours so I can hunt these awesome animals again. Best wishes.

 

[Tra3]

My dad, son and I hunting with PH Louw Lotter of Jamy Traut safaris last summer. Excellent experience. I am returning in 2020.
We did etosha for a side trip. Seeing lions, elephants, rhino and plains game was worth the time to get there. While annoying that your are not supposed to get out of the car in etosha, one can get great photos from the passenger seat.
We did the skeleton coast too. Went surf casting for sand shark. That was a great day of fishing. We got to see 100km of the coast driving to and from fishing. It is cool temps at the coast.
My wife wants to come in 2020. We will likely add the caprivi strip and Victoria falls then.
Let us know what you plan to do!