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Crossing Namibia and South African Borders with Hire Car

Crossing Namibia and South African Borders with Hire Car

Old Jun 24th, 2014, 05:25 PM
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Crossing Namibia and South African Borders with Hire Car

We are travelling to Namibia in 2015 for 5 weeks and wish to spend one week in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. I have read many reports about hiring cars in SA and heading into Namibia and this seems to be fine. We will be hiring our 4x4 in Namibia and was wondering if there are any problems or paperwork that is required to enter KTP at Mata Mata Post?
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Old Jun 25th, 2014, 11:53 AM
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Done it several times and no worries. Just make certain that you have a letter from the 4x4 rental company indicating that you have permission to take the vehicle across the border.

Also, to speed things up, have a list of all of your electronics and their serial #s - cameras, laptops, cells etc. Sometimes we have been asked for it and other times not.

Enjoy Kgalagadi! One of our favourite SA parks! CR
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Old Jun 25th, 2014, 04:23 PM
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I think you should anticipate, depending on the rental company, a charge for the letter allowing cross-border travel. Ballpark figure could range perhaps $70-120, again depending on company. There may be some companies that don't charge a fee, so worth doing some research.
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Old Jun 25th, 2014, 04:58 PM
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Thank you so much for your replies. Very helpful hints and will have a list of all electronics and will also check with car rental re cross border travel, letter and cost.

We are spending 7 nights in KTR. Thinking about:
3 nights Kalahari Tented Camp
1 night Nossob Rest camp
2 nights Grootkolk wilderness camp
I night Bitterpan
Is this a good mix? Any suggestions would be great as this will be our first time in KTR
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Old Jun 25th, 2014, 07:01 PM
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Avis has never charged us for the letter.

If it were me, I would spend as much time as possible at the Wilderness Camps, and at Nossob, which is a great game viewing area. For seven nights, I would consider:

Urikaruus (2nts) - this will give you time to explore the Auob riverbed
Nossob (1nt)
Grootkolk (2nts) or 1 nt Grootkolk and 1 nt Gharagab - the former has better game viewing but the scenery at Gharagab is amazing
Nossob (1nt) - you need to spend the night here before heading into Bitterpan
Bitterpan - 1 nt

Have a look here - one of our more recent trips to Kgalagadi (skip to page 5) - a trip report and many photos, including all of the camps you are considering. It might help.CR

http://bert-and-bin.smugmug.com/Trav...2383&k=6rNKFth
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Old Jun 26th, 2014, 02:08 AM
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Wow. What a fabulous trip report and the photos are awesome. Thank you for sending me the link.
This will be our 5th trip to Africa and have decided on Namibia with a side trip into KTR. Very different from our other trips to Africa. We do a lot of outback remote camping in Australia and love the wide open peaceful spaces and I know we will love Namibia. As well as KTR and the usual places to visit in Namibia we are also going on a 8 night camping trip with guides into the very remote backwaters of Kaokoland. That should also be fabulous.
Thanks again.
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Old Jun 26th, 2014, 06:00 AM
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The camping trip in Namibia sounds fabulous - I hope you will post a trip report.

We too have camped in Australia - we spent a year there based in Brisbane at the University of Queensland.

If you like outback/remote camping, you should take a look at the possibility of camping along the Northern Circuit of Tanzania - Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara NP, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. TANAPA's "special" campsites are amazing (TANAPA being Tarangire National Parks) - always in such remote, scenic locations. It is as though you have the African bush all to yourselves. From the Serengeti, we cross the border and also camp in the Mara Reserve in Kenya (timed to see the wildebeest migration) - so we start in Arusha in Tanzania and end in the Mara Triangle. A great camping trip! CR
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Old Jun 26th, 2014, 06:11 AM
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Sorry, further to the above - not "Tarangire" National Parks - TANAPA is the Tanzanian Parks organization. CR
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Old Jun 27th, 2014, 04:04 PM
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Canadian_robin. Thanks for all the info. Self drive camping in Tanzania sounds great. Will have to look into that for another trip. We spent 3 weeks with our own guide on the route you talked about, staying in camps along the way. Fabulous trip. The wildebeest migration is a sight to behold. I can remember having breakfast on the bonnet of the land rover right in the middle of the migration with wildebeest as far as the eye could see. The best part was we could not see another vehicle.

Do you mainly self drive, self cater and stay in accommodation like you did in KTR or do you do a lot of camping? The reason I am asking is I can't decide which way we should do it and you may have done it both ways. If so which way did you prefer and why? Money is always a factor but not so much for this trip. It will cost what it will cost. The experience is what we are after.
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Old Jun 28th, 2014, 11:07 AM
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We prefer to self-drive in a Land Rover with a roof-top tent. We love the independence of self-drive - we can take our time and stop when we want, where we want, for as long as we want. That being said, we typically camp for four to six nights and then stay at a tented camp for a night or two so that we may have a proper shower, allow someone else to cook for us and, most importantly, enjoy the expertise of the camp guides. The combination of camping and tented camps works really well.

Our favourite self-drive is through Kenya and Tanzania. We also loved Zambia, but we found the driving there just too dangerous/nerve-wracking.

We are heading back to Tanzania and Kenya at the end of July, stopping on the way to see the gorillas in Rwanda.

Here is the link to our first self-drive through Kenya and Tanzania - from 2009. Enjoy! CR

http://bert-and-bin.smugmug.com/Trav...38901400_BHybf
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Old Jun 28th, 2014, 07:33 PM
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Canadian_robin. Great trip report and photos. We were in Tanzania in August 2009 as well. How amazing is that. Probably past you on the road or track.

We are definitely self driving on this trip and have decided to spoil ourselves every now and then and stay in camps like Desert Rhino camp in Damaraland. Can't wait . Ages away yet.
Have a wonderful trip. The count down must be on.
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Old Jun 28th, 2014, 08:34 PM
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Very amazing! We may well have passed each other!

The countdown is definitely on - we have started gathering things together and checking all the camera gear.

We started planning this trip almost 1.5 years ago, so it has been a long time coming. I'll let you know how it goes. CR
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