After thinking about it for several years, I finally made it to Namibia during the last two weeks of August. Here is the itinerary; details follow.

Day 1 IAD to JFK, JFK to JNB (on SAA)
Day 2 JNB to Windhoek (on SAA)
Day 2 Overnight at Hotel Safari, Windhoek
Days 3 and 4 Sossusvlei Shuttle Tour, Stay at Namib Naukluft Lodge
Days 5 and 6 Transfer from Namib to Hotel Europa Hof, Swakopmund
Days 7 and 8 Self-drive to Etosha, 2 nights Mushara Outpost
Days 9 and 10 Mushara Lodge
Day 11 Hotel Safari, Windhoek
Day 12 Windhoek to JNB to IAD (on SAA)
Day 13 Arrive IAD

Days 1, 2 - I flew JFK to JNB on South African Airways and really liked that the trip was non-stop. We arrived in a bit under 14.5 hrs at JNB (at 8:30 am, which I think helps with jet-lag, especially if JNB is your final stop or a layover for continuing flight(s) on the next day), but there was a 5-hr layover before the final leg to Windhoek. I booked a ‘business-class’ room at the Hotel Safari, a decent 3-star hotel. The hotel offers complimentary rides to Windhoek city centre and a local mall every hour; wireless internet is available in the reception area for a fee.

Days 3,4,5 – I wasn’t keen on driving myself over the gravel roads so I booked, through The Cardboard Box, the Sossusvlei Shuttle Tour, operated by African Extravaganza, with a pick-up at Windhoek and drop-off at Swakopmund (tour is available in any combination of Windhoek/Swakopmund). The tour begins with a pick-up at your hotel at 1-2 pm and includes the transfers, 2 nights at the Namib Naukluft Lodge, an excursion to Sossusvlei and Sesriem Canyon, a sundowner-drive on the 2nd night, all meals beginning with dinner on the first day and ending with breakfast on the 3rd day.

Pros: Overall, I think this is a good value. The lodge is a very good mid-range place to stay, with good rooms, food and service. With all the driving being done by someone else, you can kick back and enjoy the scenery.

Cons: Sossusvlei is about 130 km from the lodge. You are awakened at ~4:30 am for a 5:30 am departure to the dunes, a trip that takes about 2 hrs. If your main interest is photographing the dunes, which are stunning at and shortly after sunrise, I would recommend staying at or much closer to Sesriem so you can get into the park when the gates open. In my opinion the tour left only a very short time to enjoy the ‘good’ light necessary for some dramatic shots of the dunes.

Day 5 – The shuttle left after breakfast (8-9 am) and arrived in Swakopmund about 4 hrs later. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the town, which seemed to me, with its very quiet, almost deserted streets, oddly sleepy. The Hotel Europa Hof was an OK 3-star hotel, which seems to enjoy tour-bus business. The hotel’s restaurant specializes in fish dishes and the meals were satisfying. The only real problem I had was with some visitors deciding to smoke one night in the hallways and having their smoke make its way under my room door and stinking up the room.

Day 6 – I booked a full-day tour to see Sandwich Harbour; the tour included a pick-up around 9 am and drop-off some 8 hrs later, with a picnic lunch included. I was especially interested in seeing birdlife. On the advice of several sources, I went with Turnstone Tours. Turnstone provided an excellent tour for three people (me and one couple). Our guide Wayne seemed to know his stuff well and it was clear he was keen on conservation and took great care to minimize any disturbance to the environment and the wildlife we saw. Although we did not see that much wildlife (a couple of jackals roaming the dunes looking for food, a few springbok running over the sand, a pup seal and a lone adult seal) or birdlife (lots of cormorants, but only a small flock of white pelicans, a few ducks, one grey heron), visiting and riding up and down the dunes (almost at a 90 degree drop in one instance!) was exciting and well worthwhile.

Days 7-10 - Picked up a car at Swakopmund and drove to the Mushara Outpost, some 12 km from Etosha’s Von Lindequist Gate. The drive was just about 400 miles over tarred roads (1 lane in each direction) and took 6.75 hrs. Man, was I pooped when I got there! Getting gas along the way was no problem and it is remarkable that you can drive for 30 or 40 miles without having a car pass you from behind (and I stayed mostly at the posted speed limit of 120 km/h or 72 m/h). Both Mushara properties, the Outpost (custom made tent-like structures of wood and canvas which are nestled on the banks of an ancient dry river bed) and the Lodge (8 km from Etosha, spacious chalets), offer excellent mid-range accommodations (with air conditioning!), food and service. Rates include breakfast and dinner. Game drives to Etosha can be booked and paid for separately, although I did not do so. BTW, contrary to some posts at this Forum, I did see and hear lots of mosquitos, but strangely enough I do not recall being bitten much or at all. In any case, I did take malarone.

Etosha itself is a remarkable place. The landscape is stark and as I drove from waterhole to waterhole I would sometimes think that this must have been what it was like for Luke Skywalker on Tatoine. I spent most of my time among the following water holes: Kalkheuwel, Chudob, Klein Numatoni, Klein Okevi, Tsumcor, and Groot Okevi. Kalkheuwel and Klein Numatoni, which was excellent for late afternoon viewing and photography, were my favorites. It seemed to me that over the time I was there the game-viewing was relatively quiet. I saw no cats, with the exception of one lion (but only his mane moving as he rested under a tree some 200 ft away). But if you’re a giraffe lover, Etosha certainly doesn’t disappoint, and it is a never-ending joy to watch them approach the waterholes and get ready to splay their legs before drinking.

Day 11 - The drive to Windhoek is a tad over 300 miles and 5 hrs.

Days 12-13 – Ugh, the trip home (18 hrs from JNB to IAD). Still have a hard time with that stop in Senegal! It’s advertised as 1 hr, but I don’t think I’ve ever had it shorter than 1.5 hrs. But after reading other people’s ideas at this Forum I went out and bought a netbook to back-up my shots. So the trip afforded lots of time to play with photos and to plan my next trip to Africa.

As I've mentioned in another topic, some shots are posted beginning at: http://thesafariadvisor.com/thesafariadvisor_006.htm

Steve