Celia

We will be in South Africa and Namibia for about 3 weeks next May. In Namibia we want to see Etosha, Windhoek, and Sossusvlei. <BR><BR>What do those of you with experience advise re flying vs. driving? From Cape Town, should we fly to Windhoek and rent a car there, then drive to Etosha and back down south, then back to Windhoek and fly back to SA? Or should we drive from Cape Town to Sossusvei, then to Windhoek, and then on up to Etosha? And then drive or fly back to Cape Town?<BR><BR>Is it much of a hassle to cross the border with a rental car? Would we use too much time just driving, time we should rather spend seeing sights?<BR><BR>Does it make more sense to fly into Namibia from Jo'burg than from Cape Town?<BR><BR>We are experienced at driving in SA, Swaziland, and Lesotho, and enjoy seeing the countryside close up from a car rather than a plane, but we also don't want to spend days doing a lot of driving that's boring.<BR><BR>Thanks for your advice!<BR><BR>Celia

Carina

We spent 6 days in Namibia last month and most of it was in the car ! We flew from Cape Town to Windhoek, spent the night there and then drove to Sossusvlei. The drive was long and boring. We were advised to take the gravel roads as it is shorter but they are not in great shape. It was difficult to drive 80kph as the roads are like washboards. It took the day to get to our hotel (Desert Homestead which was great).On the entire journey to the dunes we may have seen 6 cars, very deserted. Up at 0530 to drive to the dunes 1/2 hour to the turn off then more than an hour to the dunes. We then drove to Swampkamund which was another long and not too interesting drive. Got off the road at 7:00pm. Next day short drive to Otiwarango for an overnight so we could arrive in Etosha early. First camp (starts with an O..I forget the name)the rooms were the worst of the three but the waterhole was the best. Halali was my favorite. Namutoni was nice accommodation but too many reeds around the waterhole, saw nothing there. Took about 5 hours to get back to Windhoek.<BR><BR>If you drive from Cape Town you will need even more time

Celia

Carina, thanks for the details!<BR><BR>Right now I'm thinking maybe we should fly into Windhoek, drive to Etosha and back to Windhoek, then fly to Sossusvlei.<BR><BR>Does the Desert Homestead offer drives to the dunes? We are leaning toward staying at Kulala and taking advantage of their guided tours to the dunes.

Carina

Celia,<BR><BR>I think that Desert Homestead will arrange whatever you need. Since you have to pass the turnoff to the dunes and drive another 30-45 minutes we decided to take our own car and then continue on our way when we were finished. We did not have a 4x4 so we parked in the ordinary car park and took the 4x4 shuttle to the dunes (there is a small cost involved). Even if we had a 4x4 I don't think we would have driven into the dunes as it was really, really sinky and you have to know what you are doing. To get to the regular car park is a cinch. I looked at Kalula too but found it very expensive. since we were out of the hotel at 0530 I didn;t want to spend a lot. Desert Homestead offers horse trails and the dinner is very good. They will pack a breakfast for you if you want an early start.<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR>Carina

Sheila

Hello! We plan to rent a car in Windhoek and drop off in Swakopmund. Then we're flying from Walvis Bay to Johannesberg. This way you don't have to loop back around to Windhoek and can spend less time in the car. The one-way car rental is only 20 bucks or so more. Not a bad deal! Look into it--I know Avis does it. Good luck!

Celia

Thanks so much!<BR><BR>What I now think we will do is fly from Jo'burg to Windhoek, drive everywhere we want to go within Namibia, then fly to Cape Town, drive everywhere we want to go with SA, then fly back to Jo'burg for the flight home.