Namibia and South Africa in late March early April?

Old Oct 17th, 2001, 01:03 AM
  #1  
Cecilia
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Namibia and South Africa in late March early April?

We are planning a trip to South Africa and Namibia for two weeks around Easter next year(late March/early April) We're not sure if this is a good time to go though and would appreciate some advice. We'll spend most of our time travelling by car around Namibia so we'd like to know what the weather is likely to be like and if it's a good time for game and bird viewing. We will probably start the trip with 5- 6 days in and around Cape Town so some advice on what to see and do,and the weather conditions,would be great as well.
 
Old Oct 18th, 2001, 04:30 AM
  #2  
Bert
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Late March/early April is about as good a time as any to visit Namibia and the Cape Town area. In my opinion, Namibia - being largely an arid country - is best visited just after the 'rainy' season which stretches from about December to March. Of course much of western Namibia, including the Namib Desert, gets hardly any rain at all. Game-viewing in Etosha is usually better in the dry season, but you will still see plenty of game - they are just a bit more dispersed. Conditions for photography are at their best from about March through May, the weather is great, not too many other people around, and the birding is excellent. Namibia has amongst the most endemic bird species of any African country, second to only Kenya I believe. If you are really keen, do spend a bit of time at the Daan Viljoen Nature Reserve near Windhoek, great place to find some of the Damaraland specials such as Rockrunner, Monteiro's Hornbill and the fascinating Whitetailed Shrike.

The Cape area has a winter rainfall, with most rain falling from about May through August (it can also be very chilly during these months) so March/April are good months to visit there. Again, fewer other visitors than in the summer high season, pleasant climate (except for the wind which rarely goes away) and reasonable prices. As this would be towards the end of their dry season, the flowers & other vegetation at places such as Kirstenbosch may not be at their best, but that is about the only drawback of that time of the year.





 
Old Oct 18th, 2001, 08:45 AM
  #3  
Cecilia
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Bert,thanks for a very informative reply.
You seem to know Namibia well so what would you suggest are the "must see's"?
As I mentioned we'll be visiting both South Africa and Namibia,but we plan to spend most of our time in Namibia. Unfortunately I don't think we'll have more than maximum 10 days to see the country so we want to make sure we choose the best parts. We have been on safari a couple of time before so the big game viewing is not the number one priority for us,even though we always love watching wildlife. We know that Namibia has a lot to offer part from gameviewing and we want to experience the breathtaking scenery the guide books talk about. If we can fit in a visit to Etosha as well,great,but as I said we want to explore the other areas of interest as well. What would your suggestions be?
 
Old Oct 19th, 2001, 04:45 AM
  #4  
Bert
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Namibia's 'desert and dune' scenery is best experienced in the Sossusvlei area, so be sure to include a few days there. There are several excellent lodges suitable for pretty much any budget. Swakopmund - which is a little bit like a slice of Germany in the desert - is a delightful holiday destination with many activities. In addition to these two places you may wish to spend some time in Damaraland (Khorixas area) where there is much to see and possibly the Waterberg area, for a dramatic change of scenery. All of this could be done in a 'circular' route from and back to Windhoek, without having to spend half your time driving...
 
Old Nov 1st, 2001, 01:56 PM
  #5  
Kavey
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Dear Cecilia

We returned from a trip to Namibia and Botswana this June and had the most wonderful time.

We have travelled such a lot, it's my number one passion, but no holiday has touched us in our hearts as this one.

We feel some kind of invisible string between our hearts and these two countries.

I started to write about the trip from my diary and never completed it but if you search here you might find the first two posts I did write on Namibia.

We only had 6 nights and spent 2 in Wolwedans, in the NamibRand reserve. We stayed in their lodge and spent our time gaping at the scenery and the night sky and our chalet and the cuisine and the stunning stunning situation. We spent the next two at Sesriem to see the Sossusvlei - you cannot miss this sight. Truly spectacular, especially to see from ground and then again from the sky. Don't recommend the Movenpick Sossusvlei Lodge though. Spent the last two nights in the Damaraland Camp where we were also awed by the scenery and were stunningly lucky enough to see 17 Desert elephants on our day out. One large bull from much closer than we intended - phew scarey (but generally safe) moment!

We mainly used Wilderness Safari for a lot of the trip, booked through Sunvil in the UK and were very happy.

Wolwedans and Sossusvlei were not WS but the other 4 camps we stayed in, Damaraland Camp and 3 in Botswana were with them and were great.

Please feel free to email me or ask more questions here, though I don't read this board too often so email might be better.

June was a great time to go, few midges and mosquitos, few snakes and great weather, scenery and game viewing.
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -