granny

I asked a similar question on JPhermanus's post, but I'm asking here for Namibia. We can't travel to malaria prone areas because of my husband's health. We're retired and would rather spend more time in less luxury, less expensive camps. We are not into roughing it anymore, so need ensuite camp suggestions.

Our main objective is to see a variety of animals.

We are probably going to drive and spend three weeks in Namibia, so if you have suggestions for great value resorts, camps, etc., we would greatly appreciate hearing about them.

We're hoping for October, if we can get our act together.

Patty

My trip isn't until Sep so I can't give first hand info, but just wanted to say that the Cardboard Box website www.namibian.org lists rates a good majority of the camps and lodges in Namibia in case you haven't found that already.

My guess is that the 3 restcamps in Etosha would represent some of the best values in a wildlife viewing areas, but availability may be a problem. Outside of the park Etosha Safari Camp looks very reasonably priced (again no direct experience).

Are you interested at all in areas where game viewing isn't the primary focus? If so, a few places on my itinerary that might be considered a good value are Desert Homestead, Kuangukuangu, and Kiripotib Guest Farm. There are also less expensive accomodations in the Sossusvlei area than Desert Homestead. Take a look at Sossusvlei Desert Camp if you want self catering accomodations.

Good luck with your planning. I hope you can pull this off!

thit_cho

I also worked with Cardboard Box to plan my trip to Etosha, where I stayed at all three of the camps (Okakuejo, Halali and Namutoni), and the game viewing in Etosha is incredible. Namibia is the perfect self-drive destination (excellent infrastructure) and much of the country, including Etosha, can be visited in a 2WD car.

Aside from Etosha, I only spent time in Sossosvlei, which I wouldn't count as a great place to see animals (we saw a few springbok and ostrich).

Michael

kimburu

Maybe you need to define "malaria-prone" yourself first - it can be interpreted differently.

For example, I seem to have the impression (unreliable memory) that Cardboard Box told someone that malaria was only an issue in the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, but I know that officially Etosha is a "medium-risk" area. My experience was that Etosha has very few, if any, mosquitos - making it quite difficult to contract malaria, but you can see perhaps that you might want to extrapolate a bit on "malaria-prone"? Almost nowhere in Namibia seems to be "malaria free" but then neither is Thailand or a lot of other places it is not really acknowledged as a problem for tourists..... what that means I don't know (I have a theory but that is far from the same thing so I'll keep my mouth shut). Maybe someone might have some ideas or statistics.

That's not supposed to be a turn-off, but maybe it would be better to specify your tolerance for malaria risk - you may leave a very restricted area or you may not.

Of the places I have been, best value with wildlife outside Etosha and no higher malaria risk is Hobatere. Cape Cross Lodge and Okonjima are good value in terms of how likely you are to see particular animals.

tuckeg

I've spent 3 summers at Sossusvlei Mountain Lodge and have never seen a mosquito so I think it's safe to say that area is malaria-free at least in summer. I'd be willing to bet it is the rest of the year also. Based on recommendations from locals we knew, including some guides, we did not use medication on any of our travels in Namibia and had no problems and don't recall seeing mosquitos anywhere but we were traveling in their winter and is possible that they may be around in other seasons. We did not go to Caprivi but if we had we would have taken pills.

granny

Patty and Thit Cho, I too have been in touch with Cardboard Box company. They seem to have a good reputation with Fodor travelers to Africa.

Patty are you going on a tour? Is Cardboard Box setting up a driving tour for you and, if so, are you renting a car from them? How many nights? Some of your suggestions look really nice. we'd like to stay at a variety of different types of camps.

We're working on getting air now and it's expensive. Can't use our free miles, it's too late. We never plan that far in advance. We would like to tour for 3 weeks in Namibia, so we'll be going to the coast, dunes, etc.

Michael, my son's name also, thanks for your advice on driving. I have been afraid of driving there, actually my husband will be doing it, but you have put me more at ease. This is the kind of trip he wants. He's left handed and drove in Scotland on the other side of the road. Our biggest achievement was returning that car with both side mirrors intack.

Kimburu, we won't go to Kruger National Park because you need to take malaria pills. From what I've read, most of Namibia is more or less less prone to malaria. Of course, no place would be 100% free, but we'll try to visit those places that have a better chance of not getting infected. We won't to Caprivi for example.

When we visited Thailand a year ago, we didn't visit jungle areas that required malaria pills. I'll get them though, just in case. Is it easy to get them in Cape Town or Windhoek? I had a physical yesterday and the doctor said it would much cheaper to get them in Africa. Yes, I passed, but barely.

Kimburu, I'll look at your suggestions. There are so many places, it's nice to have get some feedback. Thank you.

And thank you Tuckey for your advice. Once we get this airfare, I can get started. I wasn't the one that wanted to go to Africa, but after reading many Fodor posts, I'm the one that doing the research!

tuckeg

I have found driving in Namibia to be quite easy and safe and I am a right-hand driver. However, there are many horrible accidents on the roads there so care must be taken. Here are a few comments:

1. Never drive at night. Lots of reasons, just don't do it.

2. Take it slow. Most of the single car accidents happen when people drive too fast on the dirt or gravel roads. Trust me, they are tricky at speed.

3. Be very aware when encountering an oncomming vehicle. Some of the worse accidents have happened when one vehicle blows a tire or swerves to avoid an animal and hits a vehicle in the other lane. I always check for escape routes when a vehicle is approaching, but sometimes there are none.

4. Try to avoid driving on weekends of national holidays. A high percentage of the accidents occur then.

I think you'll enjoy your trip and find the Namibian people very friendly.

tuckeg

Sorry I meant I live in USA and drive on right side.

thit_cho

The roads are excellent and there are very few cars, still, as mentioned, take it slow. I did witness one single car accident -- a young girl made a very quick turn from the highway to a dirt road, and she flipped her pick-up truck. I, and another car, got out and pulled her from the car (she was very dusty, but seemed OK) -- the other car was heading in her direction (while I was continuing to Windhoek), so he drove her to the doctor.

I also live in the US, and adapted very quickly to driving on the "other side" of the road. Its very easy, especially in Namibia, where the roads are excellent, well marked and well signed.

safarilover

Tuckeg's suggestions for driving in Namibia are excellent. If you follow his advice, I am sure you will have no trouble. I might add that you definitely want to allow more time when estimating how long it will take you to go from Point A to Point B on a gravel road. Most of them are good, but some can be quite bumpy.

Patty

granny,
We'll be on a self drive for 2 weeks and have reserved a car directly with Hertz, just a 2WD sedan. From reading the reports here that seems fine for the areas we're covering. We're also from the US and this will be our first experience driving on the left. We've planned our stays so that hopefully none of our drives will be more than 3-4 hours between locations.

safarilover

Patty

Did you reserve an automatic transmission car from Hertz? I requested a Nissam Almera or Toyota Corolla (Catagory D) automatic from Hertz for the first two weeks in September and was told that they didn't have that catagory available.

tuckeg

Two-wheel drive will get you to most places without problem. One exception is the last strech in to Sossusvlei (a mile or so). There is a parking area and shuttles will take you in and out for a reasonable fee. Before you start, I would be sure I had a jack, a good spare, and instructions on using them. It would not hurt to get a can of the spare repair material that can be squirted into the valve to stop slow leaks (I don't know if that is available in Windhoek). The most common road problems are with tires.

tuckeg

Safarilover is right about adding extra time. Besides the bumps, there is the unexpected; some creature crossing the road, or someone broken down and in need of help, or the ever present road crews grading their sections.

Patty

safarilover,
My confirmation says Nissan Almera 1.6 or Similar, Auto Trans Air Con. I hope you mean they're sold out, not that this category doesn't exist. I reserved the car back in November last year.

We plan to take the Sossusvlei excursion through our lodge.

Patty

I can still see the category car that I reserved available when I check for September dates on www.hertz.com. Is there something else I should know about?

safarilover

I tried about a month ago to book online the same car that you did. At the end of the process I got a message that said that the car had to be booked by phone. I called and went through the rental procedure. The Hertz agent told me that they would have to call Namibia to confirm, but that it was early enough so there shouldn't be a problem. About a week later there was a message on my answering machine saying that they didn't have that category car. Think maybe I'll try again and see what happens.

Patty

OK, I understand now. I didn't click through to the final steps when I checked earlier. When I made my reservation back in Nov, I didn't have to go through the phone procedure.

I know what you're talking about because I originally thought about a one way rental from Swakopmund to WDH and they said availability had to be confirmed by phone with the rental location.

Good luck!

thit_cho

I booked with Avis, and I rented an automatic Mercedes C-180 -- it was very comfortable and drove well, and the price was very reasonable.

safarilover

Patty,

I just called Hertz to book again and am waiting for the confirmation.

Thit Cho,

I'm afraid a Mercedes is a little beyond my budget. In the "good old days" they were the only automatics available in Namibia and quite a bargain.