Filipa

Just come back from Namibia, Wke, Swakopmund and desert. Very nice.

Kavey

Please tell us all about it - did you keep a journal?

Where did you stay? How long for? What did you think of accommodation, guiding, scenery, food, travelling?



Would love to hear whatever you'd be willing to share!

Filipa

we stay only 5 nights, we visit windoke, swakopmund and sossusvlei, we made 1600 kms, easly.
in windoke we stay in Windoke Country Club (4 stars), in swakopmund we stay in a hotel that was a old station, rate for star, but not so go- but I presume itys quite difficult to find something better there. But in a nice place, with lots of things to do, as radical sports. Then we drive to desert, passing Walvis Bay.
We stay in a nice lodge near sossusvlei (64km), named Sossusvlei Lodge.
I think itys safe to drive in Namibia, and you have lotys of places to visit.
If you have money to spend, you can do lotys of flightys.
Filipa

Kavey

Did you drive between each site or did you also take some internal flights?

Did you arrange car hire before arriving?

Did you arrange each element of the trip independently or via a travel agent?

Glad you had a good time!

Kavey

Filipa

We drive. We rent a 4x4, but you can drive for everywhere with a tourism.
Streets are quite good...and almost no traffic.
From Wke to Swakopmund, itys about 380km, 3/4 hours driving.

From Swakopmund to near Sossusvlei we drive for 330km (Lodge)- very beatifull views-, more 64km to the bigest Dunes (sossusvlei), and to return to Windoke more 350km.

But as I said the streets are good, and itys safe (more then South Africa).

But remenber, when I said "goods" doesnyt mean that they are like in USA...but itys easy to drive and we can reach easely 140km/hour (itys forbiden...!!!).

I do everything by a travel agency in WKE, by e.mail and then I fax my details (visa). So, they pick us at the airport, and give us all the vochers and the car.
Very good service.
I really liked.

Filipa

Kavey

Thanks Filipa!

I'm not in the USA - I'm in the UK but I appreciate the point.

I visited Namibia in 2001 but we did flight transfers only so I am interested in your news about driving instead.

Where are you going next?

pattysuericia

Hello Kavey-where are you going next?

Kavey

Back to Botswana and Namibia but not until 2004, if you're referring to Africa.

If you're talking internationally, we went to Bologna in January, Jordan in February and are going to Bordeaux in France for a 2 week language course in June/ July. Oh, and we've the annual UK week with the uni crowd in Lincolnshire, I think, in September, about 30 of us go together and rent a big house, and we're going to Brugge for a weekend in October for the GTG of an internet group which includes a number of people I originally met here on Fodors!!!

Filipa

Next time I intend to visit the north...Etosha, and so...
Do you have advices???
For us, only two persons is quite expensive to fligh (this kind of fligh-in safari)...and I really like to have a car, and have the chance of driving from a place to another.
Filipa

Kavey

Filipa
I understand.
I was recently helping two friends to look into the possibility of Namibia on a reduced budget. Because flights from UK to Namibia were so costly at that time, there was still insufficient budget left for them to rent a car and stay in nice accommodation.
Maybe next year...
I didn't visit Etosha because in my trip in 2001 we were going on to Botswana for game viewing instead.
On the next trip we're spending 17 nights in Botswana and only 4 in Namibia - 3 of which will be at Wolwedans. It's not that we didn't like Namibia as much - we did - but that we wanted to visit more areas in Botswana too. It was a case of either including Jack's Camp in botswana or Skeleton Coast Camp of Namibia. It was a close call but Skeleton Coast will have to wait.
Kavey