Peep

We just spent 2 fantastic weeks in Namibia! We rented a 2WD Toyota Corolla and drove all over. Here's our itinerary.

* Windhoek, Pension Palmquell, 1 night - Nice place! It's a bit outside of town but you can walk (20 minutes) or drive. I'd stay there again for sure!
* just outside Etosha on the east side, Etosha Aoba Lodge, 1 night - Another nice place! A cool little lodge with several individual bungalows out in the middle of the scrubby woods. Nice management, good food, good location.
* Etosha, Okaukuejo rest camp, 2 nights - We had bungalow #1 close to the waterhole. The accommodations were a bit worn out but acceptable. Great waterhole right there with lots of critters!
* Damaraland, Mowani Mountain Lodge, 2 nights - Loved it!! Tents on stilts with great views, bathrooms, excellent management! The coolest thing was going on the elephant drive where we saw lots of desert elephants up close and personal.
* near Omaruru, Erongo Wilderness Lodge, 2 nights - Loved it!! More laid back than Mowani but still nice. Tents on platforms, friendly management, excellent food and just all around cool! Great place!!
* Swakopmund, Sea Breeze Guesthouse, 3 nights - Loved it! Very nice place on the beach in a nice residential neighborhood outside town. Excellent management, nice views, all around nice place to stay. Swakopmund is a great little town to poke around, shop and eat out in.
* near Sossusvlei, Desert Homestead, 2 nights - Stone walled cabins with mosquito netting covered beds, nice bathrooms and view of the scrubby plains. Good food, very friendly staff and close to Sossusvlei (30 minutes from the entrance).

That's it! Our 2WD did fine but we ended up with a flat at the end of the trip. Some of the roads are a bit rugged. People were friendly everywhere! I have a very wimpy stomach but I drank the water, ate whatever and had zero problems. I booked the flights and car but used Cardboard Box to book the accommodations. They were excellent! My advice is to book early if possible! We had a hard time getting what we wanted because many places were already full. Any question, feel free to ask! Thanks to Nicci and her hub for giving me lots of info!

Celia

Oh, it sounds wonderful! We also loved Aoba Lodge when we stayed there last May. The places you mention where we didn't go sound so good -- makes me want to go back!

Thanks for the report!

Nicci

Peep

I'm so glad you had a great time in Namibia. Reading your trip report really makes me want to return- maybe next year. Did you have any problems with the food since you don't eat meat?

Do you have any photos to share?

Nicci

Peep

No problems with the food! In restaurants in Windhoek and Swakopmund it was about like anywhere with lots of choices. Cardboard Box notified the lodges and they all fixed veg dishes just for us. Dinners at Erongo were the best. Do we have photos?? ar ar Hopefully we'll get them all back this weekend and I'll send you some.

owl

We also stayed at the Desert Homestead and Sea Breeze. Both were FANTASTIC!!!! We'd go back in a heartbeat!

hanl

Thanks for posting. Your trip sounds fantastic. Am hoping to plan something similar for next September /October...

DJE

Glad you had such a wonderful time. Just brought back fond memories of our short stay in Namibia in July. We thorougly enjoyed the Sossusvlei region and hope to return again and see the other areas of the country. Would like to do a driving trip. For us it was a great way to begin a fabulous 4 wk. vacation in Southern Africa.

cazz

Hi, we would like to visit namibia in late April this year, and was wondering if you can offer some advice on where to start planning/booking for a 9 days trip if we don;t self-drive. Would love to see the country and wild-life so any advice on bookings, cost etc would be most appreciated! would it be too late to book now?

Peep

If you don't drive yourself, I guess you either have to hire a car and driver/guide or go on a tour, eh? The latter would probably be much cheaper. I booked our accommodations through the Cardboard Box travel agency and highly recommend them. I bet they could help you.
http://www.namibian.org/

thit_cho

I can also recommend Cardboard Box, who helped me arrange a self-drive visit to Etosha in 2001. But they also have many guided tours on their website, and they were very well-informed and exceptionally helpful.