Where to go, what to do in Namibia.

[zedsdead]

Hello everyone.

Soon and it can't come soon enough, I get to fly to Namibia pick up my bike and carry on riding. Now I know after West Africa it will be hugely different. At the moment I have no real plan so am up for advice, links in fact any information about the must see, must do aspects of the country.

I am very luck in that I do not have any real time frame to worry over. The you tube stuff I have looked at so far shows a lot of terrain similar to Morocco, a place I really enjoy. I am expecting to fly to Windhoek, spend some days there before going to Walvis Bay when I know the arrival date of the container. After that, freedom...............................

So anything anyone has to say will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Zed.

[Bermuda Rover]

I'd suggest a few days in Swakopmund after you leave Walvis Bay. It is only a short drive up the coast. Swakopmund is an interesting town - a cultural mix of German and African. There are opportunities for fun in the dunes - ATVs, buggies,etc., using the various tour companies in the town.

Other 'must see' locations, in my opinion, are: Sossusvlei (get there early in the morning so that you can watch the sunrise from the top of one of the big dunes); a visit to a Himba village (you may need to arrange this ahead of time); Etosha National Park (excellent game viewing).

You can see a few of my photos from Namibia using this link - Namibia - bermudarover

[AliBaba]

Namibia is completely different from Namibia!

With a start in Windhoek I would have done something like:


Swakopmund (playing i the dunes on your way)
Along the coast and east to Brandberg, Uis, Burned Mountain, Spitzkopfe
Palmwag
Sesfontein
Opuwo
Epuppa falls
Van Zyyl pass (if you like it rough..)
Ruacana
Tsumeb
Etosha
Small roads a few days going back south
Solitaire
Sesriem
Sossusvlei
Luderitz (incl Kollmaskopfe)
Ai-Ais


This is from memory so I'm sure I've forgotten something.... Shell makes some very interesting maps.

[NightAlp]

Hi Zed,

this is a german page (sorry) www.thomasrichter.de but her yo can found the PDF list of campgrounds. It is very helpfule if you search one.

PDF: namibia-camping-liste-2014.pdf

The list is in German too but you got the adresses or phone number of them. Every user can update the list so it is more or less actual and its free. I hope it will help.

We used this list some years ago and all campgrounds are great and we found them like they were discript.
Spezial campgrounds are:
- Oppiklippe very basic but very nice. At the evening the owner camand start a fire under a boiler for hot water. A little lake on the top of the rocks for the shower water. nature toilets with a thausend star roof ;-) , It was a smal ground maybe 10 places, nobody was there and we where in the middle of nowhere
- Mbamba Campsite in the Caprivi area near Rundu, Locals manage this campground and in the night some men came ask if everything is ok and the manager will take the charge at hte next morning. If we wake up the fire was burning and new wood is lieing near by. Oh yes the bridge to the campground was broken, so we done a smal river crossing with our 4x4.

Everything in Namibia is great ;-) Fishriver Canyon in the south/the namib desert, Caprivi, The Hoba Meteorite is huge and awesome too.

Attantion to the gas stations ... we use tracks4Africa maps on Garmin GPS and not every station exist like it was on the map.

Oh Yeah try the apple pie in solitaire it was so good!!! Yummi

for more infos, feel free to ask ;-)
Nightalp
P.S. enjoy the trip it will be wonderful

[kpredator]

x2 on what alibaba said.

dont think you can ride in etosha,go to a local lodge and go for game drives

when I look back at our wildlife photos,realized many were from etosha.

maybe hook up with some overlanders and camp inside"share costs"

t4a has namibia,bots travel lodging guides.

look into the namib-nuakluft park.

read the namibia section on 4x4 community.za

lots of good info there

goodluck

kp

[AliBaba]

Originally Posted by kpredator

dont think you can ride in etosha,go to a local lodge and go for game drives

That's true.
In Tsumeb you can enter a tour or hire a car.

I think it's nice to spend at least one night in the park.

[zedsdead]

Cheers everyone.

This will be the second stage of my wandering in Africa, after having spent 4 months riding down through West Africa to Togo. The more I look at Namibia on you tube the more I want to enjoy and explore. With that in mind I think I will first travel south, down to Fish river canyon. I am sure after my break back here in England it will take me a good few days to get back into the swing of things. So then after sorting my head and gear out I can take my time and go with the flow. The final aim being to leave Namibia by way of the falls and Livingstone. I am already thinking of about a month to wander up there, no rush and no worries.

I have T4A in the satnav, time to start looking through it with a view to getting up to speed on the camping options. I like to live in my tent. West Africa was very easy, lots of wild camping. However I feel Namibia for many reasons will be different.

Ahh the fun of homework and dreaming!

[gjj]

Hi Zed

I am heading North through Namibia ,at Windhoek now , Swakopmund for a few days then heading accross Caprivi to Vic Falls for Christmas if the bike holds out .Namibia is amazing , I am on a road bike so have struggled with some of the more difficult roads . No bikes allowed at Sossesvlei anymore . The Roadhouse at Fish River is a great place , well worth a visit

Gareth

FB Pan without a plan