Namibia National Parks Restrictions

[IanInDRCongo]

Hearing suggestions that motorcycles are not permitted in any of Namibia's national parks.

Can anyone confirm or deny?

[Tony LEE]

Sounds like a pretty sensible rule - one of those "Please don't feed the animals" things.

[Austin]

We were there in 2012, certainly Etosha was strictly no bikes and after a tour on a safari bus I can see why. The safari was all the better for being able to be with 10feet of Lions and elephants, plus plenty of many and varied antelopes. AFAIK it's the same in all the Nat parks in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

[mrsgemini]

Agree with Austin. There are plenty of lodges etc who will allow you to join their safari trips into the parks for a reasonable charge. Most of these lodges also have good camping facilities.

[itchyfeet38]

Quite a few parks in Namibia are primarily protecting scenery eg Namib Naukluft/Sossusvlei and you won't have any issues riding through on a bike. Terrain eg rocks or sand will potentially be more of an issue. Etosha is a no no for obvious reasons. There are relatively little visited parks in the Caprivi eg Mudumu, Bwabwata that either have no meaningful gate or will possibly let you through on a bike but I wouldn't recommend it. I would be far more wary of elephant than any cats simply because they are far more commonly encountered and more prone to be aggressive with a bike/person than a car. I wouldn't want to try and outrun an angry elephant on a bike over rough ground/deep sand.

[IanInDRCongo]

Thanks all.

Useful inputs.

[Sirakor]

Originally Posted by itchyfeet38

Quite a few parks in Namibia are primarily protecting scenery eg Namib Naukluft/Sossusvlei and you won't have any issues riding through on a bike. Terrain eg rocks or sand will potentially be more of an issue. Etosha is a no no for obvious reasons. There are relatively little visited parks in the Caprivi eg Mudumu, Bwabwata that either have no meaningful gate or will possibly let you through on a bike but I wouldn't recommend it. I would be far more wary of elephant than any cats simply because they are far more commonly encountered and more prone to be aggressive with a bike/person than a car. I wouldn't want to try and outrun an angry elephant on a bike over rough ground/deep sand.

Other than the parks that have official transit routes (like the Caprivi), bikes are not allowed in National parks in Namibia. This is true e.g for Etosha, but also for Sossusvlei (I was not allowed to enter in early 2014).

In general, the only African country that does not have any restrictions on bikes entering regular parks is Uganda, all others prohibit bikes unless its an official transit route). I agree that cats aren't an issue, but elephants and buffaloes are. I did have a close encounter with an angry elephant bull in Zambia outside a park, which luckily I managed to outrun on a sandy track. It's quite a story to tell in hindsight, but not an experience I wish to repeat.

[RNS1948]

I was in Namibia last Sept. was told over & over that bikes were not allowed in the park on the Skeleton coast. So had no plans of going there, even the Yamaha dealer in Swakomund. Some one said I should at least go & take a picture of the gate. (it's kinda cool) Got to the park gate, the ranger asked me if I was going into the park, I said i'm on a motorcycle, he said no problem I can give you a permit. ( no cost ) But you can't stay in the park you have too exit the same day.

[TangaEric]

Originally Posted by RNS1948

I was in Namibia last Sept. was told over & over that bikes were not allowed in the park on the Skeleton coast. So had no plans of going there, even the Yamaha dealer in Swakomund. Some one said I should at least go & take a picture of the gate. (it's kinda cool) Got to the park gate, the ranger asked me if I was going into the park, I said i'm on a motorcycle, he said no problem I can give you a permit. ( no cost ) But you can't stay in the park you have too exit the same day.

Hi there,

I am riding to Namibia for the 4th time. It's my favourite place to ride in southern Africa and I will be riding overland from Namibia to back home in Zanzibar. During one of my previous trips (2007) I tried to pass through the gate at the park but they did not let me, citing it was illegal to enter the park by motorcycle.

Can you confirm that you did indeed enter the park by getting a permit at the gate? What permit did they issue? Does anyone else have any further and more recent experiences concerning this?

Regards,

Eric