Namibia is beautiful and you will fall in love with the people!
Best experience was walking with the San people. Explaining their culture and how they live in the bush was incredible! Also visiting the Namib Desert and Sandwhich Harbor was absolutely beautiful.
Email Jackie | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Such a diverse range of experiences - from scenery to coast, wildlife, culture and hiking.
Namibia is a very large country - we only got a taste of everything in our 8 day visit. But there's a wide range of activities and opportunities - towns, national parks and coast. Sossusvlei was an amazing place - we climbed both Dune 45 and Big Daddy. Note, if you're planning to do this, you need to take extra water with you - Big Daddy is an epic climb, but so worth it, for the views and for the enormously fun descent straight down the side into Deadvlei! This dead valley is stunningly beautiful, although that sounds like a contradiction when you consider it's just dead trees in a mudbaked plain - but, truly, you have to see it to understand what an impact it makes. We stayed at the Namib Desert Lodge - one highlight was the sunset safari, culminating in a cliff top bar being set up for us, complete with wide range of alcohol and big platters of beautifully presented nibbles!
We visited Swakopmund, but didn't have time for any of the sea activities - however, the town itself is well worth a walk around. The architecture is interesting, with the German heritage, and we found a terrific bar - Bar Zonder Naam (the Bar Without a Name) - and also ate at the Blue Grass Restaurant, where the food and atmosphere were equally good. It was just a shame it was foggy and raining, so we didn't get the sea views! We did visit the Crystal Centre - again, well worth it, some stunning displays of a huge range of crystals, all mined in Namibia.
Our final destination was Etosha National Park, where we stayed at the Namutoni Lodge. Such a nice place - a good restaurant, swimming pool, clever design of the accommodation, with palisades around the front and back of each room, so you feel as though you're in a native compound or village. There's also a viewing platform overlooking a watering hole - great for a sunset visit to see the wildlife, while drinking a beer. We went on several safari drives - one memorable moment was when nearly 30 elephants slowly made their way past us, at a watering hole, and lined up in one long row to drink. Lots of zebra, impala, springbok, oryx, wildebeest, kudu, warthogs, some glimpses of leopard and rhino. But, most memorably - lions. Or rather, one lion and his mate, relaxing under a bush.
One small thing to note - most of the public toilets en route require a payment of just 2 or 3 rand. Also at the supermarket and restaurant carparks and petrol stations, it's customary to give 3-5 rand to the parking and fuel attendants. This means you need to change a larger note down to small notes or coins, so you have a kitty.
Obviously, if you have longer to visit, you could see more, or stay longer in one place - we did cover a lot of miles in a short space of time. But it's perfectly do-able to get a really good taste of Namibia in a week, with a night either end to allow for flying in and out of Windhoek.
Overall, we had a really lovely time - Namibia is certainly a great country to visit.
Email Juliet Blackburn | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very interesting and varied
Learnt a lot about deserts. Liked the Skeleton coast (but it was cold!). The safari in Etosha was a highlight. Most of the lodges were good and the food good also.
IT
Email David | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A Kaledoscope of Scenery, Wildlife and People
Namibia has so much to it. We travelled about 4.000 kms in 18 days in our Toyota Fortuner. Highlights: a giraffe standing next to our roundel in the Kalahari; the incredible sight of the Fish River Canyon which doesn't get the same publicity as The Grand Canyon but is every bit as spectacular; our cottage perched between the boulders in Aus; the austere beauty of the dunes at Sossuvlei; apple pie at Solitaire(!); the dramatic ocean at Swakopmund; spotting our first (desert) elephants in Twyfelfontein with a local villager as our guide; the drama and the privilege of watching wildlife at the waterholes in Etosha including giraffe and lions drinking from the same waterhole while keeping an eye on each other; our last view of the savannah watching the sun set and sipping our sundowners.
But not only this, the country is so much more than the usual tourist routes. It was great to top up with diesel fuel and stock up on supplies in towns such as Keetmanshoop, Aus, Outjo, Tsumeb, Otjiwaarongo and Okahandja, have a bite to eat and soak up the atmosphere of these, I think, typical African towns.
One or two things to note: arriving in Windhoek after long flights you may well feel a little weary and even sluggish and the effect can be exacerbated by the capital being at 1,600m altitude; the accommodation inside Etosha may not be at the same level as even immediately outside the Park; the quality of the C and D roads can be bad due to the 'washboard' surface but even so driving up the D707 on our way to Sesriem was a marvellous experience.
We hope to be back soon because, as with all the best destinations, we feel we've only scratched the surface - there's so much more to discover.
JP
Email Akira Kanamori | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Totally quiet holidays
Windhoek is nice city with somewhat Europeanized buildings. So sunny and dry. We spent 3 nights at the desert lodge watching quiet desert and strange looking trees. This is probably a bit different destination in Africa for tourists with distinct tastes.
SG
Email Eileen | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Sossusvlei tour is nice!
Sossusvlei tour and Namib Naukluft lodge stay are nice! The tour guide is friendly and knowledgeable.
IT
Email Paolo Malavasi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
What a place!
If you are looking for something called "breathtaking", that's the place! Every day something new and exciting, wild animals everywhere, beatiful landscape and good beer! This holiday was "WOW"
IT
Email Jan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It has been a really amazing trip.
Everything has been amazing! The country is un-contaminated and beautiful. People are very friendly. We, me and my 3 daugthers have been driving 3300 km from which 2100 on unpaved roads in 15 days. If you are an experienced driver and you do not have any rpoblem to drive 4 or 5 hours at the time, it is recommended to drive on your own. We did Kalahari, Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Brandberg, Etosha South, Etosha East, Cheetah view logde Waterberg region, Okonjima nature reserve, Windhoek. We stayed for 14 nights in Namibia and this is the minimum you need. The best lodges we stayed at were Sossusvlei logdes, Mokuti (amazing) Okonjima plains camp. Food is excellent if you are not a vegetarian.
Our trip was organised by Five Stars Tours and Safaris, by Mandy. You do no have to look any further!!! Everthing was perfect and there were many positive surprises, like kayaking witht the seals Furthermore Mandy will prepare you a very competive offfer without making any compromise on the best locations and lodges available. My opinion is that in four people we have safed at least € 3.000 to € 4.000, compared with other big travel organisations, from which I received quotations. The car rental company was Namib's Roos Car Rental. We had the best possible car Toyota 4x4 Hilux DC 2.4 TD. (do not safe money on the car and insurances!) Also the guys were amazing and should be definitly recommended. Full explanation about the car, gas stations, tyre pressure change etc. One last remark. Namibia is very poor. You can drive tens of km without meeting anybody, just some men or kids with goats. When you stop to ask them if they need something, they just ask for water!!! (not for water) Please bring a lot of bottles of water and distribute them when you meet these poor people in the desert!!
EE
Email Marit | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime
Namibia felt very safe. Driving was easy (despite being on the wrong side of the road for us). Internet coverage is poor outside of population centres or lodges; make sure you have downloaded offline maps beforehand. People were very friendly, and the staff everywhere spoke excellent English and were helpful and knowledgeable about local attractions. Do take your time in Etosha NP. We spent two full days there, and that definitely wasn't enough. Still, throughout Namibia, we saw more wildlife every day than normally in a year in Estonia.
CA
Email John Cosco | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Namibia is a country of natural beauty and beautiful, friendly people
I loved my trip to Namibia, from the ease of my arrival at the airport to getting my 4x4 car rental and then driving on the other side of the road, everything went well for me. I felt very safe. I planned a 4-day self-drive trip to Sossusvlei. It was magical with wonderful sunny days and cool nights with big starry skies. I stayed the first night at Little Sossus Lodge and the next two at Sossus Dune Lodge because it was located inside the park gates; this way I could access the park before sunrise and an hour after sunset providing me with enough time for some great photo opportunities at Deadvlei or climbing dunes. The staff at the lodges, the park staff, and the locals I met along the way were all very nice and made me feel welcome. I liked the independence of driving on my own. There were plenty of wildlife viewing opportunities along the road as well. Next, I booked a 4-day safari to Etosha leaving from Windhoek with a pickup and drop off at my hotel. What a great trip. I had a personal driver to take me to Etosha and look after everything while I was there. Etosha was a mix of sitting by a water hole and game driving. The amount and diversity of wildlife around the waterhole were incredible, I particularly liked it when a herd of elephants or rhinos would visit. That was it, short but sweet.
I look forward to my next trip to explore more of Namibia with my friends.
