Namibia Travel Guide

The most diverse scenery that still looks untouched by humans.

Arranged the Trip through Great Explorations. (Outstanding) Flew to Windhoek and hired a 4x4 from Namibia 2 Go. Drove down to Sesriem in the South where the magnificent red dunes then Deadvlei where the trees are frozen in time from a million years ago when the river dried up. Temperatures in the upper 20's Took the Spreetshoogte Pass on route to Solitaire and witnessed the Moonscape like surroundings. A sight to behold. Drove to Swakopmund through canyons and incredible scenery. Roads are quite rough so we welcomed the 4x4. Recommend that you do the Living Desert Tour in Swakop which was so informative. Cooler weather here low 20's The Namibia desert is the oldest desert in the world and holds many secrets. Then drove through the Skeleton Coast on tar and salt roads on the way to Damaraland. Visiting Palmwag and Twyfelfontein. Much warmer here in the mid 30's. Again amazing scenery. Then into Etosha for 4 nights. Don't expect the same type of accommodation or first world service in the park. The roads were in terrible condition perhaps due to a lot of rain about 2 weeks prior. This impacted on the game viewing experience as there was little need for the game to seek water at the waterholes. The waterholes at the camp were a highlight for evening viewing and are recommended. Weather early 30's. Good birding which helped with the lack of animals.
It would be great if The government controlled park could do more maintenance. We spent 4 days driving through large areas of the park and didn't see one grader working on the roads. We would like to revisit Namibia and do the South where Luderitz is and also far North if possible. Would probably give Etosha a miss.

Very different and well worth visiting.

Some parks we visited, were not as high a standard as others from an accommodation standpoint. Driving long distances over dirt roads can also be very tiring for older people. We would fly more next time and limit trips to 3-4 hours on tarmac wherever possible

Namibia lacks the abundance of wildlife and classic African scenery of East Africa but certainly has its own charm, beauty and wildlife. In particular, Etosha's water holes have wildlife sittings that rival any in Africa. While in Namibia, we saw a number of rarities we missed in Kenya including cheetah, black rhinoceros, honey badger and bat-eared fox. I would recommend going to Kenya or Tanzania first to get the classic African safari experience but would highly recommend Namibia as a second or more African destination.

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.

A beautiful, safe and interesting country with a variety of places to visit and friendly people.

Namibia is a safe and interesting country with great highlights. The sand dunes, Soussusvlei and the desert offer an unforgetable experience. The people are very friendly and prond to share their culture with turists.

Not bad

Etosha is good for elephants giraffes and zebras, few more, some lions also
But is not comparável to Tanzânia, Ngogorgoro or Serengueti