Namibia Travel Tips
# There is no public transport in the country. Only in the cities there are few busses. There is also a train for goods. It goes very slowly: from Windhoek to Keetmanshoop 500 km in 24 hour!
# There are only a few campsites; reservation is recommended. The next campsite could be 200 km down the road. The places are very large and they have a bar (fire place).
# When you have a reservation for a campsite be prepared that the owner of the camping doesn’t know about that because of a bad communication. Take some extra money with you. They don’t send you away but you have to pay extra. That happened to us 4 times.
# If you want to go in wintertime (June and July) take warm clothes with you. In the south the temperature drops at night till zero degrees and at daytime it’s around 15 degrees. In the north it’s a little warmer (daytime 25 degrees and at night about 10).
# Take a torch with you. There isn’t electricity all over the country and if there is they turn off the aggregate at 21 hours.
# Don’t drive in the dark, even the local people don’t do that. Because of the big game on the road it is too dangerous. They said: “an oryx doesn’t step aside for you”. There are no streetlights and there are no lines on the gravelroads.
# The road surface of the asphalt roads is excellent, even better then in Western Europe. Also the roadsigns are excellent. A turn is announced 500 meters before. They drive on the left.
# If you drive a normal 2 wheel drive car never try a road with the sign “4X4 only”. Those roads are really bad.
# Fill up by every filling station. The next one could be 500 km ahead.
# Near the coast, especially around Swakopmund it could be foggy all of sudden.
# There is no restaurant near Duwisib Castle as the Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit says. The owner of the shop can cook you a meal if you want that. It is strongly recommended to ask him for this. It is a lovely man.
# Time management is difficult. It all depends on the road surface. In the Netherlands you can drive 100 km in one hour, in Namibia that takes 1 to 4 hours.
# In Etosha you must buy a book with pictures of the animals. It is cheap and it is very useful and fun.
# There are no organized gamedrives in Etosha. The Lonely Planet says there are but there aren’t.
# Game drive: drive to a waterhole. Park your car so that you have a good view and just wait. After 10-15 minutes you see the animals.
# Game drives: the best results by sunrise (6.15 hr) and just before sunset (16.00hr)
# Take a tank of 5 liters of water with you. If you got stuck in the desert it works against the thirst very well. Maybe you have to wait for 24 hours. When a car drove by in the desert everyone checked if every thing was alright. A safe feeling.
# When a car passes by be careful for the dust. You don’t see a thing for a few seconds.
# The best tip: see Namibia for yourself. The country is beautiful and the people are very friendly
