Trip Report: Namibia
Visited in May 2021
Namibia is one of the countries that has been on my bucket list for years. This Southwest African country is often called one of the most beautiful and diverse countries in the world. Apart from the stunning landscapes, Namibia is also an excellent destination for wildlife. Not only is one of the world’s most renowed safari park located in the country, Namibia has a lot of places where you can see animals in their natural habitat.
Namibia is Africa for beginners, they say. An easy country suitable for those who have not been to sub-Saharan Africa yet. As it is my 28th country in Africa, I guess I am not a beginner anymore. Nevertheless, it was a welcome change to the hassles I experienced in South Sudan the month before.
Besides, a trip to Namibia in May 2021 offered kind of a bonus. The country is probably the safest travel destination in the world during the pandemic. Namibia is almost twice the size of California and more than three times the size of the United Kingdom. However, the country’s population is less than 2.5 million, which makes it the second least densely populated country in the world. Therefore, it is almost difficult not to practice social distancing and the risk of getting infected is in Namibia definitely lower than somewhere else.
In this article I will describe the places we visited and the unique way of traveling in Namibia. At the end I will try to give a personal rating to Namibia – on the one hand as a destination in Africa and on the other hand also in a worldwide comparison.
Our itinerary
Together with Kati, I traveled through Namibia for ten days. We did the classic road trip with a rental car that most tourists do on a 10-14 day trip. We visited Windhoek, Etosha (with a stopover in Okonjima), Spitzkoppe, Swakopmund, Sossusvlei and drove back to Windhoek.
Overall, we spent a lot of time in the car. More than a whole day to be exact. Namibia is a huge country and it takes time to get from one typical tourist destination to another. However, Namibia is also a typical road trip country. The long drives through deserted landscapes add their part to a Namibia trip.
I will go into more detail about the mode of travel later. First, I would like to give a review of the places we visited and whether I think they are worthwhile or not.
Etosha National Park
Etosha is one of the most famous safari parks in Africa. It’s a huge park (bigger than countries like Belize, El Salvador or Israel) with all the typical animals you would expect on an African safari.
What distinguishes Etosha from other safari parks, such as the Serengeti, are its waterholes. In the dry season, water becomes scarce in the park and animals congregate around the diminishing waterholes, so for game viewing you drive from waterhole to waterhole or park your car next to one and watch the activity.
We did a self-drive safari in Etosha. Due to the gigantic size of the park, we drove almost nine hours that day, partly on gravel roads in questionable condition. But we saw a lot of animals and all of the Big Five except the leopard.
All in all, Etosha is certainly a must on a Namibia trip, especially if you have not done safari yet. For those who have never been to a big safari park, I would recommend two full days in Etosha, otherwise one day will do. Personally, I found Etosha to be an excellent national park, justifiably listed among the world’s great ones.
By the way, you have to decide whether to stay within the park or in a lodge outside the gates. Staying in the park has the advantage that you can do game drives at sunrise and sunset. Also, some lodges have a waterhole right by them, so you can watch the night activities there. We were able to watch a showdown between a rhino and a group of hyenas from very close. The rhino won the fight.
We did both by the way. We spent our first night at Halali Camp inside the park. For the second night, we chose the Toshari Lodge outside the park, about 10 minutes away from Anderson Gate.
Okonjima Nature Reserve
What can be a bit annoying about Etosha, however, are the long drives before you see anything. Etosha doesn’t have the animal density of its East African competitors, such as the Serengeti or Masai Mara. Instead, Namibia has some smaller game reserves where you can see more animals in a shorter time.
On our way to Etosha, we stopped for a night at Okonjima Nature Reserve. This one specializes in leopards, so we were still able to see the Big Five animal that we later missed in Etosha.
I can absolutely recommend the Okonjima Nature Reserve. The Nature Reserve is greener and also more densely vegetated than its big neighbor with its vastness. For this reason alone it is worth to make a stop there, because you can see the animals in a different setting.
We chose the Okonjima Plains Camp for our stay, a superb lodge, where you can observe wildlife directly from your room. Day-trips to the nature reserve are possible, too.
Spitzkoppe
After three days of safari, we moved on to rugged landscapes, more specifically to the “Matterhorn of Namibia”.
Spitzkoppe is arguably the most famous mountain of Namibia and the area surrounding it invites to hikes, walks, exploration of rock paintings and wildlife observation. To be honest, I was not entirely sure before the trip if I should add Spitzkoppe to the itinerary but in the end I was more than happy that I did.
The landscapes at Spitzkoppe are simply amazing. What makes this area especially magical are the sunrise and sunset, though. For that matter, it can be said that Namibia is generally a sunrise and sunset country. The best pictures in this photogenic country can be taken in the early morning or late afternoon.
Spitzkoppe was definitely worth a stay. One day was almost too short as we would have liked to see more of the area. We spent the night at Spitzkoppen Lodge, one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in.
Spitzkoppen Lodge is not budget-friendly, but the lodge alone is a sight to see in Namibia. Unfortunately, day visitors cannot enter, so you have no choice but to pay the high price if you want to see it. You won’t regret it though.
The Skeleton Coast
The Skeleton Coast is the northern part of the Namibian coast and its hinterland. There are hundreds of shipwrecks along the coast, which gave rise to the name Skeleton Coast. That name was first mentioned by a writer in 1944. Before that, Bushmen called the coastline as “The Land God Made in Anger” and Portuguese sailors called it “The Gates of Hell”.
Shipwrecked sailors who managed to rescue themselves ashore often ended up as skeletons in the desert. Thus, the name refers to the ship skeletons, human skeletons as well as the countless skeletons of whales washed ashore.
Our first stop on the Skeleton Coast was Cape Cross, where you can see one of the largest seal colonies in the world. The stench that rises to your nose there is infernal and indescribable. If you know the smell of the penguins from Boulders Beach in Cape Town, you can multiply it by at least ten to get an approximate idea of the stink of Cape Cross.
Seeing the thousands of seals is still a spectacle. However, the whole facility is very run down, so the question arises why Namibia charges an entrance fee for this, when everything is left to rot here. Furthermore, you should be careful. The animals are partly lying on the visitor’s path, and some of them become aggressive if you get too close to them.
Swakopmund was our base for the Skeleton Coast. Some call the small town the most German town outside of Germany. Namibia used to be a German colony called Deutsch Südwestafrika back then. No place reminds you of this as well as Swakopmund, where there is a Bismark Street, a house with the inscription “Altes Amtsgericht” and numerous German colonial houses.
There is not much to do in Swakopmund itself, and you can see the highlights of the town in an hour. However, since you usually stay in fairly remote places during a Namibia trip, Swakopmund is a good location for a bit of varied dining and also offers some shopping opportunities.
For adrenaline junkies, however, Swakopmund has plenty to offer. The city is often called the adventure capital of Southern Africa. For example, you can go skydiving, race through the desert on quads, take flights over the coast or sign up for other fun activities.
We decided to take a tour to Sandwich Harbour. Seeing the Atlantic Ocean meet the Namibian desert was something I was most looking forward to on this trip. By the way, besides the game drive at Okonjima Nature Reserve, it was the only guided tour we booked.
During this tour, we saw the pink lakes of Walvis Bay as well as different animals that live in the desert, plus flamingos, pelicans, dolphins and whales. Funnily enough, four months prior to this I had spent over $100 in Costa Rica to see a whale fin for three seconds about four times. Here in Namibia I saw it for free.
After that it was the turn of the dunes. This roller coaster ride in a car on dunes is not for me, but it was definitely interesting to see the waves of the Atlantic meet sand.
Unfortunately, the weather threw a bit of a wrench in our plans. Not just on the Sandwich Harbor tour. Looking back, our time on the Skeleton Coast was good, but I would still call it a lowlight of the Namibia trip due to the rather mediocre weather. It was often foggy or at least very cloudy. The Skeleton Coast is still a great place to visit. Maybe just more at another time of the year.
Sossusvlei
You should always save the best for last, right?
Seeing Sossusvlei was without a doubt my top priority in Namibia. These desert landscapes are unique in this world and I couldn’t wait to finally see them with my own eyes.
Interestingly, we arrived at Sossusvlei at very special times, because it rained just before, which is extremely rare in this region. As a result, the desert was blooming, offering a landscape you don’t often see otherwise.
The centerpiece of Sossusvlei is, of course, Deadvlei, this surreal landscape with its centuries-old trees reminiscent of another planet. I consider it one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever seen.
As a little bonus – or maybe to compensate for the rather bad weather at the Skeleton Coast – we were rewarded with cloud formations that are probably rarely seen in Sossusvlei. The typical Deadvlei picture I had seen online in previous years was mostly cloudless.
Afterwards we climbed the highest dune in Sossusvlei, called Big Daddy (by the way, there is also a Big Mama dune). 345 meters doesn’t sound very strenuous, but don’t be fooled, climbing a dune is damn hard.
However, if you master this challenge, you will be rewarded with an incredible view. If the 345 meters are too much for you, you can also choose a smaller dune. After climbing the dune, you can run down the steep slope, which is fun on the one hand and makes it seem funny that after a 60-90 minute climb, you’re back down in less than five minutes.
Climbing Big Daddy was great, however it knocked me out afterwards. Because of the heat, it’s actually recommended to visit Sossusvlei in the morning or late afternoon. We arrived at Big Daddy’s peak shortly after noon and after we got back to our car around 2pm, my head was on fire like never before. It was probably the first heat stroke of my life. In any case, I never felt so exhausted.
We postponed the Sesriem Canyon for this reason until shortly before sunset. However, when we wanted to set off at just before 17.00 we were informed that there would not be enough time for it.
Even though I didn’t see some other things of Sossusvlei besides Sesriem Canyon, this place was my absolute highlight of Namibia. Sossusvlei is magical and everyone should have seen this place once.
Windhoek
Last but not least, we spent a day in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Windhoek is a very clean and also rather modern city for African standards. The city also offers one or the other sight. However, I recommend to keep the stay in Windhoek as short as possible. I would not describe the city as particularly beautiful and even though there are some things to do, it is better to spend your time in Namibia elsewhere.
Due to the necessary COVID test for the return trip, we could not skip Windhoek completely. Unfortunately, we were in the city on a Sunday, when some sights are not open. Additional bad luck was that the Voigtland Guesthouse a bit outside of Windhoek, where you can feed giraffes, already had too many bookings for day visitors that day, so we missed probably the best activity near Windhoek.
So for all those going to Namibia and making a stop in Windhoek, I recommend booking a visit to Voigtland early, visiting Christuskirche and eating at the fantastic Joe’s Beerhouse. However, if you don’t have to, better spend your time elsewhere in Namibia.
In summary, is there any place we visited in Namibia that was not worthwhile? Apart from Windhoek, no, absolutely not. Both safari parks, Etosha and Okonjima, as well as Spitzkoppe, the Skeleton Coast and Sossusvlei were fantastic and should not be missing on any Namibia trip.
Places worth seeing that we did not have time for
Our 10-day itinerary could also have been done as a 14-day trip. We did see a lot in those 10 days, however, the pace of the trip was high, involved a lot of driving, and was consequently exhausting.
With four more days you could spend one more day each in Etosha, Spitzkoppe, Swakopmund and Sossusvlei. Since we didn’t see everything these places have to offer, 14 days would be just the right length for this trip.
However, there are also places that we missed completely. If you have three weeks or more, you can add the south of the country to our itinerary and see Lüderitz, the ghost town Kolmanskop and the Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world. Also worthwhile places are the Caprivi Strip, which leads to Victoria Falls, other game reserves north of Windhoek and the moonscapes of Damaraland.
Why a trip to Namibia is a unique experience
Having now seen 116 countries, I can confirm that Namibia is an absolutely unique country. Seriously, there is no country that can even begin to compare. The nature of this country combined with the wildlife and colonial towns is one thing, but the way you travel is another.
Given the size of the country, it is no surprise that the distances between places are huge. Problematic for travelers is that public transport is not really suitable to get around. There are buses between the cities, but this is not enough to reach all the tourist hotspots of the country. For this reason, you need a car.
Among all mainstream destinations in the world, the dependence on a car is probably the highest in Namibia. This does not necessarily mean that you have to drive a car yourself, although a large percentage of all travelers do. You can also rent a car with a driver, hitchhike or book a guided tour. These tours are usually much more expensive than driving yourself, and hitchhiking requires both flexibility and enough time.
Besides the not really existing tourist infrastructure in terms of public transport, the roads are another challenge. More than half of the roads on our route were not paved. For this reason it is recommended to travel with a 4WD or at least an SUV, although theoretically it is also possible with a 2WD sedan.
The gravel roads are nevertheless not for the faint-hearted. Having a puncture on a Namibia trip is something common, we had one too. According to our car rental company, some travelers even manage to get four to five flat tires in one trip.
What is also special for Namibia are the long drives where you hardly see other cars. Traffic in Namibia is really only in the cities. Because it is quite possible that you will have a puncture at some point, it is important that you are able to change a tire. In the worst case you stand for hours in the middle of nowhere and have to hope that a car will come through soon.
In many Namibia travel blogs it is also written that you should fill up at every gas station you pass, because it can be that the next three gas stations have no fuel. However, during our trip we did not have this situation once. Maybe that has changed in the last few years as well.
A good piece of advice that you can also find on many blogs is that you should always have enough water with you in case you ever get stranded in a remote area due to car damage. We implemented this advice by always carrying 10 liters of water. Having an offline map on your mobile phone is also essential, since internet connection is weak to non-existent outside of the cities.
As you can read, Namibia needs a little preparation. It is not a country where you just show up and start your journey. Otherwise, you will probably have to overcome one or the other challenge. Apart from that, Namibia is and remains an easy and also safe travel destination. I can fully confirm that it is a good country for Africa beginners.
How I rate Namibia as a destination
Of all the countries I haven’t visited yet, Namibia was in the top5 that I was most looking forward to. I think if you have read this far, the question is not whether I liked Namibia or not. The more relevant question is HOW much I liked Namibia.
Namibia was my 28th country in Africa and easily made it into my top3 among all countries on the continent. More specifically, it would take second place behind South Africa. Namibia also shines as a destination compared to the rest of the world and is definitely in my top10 out of all 116 countries.
In my opinion, it is a must for every world traveler to visit Namibia at least once. A Namibia trip is in no way comparable to other countries in terms of how you travel and what amazing things you see. Namibia has everything: wildlife, desert, dunes in various colors, colonial towns, nature reserves, canyons. It’s definitely a varied country and an absolute treasure. It would be a shame to miss it.
With so much to rave about, the only question is whether there was anything I didn’t like. I could mention here the price level of the country. Especially accommodation is anything but budget-friendly. In the tourist places outside the cities it is difficult to find a hotel under $100 per night.
Lodge prices tend to be around $300 per night or more. However, I must also say that Namibian lodges are value for money. In most cases breakfast and dinner are included. This makes it not so expensive at second glance after all. So, if you can afford it, I recommend biting the bullet and treating yourself to a lodge every now and then. You won’t regret it!
You can save money by camping, although certain tent camps can also be pricey, since they only provide you with a place and you have to bring the tents yourself. Many campers just book a vehicle on the roof of which you can put a tent. These vehicles are more expensive than a normal 4WD or SUV, but at least you don’t need to book a hotel.
Also not everyone’s cup of tea are probably the long drives that a Namibia trip requires. We drove about four hours per day on average. The driving time passed quickly and there are always opportunities to stop for a nice photo. Nonetheless, the driving can be exhausting.
However, these would be my only (small) points of criticism. Last but not least, I have to admit that Namibia was a country where I had the feeling that 10 days were too short. I wouldn’t have even necessarily wanted to see more places. In retrospect, however, it would have been better if we had traveled two weeks at a slightly slower pace and spent a little more time in the appropriate places.
