Two weeks exploring Namibia

netllama

Observer
I recently returned from two weeks in Namibia. When I mention this to most people, they are typically confused, as they've either never heard of
Namibia, or have no idea where it is. Namibia is in southern Africa, along the southwest coast, just northwest of South Africa. Of course, when I
explain that part, their next reaction is often "Africa!? isn't that dangerous?". The answer is no, its not, certainly not any more so than
travelling in any other remote part of the world (like Death Valley).

That said, Namibia was absolutely amazing. The scenery is easily comparable to highlights of some of America's most spectacular
southwestern landscapes. It has massive sand dunes, buttes, broad valleys, and canyons. On top of that, they've got ghost towns from over
a century of diamond mining and nearly all the classic African animals that people often think of (lions, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants, etc), which adds
an extra layer of awesome. Then because Namibia is twice the size of California, yet only has about 2 million people, much of the country is
wide open, empty, undeveloped space, so the scenery is rarely spoiled by anything. The road system is excellent, with a mixture of paved & gravel
roads, which are well maintained & frequently graded. I rented a 4x4 Toyota Hilux (basically the rest of the world's version of the Tacoma), and
drove nearly 3000 miles. But enough rambling, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.



Quiver trees at Fish River Canyon


Bogenfels


Cape Cross pup


Little Vlei


bath time


Solitude


last tree


Sesriem Canyon


Sperrgebiet (restricted zone)


Vingerklip


Vingerklip view


Oryx foragers


Descent into the canyon


Red sand, red road


Fish River overlook


Jackal


Fish River Canyon, the 2nd largest on earth


entering the slot


Hunting for the kill


Kolmanskopp


For the curious, I've posted over 700 photos from the trip HERE,
and I've written up a detailed day by day trip report (with gpx log) HERE.
 

NM-Frontier

Explorer
Wow those were great! Namibia looks like an amazing place. Any more info on the rental? Seems like the way to go is rent a kitted 4WD and see it all for your self. Thanks for sharing!
 

netllama

Observer
Wow those were great! Namibia looks like an amazing place. Any more info on the rental? Seems like the way to go is rent a kitted 4WD and see it all for your self. Thanks for sharing!

What kind of info did you want regarding the rental?
 

mep1811

Gentleman Adventurer
yes some details on the rental would be nice. Did the truck come with all the things to camp out?
 

NM-Frontier

Explorer
Great thanks, I also went and read your blog post for the trip, great writing and some more info I was looking for on the rental. Thanks again.
 

dlk23

New member
Wow! That looks amazing, and I'm adding it to my "gotta go there" list. :)

Thanks so much for sharing the awesome adventure pix!
 

netllama

Observer
Thanks for the info great trip report How is availability of resupplying along the trip?

Food & fuel aren't hard to find for the most part. It depends on how far from major towns you intend to travel. Since the majority of Namibia's road network is unpaved, I can't simply say "there's food & fuel as long as you're on an official road", because that's definitely not true. Basically once you're more than an hour's drive from a "large" city (and the Namibian definition of "large city" is definitely way smaller than what most people from Europe or North America consider as large), you need to assume that you're going to be at least a few hours drive from the nearest fuel. Food is definitely easier to find, as long as you're not incredibly picky (fresh meat is plentiful almost in every town, produce somewhat less so).

If you have specific questions about some specific part of the country let me know, and I can comment on whether I've been there.
 

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