I'm going to Namibia! (1 Viewer)

I've just booked my flights and I'm in the process of confirming accommodation for a birds/mammals/scenery holiday to Namibia, first two weeks of May!!
Our proposed itinerary will be something like:
Windhoek-Swakopmund-Erongo-Western Etosha-Eastern Etosha-Waterburg-Windhoek.
I realise there's a wealth of information out there in the form of guide books, field guides, web sites etc., but I'd still like to hear from anyone with first hand experience about the places on our route. There maybe lesser known sites which aren't in the guide books and some may have changed for better or worse.
We'll have a hire car and plan to stay a couple of nights at each place. Are any of the organised game drives/trips worth doing - especially in places where you can't self-drive?

Thanks in advance for any contributions.
Nick

It's a wonderful place. A couple of trips that spring to mind: Go on a boat trip from Walvis Bay: heavisides dolphins, bubbly and oysters. The organised trips in Etosha are horribly expensive - 3X what a similar trip costs in South Africa. Keep car doors locked, even when in the car in Windhoek.

A summary of my recent trip can be found here:
http://stevebabbs.webs.com/southernafrica2010.htm
Have a look through and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for the reply Steve, that report has certainly whetted my appetite, you must have had a great time!
I think that Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park is just too far for us in the time we have available. Similarly I reluctantly decided against trying to get up to the far north or Caprivi. This will be our first trip to Southern Africa so there'll still be plenty to see without driving those huge distances.
Hobatere also looks good but I have opted for Erongo instead as it should give us a bit more variety of scenery and general interest.
I've seen the prices for guided drives in Etosha so I'm hoping that we'll be able to do it independently, but the night drives can't be done solo. I might just bite the bullet and book a night drive somewhere.
I think Swakopmund is going to be the biggest problem as we'll only have one full day and there are too many options! Pelagic from Walvis Bay? Birding around Walvis Bay lagoon? Birding around the dunes/desert? Cape Cross? Welwitschia Drive? I guess I need to do some more research into what we can fit in. Can't stand oysters though!!

Finally, is Windhoek that bad? We'll probably just have one night there when we first arrive but I've not read anything to suggest major crime problems.

Thanks again
Nick

nick scarle said:

I've seen the prices for guided drives in Etosha so I'm hoping that we'll be able to do it independently, but the night drives can't be done solo. I might just bite the bullet and book a night drive somewhere.

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As you say, etosha is very doabe independenty, a dream in fact - good rooad network linking the various waterholes and easily enough tracks and ways to keep you happy for days and days. Each camp usually has an info board where people write the latest sightings, ie usually just the cats and rhinos, etc, listed.

As for night, no the only option is the guided offerings, but the camps do have floodlit waterholes, which can be excellent.

nick scarle said:

Finally, is Windhoek that bad? We'll probably just have one night there when we first arrive but I've not read anything to suggest major crime problems.

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Windhoek is no South African city.

Unless something has changed in the last three years, it is a fairly relaxing, relatively easy-going place. Yes, crime can occur, especially from parked cars, etc, but violent crime is not particularly common - I know who still live there have said nothing to suggest major change. In my years living there, you could basically go anywhere, including the townships - maybe not quite so now, but certainly not comparable to the Nairobis and Jo'burgs of this world.

Exercise normal common sense, i.e. don't wander round alone at night with optics dripping of your shoulder, don't leave valuables in parked car, especially in view, etc, etc.

PS. though locking doors is perhaps not bad, I don't think I ever closed the window when in Windhoek, so the door locked would be by the way

If interested, I have a report of some 90 pages or so that details much of southern Africa, a large chunk relates to Namibia (you can ditch the rest), so could send it to you if you send a PM with your e-mail.

These are some blogposts about my trip to Namibia that maybe of interest
http://peregrinesbirdblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/holiday-in-namibia-with-my-wife-and-as.html
http://peregrinesbirdblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/from-cheetahs-at-amani-lodge-namibia-to.html
http://peregrinesbirdblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/day-in-dunes-at-sossusvlei-and-no-luck.html
http://peregrinesbirdblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/finally-catch-up-with-dune-lark.html
http://peregrinesbirdblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/grey-grey-walvis-bay.html
http://peregrinesbirdblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/erongo-wilderness-lodge.html
http://peregrinesbirdblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/ongava-lodge.html

Windhoek does have the reputation as being the safest city in Africa but just take care we were only there for a couple of hours and someone came in through my wife's door and grabbed her handbag. We were very lucky - someone grabbed it of the thief and returned it. It could, of course, happened in many places, but it is the only place it's happened to me despite a lot of travel.

The info boards, at Etosha, appear to have gone. There was a log book at one place, I think, but it was far from up to date. The water holes are superb and can be watched all night.

Swakopmund: I'd go for the Dune larks first light, have a look for waders etc and then for a boat trip in the Afternoon- book the day before at the harbour.

Thanks Jos, I've sent you my email address as I'd love to read your report.
Thanks too Pluvius, your blog has reassured me that we've made the right choices - especially at Erongo which looks amazing.
Thanks again Steve, we'll take the usual precautions and trust that you were the unlucky one! That looks a decent itinerary for the day at Walvis Bay, but now I've seen the option of a morning kayaking in the lagoon which looks really good ... does anyone have any experience of that trip?

I really appreciate all the feeedback
Cheers
Nick

Walvisbay outing

Make sure you don't go with Mola Mola for the boat trip. I have had a bad experience with them.

The Kayak trip is here:

http://www.emkayak.iway.na/

if anyone has done anything similar I'd be interested to hear what it was like.
I don't think my partener will be very keen on the boat trip if it goes out to sea very far - what sort of distances do they need to go to see whales and seabirds?

Thankyou all
Nick

It might be worth a PM to Max Holdt who has been a member of BF since the early days of BF, he doesnt post much in the main threads but does use the gallery every now and then [was on last month to post a photo] He should be able to tell you of anything you need to know about Windhoek [he lives there] and possibly some info on other birding areas.
http://www.birdforum.net/member.php?u=14624

Steve Babbs said:

Windhoek does have the reputation as being the safest city in Africa but just take care we were only there for a couple of hours and someone came in through my wife's door and grabbed her handbag. We were very lucky - someone grabbed it of the thief and returned it. It could, of course, happened in many places, but it is the only place it's happened to me despite a lot of travel.

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I always keep my doors locked and windows closed whenever I drive through Leeds or Manchester, just to add a little perspective.

As far as I can remember they don't actually go out into the ocean but just up to the mouth of the lagoon. From my experience they don't go after seabirds but I have seen some fly by (too fast for identification).

Just to keep the thread updated, everything is now booked. All the accommodation and car hire done through Expert Africa who have been very helpful. We've had a few availability issues, I think because of the lateness of Easter this year, so we've had to re-route the schedule a bit and go the 'other' way round to normal.
So, the final itinerary is now 1st night in Windhoek, then 2 nights at Waterberg, 4 nights Etosha (at 2 different camps), 3 nights at Erongo and finishing up at Swakopmund for 2 nights.
I have been in contact with the people who do the kayaking in Walvis Bay and I think we'll probably end up doing that as it looks a like a really interesting trip.

Now all I need to do is pay for it!!
Nick

Hi Nick,
Found your thread a bit late, but looking at the various blogs etc. it has brought a lot of great memories back of our trip there in June 2006. You will love Namibia and it should give you many good photo opportunities.We have also used Expert Africa for trips to Botswana and Zambia and have not been dissapointed.
Our self drive trip (Toyota Corolla) included the itinerary below. The roads were basically compacted dirt/gravel but easy to drive, plan your fuel stops as there are only a few petrol stations.

Armani Lodge 1 night - (Just outside Windhoek) Cold front going over and we were freezing at night....do take a fleece, woolly hat and gloves, you will need them, especially if you out on night drives. We saw the 5 Cheetahs mentioned , plus the Leopard and Lions....not a bad introduction to Namibia.
Kulala Desert Camp 2 nights and Wolverdans Lodge 2nights....to see the dunes at Sossesvlie and the Namib Desert...... fantastic.
Rostock Ritz 1 night - A weird complex of white domes, nearly trod on a garter snake.
Cape Cross 1 night -If you like Seals this is the place.
NB. My wife has always wanted to see the Skeleton coast, which we did. Miles and miles of absolutely nothing ! I suppose I did get a reasonable shot of a black backed jackal though.
Terrace Bay - Not the nicest place to stay (cf.Stalag 13), but we had been pre-warned and it was the only accomodation on the route we had planned.
Doranawas 2 nights - fantastic scenery, guided trips from the camp to see desert elephants and rock paintings etc....our favourite camp.
Ongava 3 nights (just outside Etosha National Park) - ground tented camp, armed escort back to your tent, Lions roaring at night, guided trips into Etosha........wonderful.
Okonjima 1 night -The Africat Foundation. This is on the road between Windhoek and Etosha. If you get chance, well worth a visit. Rehabilitation programme for Cheetahs into the wild.
We have fallen in love with sub-Saharan Africa and I'm sure that you will too. Have a wonderful time.
John

One further update which I've just received from 'Tour Brief' is that Hobatere Lodge is closed indefinitely:

QUOTE
<<Due to uncertainty surrounding the Hobatere concession, Hobatere Lodge is closed indefinitely. Although the lodge was expected to reopen on 1 May 2011, bookings cannot be confirmed. As a result, the managers of the Lodge suggest that anyone holding reservations at Hobatere after that date should consider making a contingency plan to move them elsewhere. All prepaid reservations will be refunded.
The Hobatere campsite now falls within the 'roadside concession' which went out on public tender. Hobatere Lodge will no longer be responsible for any further campsite reservations.>>
UNQUOTE

I'm not sure what exactly that all means except that I'm very glad we didn't book a couple of nights at Hobatere as we were thinking of doing so at one stage.
I hope there's nobody out there who will be inconvenienced by this situation.

6 weeks to go now!
Nick