Namibia dream holiday

My holiday to Namibia was somehow 20 years in the making, but it was certainly well worth the wait! Having been on my first safari to Tanzania, I was hooked on the idea of seeing elsewhere in Africa and started to look around. Namibia jumped out as being somewhere quite unique, with wildlife, yes, but paired with dramatic and often otherworldly landscapes. Long story short, we planned a couple of trips over the years and Namibia was often mentioned as a ‘one day’ place to go but the plans never quite came to fruition. Finally, out of the blue, a friend said ‘we’re thinking of going to Namibia, do you fancy coming?’ and from that moment, there was no looking back. That’s how, in April 2019, I found myself sitting at Heathrow with 7 friends and map poring over the adventure we were about to have.

How to get there? There are currently no direct flights from the UK, but flying from Heathrow to Windhoek, the Namibian capital, via Johannesburg was hardly an inconvenience. In fact, in my book, a stop in Jo’burg airport is a positive advantage as there’s plenty of retail opportunities and so on the way out you can check out the things you fancy so you can do a trolley dash on the way home.

When to go? We’d chosen to travel at the end of the wet season, so outside of the peak months of June to September when it’s bone dry with not a cloud in the sky. However 2019 was a year of drought when barely a drop ran in many riverbeds and so there was plentiful wildlife at the water holes.

How do we get around? There are many ways to see Nambia – you can join a tour or drive yourself; you can fly into some of the remoter areas and if you’re not of a nervous disposition you can even camp on the roof of your vehicle. This is not, however, a ‘fly and flop’ or even a twin centre type of holiday; in Namibia, if you want to get to see stuff you have to put in the miles as what this country has in abundance is vast open spaces. This is one of the easiest places to drive in Africa, with good roads connecting the main places of interest and relatively little traffic, but be aware that you will also encounter some unmade roads and because of distances it’s as well to have more than one designated driver. Being a small group we decided to have the best of both worlds and hire a minibus with a driver guide, so we could all sit back and enjoy the views. For our group this was definitely the ‘right answer’ although if I had my time there again I’d opt to do the same tour in a specially adapted 4WD all-terrain truck.

Where to stay? Touring Namibia you’ll be staying most of the time in lodges in out of the way places and will have breakfast and evening meal included but in Windhoek, and Swakopmund I’d definitely recommend bed and breakfast so that you can choose where you go to eat. On our first night in Windhoek we hit Joe’s Beerhouse – do the same and you’ll definitely feel more like you’re on holiday than you would having dinner in a large soulless tour hotel. We chose to mix it up a bit with accommodation, staying in more budget options in some places and splashing out in others. One place was like something from the Wild West – I fully expected to open my door and see a gunfight going on in the open space between my room and reception. Another place had the most stunning panoramic views and quirky wood-fired boilers to heat the water. Then there was the tented camp at Mushara. It’s definitely worth at least a night or two under canvas to fall asleep with the sounds of the African bush around you. My absolute favourite place to stay though was Okonjima, home of the Africat Foundation whose mission is the conservation of Nambia's carnivores in their natural habitat. I’d dreamed of this place from the moment Namibia caught my eye and one of the highlights of the whole trip was tracking leopard in the bush and actually seeing one hunting. We stayed in the luxurious Bush Camp and the memory of a silver backed jackal taking a drink at my very own waterhole and the springboks duelling before my eyes from my open sided lounge will also remain with me forever.

Trip Highlights

Sossusvlei is perhaps one of the most iconic locations in Namibia – it’s where you’ll find massive red dunes and white salt pans. It’s possible to climb some of the dunes and we opted for ‘Big Daddy’, the tallest dune in the Sossusvlei area, overlooking Deadvlei with its eerie landscape of salt pan punctuated by fossilised trees. Make sure you have plenty of water and take your time – it’s quite hard work climbing up sand in the heat of the day!

Swakopmund, on the coast, has a cooler climate than the desert areas, but don’t let that put you off - for much of your Namibia trip you’re likely to be out in the wilds, so it’s a refreshing change to be in a town, especially when one like Swakopmund that has a variety of shops selling art works and hand crafted items, many from local co-operatives. The food was excellent here too, with local fish being the main speciality. One absolute highlight of Swakopmund was sea kayaking near a seal colony. My expectation was to view the seals on land from our kayaks, which was exciting enough, but soon we were surrounded by these curious creatures and we got the odd surprise passenger on our canoes!

Etosha is Namibia’s foremost game park and a great place to see the ‘big beasts’ such as elephants, giraffe, zebra, lions and rhino, plus plenty of smaller creatures like porcupines and birds like hornbills to surprise and delight. To enjoy Etosha at its best I recommend staying in a couple of different lodges on either side of the park; this way you will see a wider variety of animals in different settings. The great beauty of it is that the transfer from your first lodge to the second can be through to park so that’s a game drive in itself!

Must Dos

Be brave and try the game meats like zebra and oryx which are the cornerstone of the local cuisine. Get a photo at the Tropic of Capricorn sign. Climb a dune! Or even better, fly over the dunes in a balloon. Factor in lots of game drives - every day is different in the animal world. Do that sea canoeing trip in Swakopmund – it’s something else!

I could seriously go on forever about Namibia. Even with 20 years of expectation it didn’t disappoint and I would recommend it to anyone with a spirit of adventure looking for a holiday that’s a bit out of the ordinary.