 | Home > Expedition & Overland > Namibia on a fly drive - Trip Report and Photo's |
 
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| Naks Member Since: 27 Jan 2009 Location: Stellenbosch, ZA Posts: 2586   
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Ian, We did a 6000km trip to Etosha in April/May. Lots of EU visitors fly to Windhoek and then rent a fully equipped 4x4 and camp, google Britz, Kea, namibia camping rentals, etc. Firstly, so Namibia is a BIG place, and the distances mean you may spend 8+ hours driving. Get a Tracks4Africa map and plot your routes carefully. As soon as you see a gravel road, double the time required to get there, e.g., on tar 100km will take 1 hour, on gravel 2 hours. Secondly, do not try to see the whole country in one go. Limit yourself to an area, e.g., Etosha & surrounding areas, or West Coast & Namib desert, else you will require at least 4-5 weeks in-country to see everything. Food is cheap and diesel readily available, but make sure your rental has a jerrycan just in case. Currently it is FRIKKEN cold in Namibia, it was snowing around Sossusvlei last week with temperatures going down to -12C in some places, so prepare yourself accordingly! -- 2010 Defender Puma 90 + BAS remap + Alive IC + Slickshift + Ashcroft ATB rear 2015 Range Rover Sport V8 Supercharged 
Defender Puma Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zZ1en9 Discovery 4 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zXrtKO Range Rover/Sport L320/L322/L494 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zc58JQ |
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21st Jun 2011 10:15am |
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| BigMike Member Since: 13 Jul 2010 Location: Lancashire Posts: 2253 
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I have these guys saved in my bookmarks http://www.safaridrive.com/index.htm
Not used them so can't really comment but the website looks ok |
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21st Jun 2011 4:04pm |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8578
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I seem to recall that John Pearson editor of LRO did a fly drive holiday to Namibia some time back.
Might be worth dropping him an email and finding out what issue it was in and seeing if you can get a copy. Brendan |
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21st Jun 2011 8:05pm |
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| Higgers Member Since: 08 Apr 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 666 
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Booked. 15 Days in a fully kitted out Defender 110 at the end of October.
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15th Aug 2011 7:31am |
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| Naks Member Since: 27 Jan 2009 Location: Stellenbosch, ZA Posts: 2586
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Sweet! Check out my trip report if you need help planning: http://www.overland.co.za/travel_reports/N...l_2011.pdf -- 2010 Defender Puma 90 + BAS remap + Alive IC + Slickshift + Ashcroft ATB rear 2015 Range Rover Sport V8 Supercharged
Defender Puma Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zZ1en9 Discovery 4 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zXrtKO Range Rover/Sport L320/L322/L494 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zc58JQ |
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15th Aug 2011 9:33am |
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| Higgers Member Since: 08 Apr 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 666
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Fly out to Windhoek tomorrow, can't wait
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20th Oct 2011 3:47pm |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 7682 
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i went with these guys a few years back, superb trip, good well equipped LR110 (td5) had everything on it we needed and we tweaked the trip to suit our budget. would go with them again. Have fun. Cheers James 110 XS Utility 130 Puma Station wagon/camper (in the making) 90 Puma Hardtop |
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20th Oct 2011 8:32pm |
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| Higgers Member Since: 08 Apr 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 666
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Just got back, had an excellent time and the Defender never missed a beat.
When I get a spare minute I'll write a more detailed report and get some pictures up.  |
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10th Nov 2011 10:05am |
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| BigMike Member Since: 13 Jul 2010 Location: Lancashire Posts: 2253
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That'd be great, look forward to it
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10th Nov 2011 10:24am |
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| lrmaniac Member Since: 04 Feb 2010 Location: Lisboa Posts: 762  
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Please do ! Regards
Joao '10 Land Rover Defender 110 CC '08 BMW F800GS '64 SIIA Forward Control '69 SIIA 109 ZA CKD _____________________________________________ You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you. |
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10th Nov 2011 12:26pm |
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| TJ101 Member Since: 30 May 2007 Location: Taunton Somerset Posts: 3747  
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Looking forward to the report etc,, Something similar is in the medium term plan California F1, 75th 110 "Kermit", 50th Ann V8, 90 V8 Hybrid, 55 Series 1
Main Brian James Trailer Dealer for South West UK |
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11th Nov 2011 9:03pm |
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| Higgers Member Since: 08 Apr 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 666
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Right, this may be pretty lengthy but hopefully quite useful for those who may want to do something like this.
Why Namibia? Its pretty safe and it seemed a little more remote than South Africa Route We basically did a Northern route from Windhoek to Waterberg Plateau, Etosha National Park, Damaraland, Skeleton Coast, Namib Desert and back to Windhoek. We covered about 3000km over 14 days generally travelling from 0830hrs to about latest 1530hrs. We found this a good balance of driving and relaxing. Accommodation Mainly camped in the roof tent but had 5 nights accross the 17 nights we spent in Namibia in some pretty nice places. Camping was £15-30 a night, majority had swimming pools, restaurant and basic shop to private lodges which were £250 ish per night. The Car I wanted a Defender and to be honest we paid a premium for it. We hired from Bushlore and we found the service to be pretty good. The Defender was 18 months old and had completed about 100,000 km. It was a little tired, however mechanically it was fine. Only issues we had were the seat side bolster was broke and it tended to hold on to the revs for too long when changing gear. The Defender had extended fuel tanks, split charge, roof tent, all camping and cooking kit, fridge and on board water. Overall it cost about £150 a day. Quite expensive when you consider that a 3.0 D4D Auto Hilux is about £110 a day. Kit and Equipment We had everything supplied with the car and I must admit it was all in pretty good condition. We did take a inverter which was pretty invaluable seens as Marie ended up taking about 2500 photo's. The Defender was excellent although it took me a while to realise that I had to travel at about 80-100kph over the corrugations in the road to make them bearable, although this makes the car very skittish. The main issue I had was dust entering the cab and the inability to properly secure personal kit and equipment. When ever we left the car we either had to keep someone in it (supermarkets in the big towns etc) or take passports, money, ipad with us in a rucksac. The roof tent was a Ezi-Awn and I must say they are not a patch on Howling Moon or Maggi for quality and functionality. Main problem was securing the bottom of the fly screens with velcro which inevitably leave gaps and allow to bugs and mozzi's in for a all night free feast!!! Top Tips Plan fuel stops as funnily enough, not everywhere has Diesel Don't be afraid to plan a trip like this yourself. This was the first time we have ever been to Africa and although we had a few concerns it all turned out fine. We had very negative experiences with two companies who said they would organise everything for us. They basically strung us along and tried to extract as much money from us as possible even though we gave them a top budget to work to. With one, we almost booked and then realised that flights weren't included. Don't try and do too much. We travelled between 100-400km per day. Don't panic - we found ourselves going along a road that would be a rough UK greenlane for about 60km, we kind of new we were going in the right direction however doubts started to creep in, especially when we had to cross a river. Amazingly it just opened up, road signs appeared again and we were back in track. We could have easily turned back, and wasted a whole day but it was actually a main road. Be sensible - we had some big off road plans, but came to our senses and took local advice that going up there on your own with no phone signal was dangerous - so I swallowed my pride 
Final thought I saw about 50 Hilux to every Defender in Namibia and I thought I'd never say it but its because they are better for that type of driving. I spoke to a couple of locals with tricked up Hilux's and although they admitted the Defender was better off road, they were more expensive, not secure, let the dust and water in and were generally not Africa friendly. I kind of agree, but I wouldn't have wanted to drive one. I'm Defender man (although I run a D4 at the mo  ) and for me, there was no better car to complete this trip in.
Photo's
Letting tyre pressure down to aid the suspension soak up the bumps!!
Click image to enlarge
Typical Hilux hire car
Old and new in Swakopmund
My favourite car if the trip
That it - more photos in my gallery
Next trip - Iceland next summer
Cheers Ian Last edited by Higgers on 12th Nov 2011 7:22pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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12th Nov 2011 3:10pm |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 7682
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some good points there.
So did you just hire the vehicle from Bushlore and sort the rest yourself? Cheers James 110 XS Utility 130 Puma Station wagon/camper (in the making) 90 Puma Hardtop |
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12th Nov 2011 6:52pm |
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| Higgers Member Since: 08 Apr 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 666
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Yep, hired vehicle only and did the rest ourselves.
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12th Nov 2011 7:20pm |
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