Back in the day when I used to live in Zambia, I planned an over landing trip to Namibia. This was probably around 2008/2009. I planned on making my way back home to South Africa, and decided to take quite the detour via Namibia – Botswana – JHB. This trip was very compact, with long days of driving, and I would recommend stretching this out a bit and adding in a few additional stops. Below also excludes transit from your chosen departing/arrival destination, and only accounts for the northern part of Namibia.
DAY 1-4: 740km
Our first stop from Zambia was the Caprivi Strip. Here my dad and my brother decided to meet us and spend a couple of days with us. We visited the Victoria Falls and camped at Kalizo Lodge on the banks of the Zambezi River. I’ll always remember that trip and it’s always been in the back of my mind to go back there. It took us only one day to drive down, cross the border and arrive at Kalizo Lodge. We spent about 3-4 days here, whereby we included a trip to Vic Falls.
Distance between the Caprivi Strip and Vic Falls is 304km – about a 4-5 hour drive. To do a daytrip is a long day, but doable.
STAY HERE:
ACTIVITIES:
Day trip out to Vic Falls
Tiger Fishing
Sunset Boatcruise
DAY 4-6: 955km
After a couple of days camping at Kalizo, we stopped over at Etosha National Park. My dad and brother has since headed back to Walvis Bay. We didn’t stay over at Etosha, and merely did a day trip. We planned on driving a bit further and staying over at another place, but looking back, we definitely should’ve spent 2 nights at Etosha instead. Etosha was beautiful and I wish we’d spent more time there.
After Etosha, we couldn’t find a suitable place to stay and ended up at quite a luxurious lodge called Uris Lodge. It was quite late at night but they welcomed us with open arms and could see how exhausted we were. We planned on camping but they offered us one of their suites at half price, plus a little breakfast pack for when we hit the road again (**side note: the rates are quite reasonable but was way out of our budget at the time). This was such a welcome (and needed) treat and I don’t think the manager realised just how much that meant to us. And many many years after that night, I still remember his kind heart and generosity.
STAY HERE:
ACTIVITIES:
Game drives
Self-drives
Waterholes to visit
Guided walks
DAY 6-8: 577km
We arrived at Walvis Bay and stayed there for two nights. We headed up north to Swakopmund for some breakfast and enjoyed the dunes between Henties Bay and Walvis Bay. We also headed out to one of the local public picnic spots, whereby you can also camp – for free. We did minimum tourist activities but rather enjoyed the local scenery. We visited the salt mine and went to see the vibrant salt pans in all their different colours.
STAY HERE:
Fortunately, I haven’t had the need to book accommodation in Walvis Bay as I just stayed with my dad – but there are a wide variety of places available, including a campsite as well for more affordable options.
ACTIVITIES:
Visit the beautiful German town Swakopmund for some delicious pastries.
Stop over at Henties bay.
Explore the dunes between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay
Visit Fogelfeder berg for a little picnic or some wild camping for the more adventurous
Play a round of golf
Drive along the coast line and see all the shipwrecks close to shore
A few additional reads of our time in Namibia:
tintinsadventures 