NAMIBIA WITH 4X4 IN A WEEK

Here is how to travel Namibia in 6 days with 4x4.

The route we took was Windhoek - Sousslvei - Walvis Bay - Etosha loop travelling 2120 km and completing 27 hours on the road.

There are of course more things to see such as Fish Canyon (second largest in the world and Skeleton Coast). I also do recommend spending 8-10 days on the route we took if you can.

Here is our itinerary day by day:

DAY 1

• Landed in Windhoek at 17:00 

DAY 2 WINDHOEK TO SOSSUSVLEI

• 09:00 Picked up our Toyota Hilux 4x4

• 11:00 Went to Spar supermarket to buy groceries for a week

• 12:00 Set off to Sossusvlei 

• 16:00 Arrived ar Sossusvlei

*car pickup takes around 2 hrs as they show you everything about equipment, how to put the tent out etc.

*the only supermarkets on this route were in Windhoek

*most of the roads from Windhoek to Sossusvlei are gravel, pressure in tyres should be 1.8

DAY 3 SOSSUSVLEI TO WALVIS BAY

• 07:00-07:30 Drive to Sossusvlei Gate

• 07:30-12:00 Exploring Sossusvlei

• 12:00-18:00 Drive to Walvis Bay with a few stops

*it was mixture between paved and gravel roads

*I recommend only spending the whole day in Sossusvlei and staying another night

*you will be also driving on dunes - deflate tyre pressure to 1.5

DAY 4 WALVIS BAY TO OMARURU

• 09:00-13:00 Sandwich harbour tour

• 13:00-14:30 Swakopmund

• 14:30-17:30 Drive to Omaruru

*we stayed overnight in a place that was heading towards Etosha National Park - it was a cute little village

*roads towards Etosha are mostly paved and you will come across more towns along the way

*scenery is also more green vs sandy

DAY 5 OMARURU TO ETOSHA

• 08:00-11:00 Drive to Okaukejo (Anderson Gate)

• 11:00-15:00 Drive through Etosha, trying to spot animals ourselves

• 15:00 Arrived in our camp in Namuteni

*drive through Etosha is gravel roads with a speed limit of 60km/h

*when choosing a camp, research if it is fenced or not, if you are worried about a lion visiting you at night

DAY 6 ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

• Relaxed in our camp

• 17:00-20:00 Safari Game Drive

DAY 7 ETOSHA TO WINDHOEK

• 08:00-14:00 Drive to Windhoek

• 14:00-15:00 Returned a car

• 15:00 Relaxed in caravan

*all roads are paved to Etosha and there are a few towns along the way too

DAY 8 FLY TO CAPE TOWN

Namibia has been on by travel bucket list for a few years now after hearing from fellow travellers that it is one of their favourite countries - and I understand why! 

CAR RENTAL & PETROL

Most places in Namibia are very remote and far away from each other and public transport is pretty much non-existent. The best way to travel around is by a 4x4 - there are many gravel and dust roads. We rented our Toyota Hilux from “Safari Car Rental” which I highly recommend. Our car came fully equipped with a roof top tent, bedding, towels, all kitchen appliances, fridge, table, chairs, gas cooker, emergency kit and spare tyres. We added on top gps, satellite phone and insurance which worked out to £670 per 6 days. As some places had no signal, we wanted to have a satellite phone with us, just in case. Luckily, we did not have to use neither the phone or change a tyre - if you stick to a speed limit you will be fine. 

Petrol is pretty cheap in Namibia - £0.90/liter on average. So we spent around £250 in petrol to travel for 6 days spending 27h on the road. We always ensured that at least one fuel tank is full (our car came with 2 fuel tanks) as in some places you would not come across a petrol station for hours (especially around Sossusvlei).

ACCOMODATION & CAMPSITES

In a high season (dry), campsites get booked up pretty quickly, but in an off-season we booked them a day before and most of them had no or only a few guests. 

We spent first night in “Little Sossus Campsite” which was my favourite and were the only guests there. Most campsites in Namibia are equipped with private bathroom, kitchen, braii (bbq) area and charging ports. In the common area there is a pool and wifi. Prices vary from £20-50/night. 

In Walvis Bay and Omaruru we booked an airnbnb and guesthouses. Price per night was around £50. You can also find campsites in the nearby areas. We were recommended “Bushman's Desert Camp” that is located between Sossusvlei and Walvis Bay to break up the journey. 

In Etosha our campsite for 2 nights was “Onguma Tamboti”. We chose it because it was fenced and made me more comfortable camping in wild knowing dangerous animals are kept away. I highly recommend this campsite - it had premium facilities in the reception, pool, restaurant, bar, waterhole where animals may come to drink and they also offered safaris. 

The last night before we flew away, we booked “Bella Tiny House” near the airport - I have the best reviews of this quirky and unique place. It had an outdoor bath, a lot of little details the owner has thought about in the caravan. 

LOCAL SIM

Most places in Namibia has a signal, however when driving to Sossusvlei we did not have any, even though we got a local SIM at the airport. I did find it useful to have a data when some of the campsites only had wifi in the common areas or when we approached towns, as we were booking our accommodation as the trip went by. 

PLACES TO VISIT

SOSSUSVLEI

Probably the most famous sight in Namibia - very scenic nature around this National Park that has one of the world’s tallest dunes and unique landscape. 

WALVIS BAY, SANDWICH HARBOUR AND SWAKOPMUND

Coastal towns of Walvis Bay that has flamingo lagoon and German influenced architecture town of Swakopmund that has colourful housing and many quirky coffee shops and places to eat. You can also take a “Sandwich Harbour” tour to dunes, south of Walvis Bay, which is what we did. It is also possible to drive yourself, however I would not recommend. Drivers have some experience and training driving those dunes and last thing you want is to get stuck. This was one of my favourite experiences in Namibia, having fun in dunes, enjoying picnic and admiring unique landscape. The only sadness was many dead seals along the coast that have been killed by seagulls.  The tour cost around £120 per person but was worth every penny.

ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

Etosha offers one of the best safari experiences in Africa. You can see 4 out of Big 5 - lions, leopard, elephants and rhinos. We were so lucky to see all of them. I have done a few other safaris in South Africa, Botswana and Sri Lanka but this was one of the best, even though we did it off season. We entered Etosha from Anderson Gate / Okaukejo. Price was around £15 per 2 per day. Then we drove through the park to Namuteni gate which took another 3h. We only spotted giraffes and zebras along the way so we decided to take a guided safari the next day. We opted for a 3h sunset game drive and saw lions, cheetah, leopard, rhinos, giraffes and elephants. Our guide also treated us to a sunset bar. It was also very affordable compared to other safaris - £38 per person that included pretty much unlimited drinks. In a dry season the chances to see animals are even higher. 

On the last day we drove 5h back to Windhoek and that was the end to our beautiful road trip to Namibia! 

Overall trip costs £1744 per 2 people (£872pp)

• Car rental £670

• Petrol £220

• Food £170

• Accommodation £334

  • Windhoek airbnb £42

  • Little Sossus Campsite £23

  • Walvis Bay Otis Self Catering £52

  • Omaruru guest House £60

  • Onguma Tamboti Campsite £97

  • Bella Tiny House £60

• Tours, entrances £350

  • Sossusvlei £15

  • Etosha £15 

  • Sandwich Harbour £240

  • Game Drive £80