camping in Namibia

I hear that to camp in namibia is necessary to book three months amount. Is it true? We're goingo in august, I think high season?

Do I need always a car or there are some places where you can go by local tarsnsportations?

thak you, stefano

What do you mean with three months amount? Certainly you don't have to book a camp site for a period of three months. But I guess you mean three months in advance. This depends on what kind of campsite. For privately owned campsites it is often not necessary to book in advance. Unless in the middle of a Namibian holiday. If there are no other options in the area it might be better to book in advance. Otherwise just go to the next campsite.

For the government campsites, you often have to book in advance. How long in advance depends on time of year and location. During Namibian summer holidays places like Mile 72 and mile 108 can be fully booked. At other times of year, you might be the only one there.

In Etosha you have no alternatives to the government sites. And you have to book in advance. Specially for the period july-october.

There is very little local transport and distances are huge. Namibia is not a typical backpacker country. Best thing is to hire your own car. For most of the country you do not need a 4x4 and both cars renatls and fuel is inexpensive.

Greetings,

Hi Stefano,

If you are going to use the government camp sites.......and I suggest you do.......You will need to book in advance. I have stayed at many of them, they are excellent value for money and easy to book. Go to http://www.iwwn.com.na/resorts/resorts.html Public transport is virtually non-existant in Namibia, so personal transport is essential. I would agree that 4x4 is non essential, but make sure you have air conditioning if you do hire. It may be wise to pick up a car in Cape Town as Namibian hire charges are high, and it may not incur much more distance to travel as you can visit the Fish River canyon in the far south and the Namib Desert ...with Sossusvlei of course.... as you head on up country. Most good South African hire companies will have an option to drop off the car in Windhoek at the end of your trip. If your budget won't stretch to a car, getting around will be really difficult, but an option might be to have a look at 'The Cardboard Box' in Windhoek. http://www.namibian.org/ It's a mine of information for the budget traveller and they operate tours for the adventurous. What ever you decide, you have to find a way to get to Etosha National Park......one of the finest reserves in Africa.

I know that you have to book some hiking trails at least 3 months in advance to get a chance of a pass, but it would depend on the site you are going to.

I strongly disagree with Philips statement that car hire is more expensive in Namibia. Check it out for yourself at:
http://www.natron.net/autose.htm

You also have to add 2 days of driving up to Windhoek if you are leaving from Cape Town. You can take a bus (21 hours) from Cape Town to Windhoek at approx 400ZAR/ND see:
http://www.intercape.co.za/

You can find a collection of travel related links for Namibia/SA/Botswana on my links page:
http://www.sintef.no/units/chem/chemengr/staff/paals/ index2_links.html

Scroll way down to 'Travel Africa'

August will be cool and plesant. Have a nice trip (some photos from two of my trips to Namibia can be found under 'Photography'.

Cheers,