Namibia is an amazing country for a road trip. Driving around the country, you can see massive red sand dunes, wild African animals, local tribes, bizarre-shaped mountains, rock paintings, and many other incredible attractions.
We took the gravel road from Fish River Canyon to Swakopmund, then road from Swakopmund along the Skeleton Coast, and then road in the north of Namibia through Caprivi Strip.
A 4×4 rooftop tent safari to Namibia offers a relaxed journey. You can opt for a car with two tents accommodating two people each, or a single tent for two people. The setup process is straightforward, the mattresses are comfortable, and the tent is surprisingly spacious.
Driving in Namibia is on the left side of the road like in the UK, Australia, or South Africa so we needed some time to adjust. Camping with our own tent was the cheapest accommodation option for a road trip through Namibia. Campsites could be found everywhere from the Namib desert to Etosha National Park and Windhoek.
On Arrival in Windhoek, we met and received our 4×4 rooftop tent car from our tour operator. Then transferred to Quiver Tree Forest, Ketmanshoop a five hours’ drive from Windhoek. Don’t miss the Tropic of Capricorn where you can take your favourite photos. Witnessed the Quiver Tree Forest, the only place you can see a lot of trees growing close to each other. The forest looks the best at sunset. Some trees have massive nests of sociable weavers in their crowns. You can see these massive nests on trees, road signs, and poles, which look quite impressive.
We visited the Fish River Canyon the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon in the US. It’s quite impressive especially if you have never seen a big canyon before. it was definitely worth visiting the canyon.
We had a night at canyon roadhouse with better facilities and it’s more of a fun place to spend the rest of the day taking photos with old rusted cars, chilling in the pool, sitting at the bar, etc. we camped here in our own rooftop tent.
We took an extra day from Fish River Canyon and drove first to Luderitz, a small coastal town. The main attraction of it is Kolmanskop, often called a ghost town. It’s an abandoned German settlement that was quite prosperous in the first half of the XX century when diamonds were discovered in the area. The town turned into an open-air museum.
We visited Sossusvlei located in Namibia’s Namib-Naukluft National Park one of the most spectacular and best-known attractions in Southern Africa. An absolute dream to visit with a camera, the incredible scenery makes anyone look like a professional photographer! The name Sossusvlei is often used to refer to a large area in the park including famous sites such as Dune 45, Deadvlei, Big Daddy, and Sesriem Canyon, this is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia. Big Daddy is the highest dune in the park. Sossusvlei is a large, white salt and clay pan surrounded by massive red sand dunes, located in the Namib Desert.
After enjoying the sunrise at Dune 45 head towards Deadvlei making stops along the way to take photos of massive red dunes. The last 7 km to Deadvlei are on a sandy road; where our 4×4 car was so strong to make it there and back. At Deadvlei we went to the top of one of the dunes to get amazing panoramic views of the desert and the dried salt pan.
On our drive to Swakopmund, we first filled our petrol tank and checked the tires (there is a tire repair shop at Oasis). Solitaire is a nice stop for lunch or a snack on the way. There are a couple of rusted old cars for taking photos. About 50 km past Solitaire we again crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and got another chance for taking photos.
Dune 7 was our next stop. This dune is considered to be the highest dune in Namibia. We climbed to the top of it. It’s a great spot for watching the sunset but if you’re there earlier you’ll still get great views of the desert. There is no entrance fee or gate to access the dune.
We also visited the flamingo colony at the pelican point in Walvis Bay. The flamingo colony is worth visiting if you stop there on the way the next day you don’t have to drive back to Walvis Bay to see it. There are thousands of birds at the bay. Flamingos are in Walvis Bay between November and April.
We drove along the Skeleton Coast from Swakopmund to Cape Cross a unique experience indeed. The straight gravel road along the coast with the desert on one side and the ocean on the other and pretty much nothing around except the occasional shipwrecks.
Cape Cross is one of the largest Cape Fur seal colonies in the world. In the peak breeding season, there are over 200 000 seals in the reserve. Worth visiting between December and February when you can see thousands of cute seal cubs crawling around.
Spitzkoppe is another unique smooth orange colour granite mountain range stands out from the surrounding desert. Camping at Spitzkoppe is an amazing experience for it gives you the feeling of being alone in the vast desert.
We drove to Etosha through Uis and stopped at the White Lady Lodge to see rock painting. The rock paintings are located near Brandberg Mountain (2573m) the highest mountain in Namibia. The White Lady is one of the thousands of bushmen rock paintings in the area. To get to the paintings you walk for about an hour from the park entrance with a guide.
visiting Etosha became the highlight of their Namibia road trip. To get the best experience it’s important to come here in the right season. The dry season, May to October, is the best time to see wildlife. During the dry season, there is not much water in the park animals come to waterholes to drink. You can sit next to one of them in your car and see many animals without even driving around too much.
It is here we saw 4 out of the famous African Big 5 animals: elephants, rhinos, lions, and leopards. The only one that is missing here is the buffalo. Besides these impressive animals, you can see more than a hundred other mammal species such as giraffes, zebras, different antelopes, wildebeests, hyenas, cheetahs, warthogs, jackals, foxes, and many others. This marks the end of the Namibian safari as you drive back to Windhoek for your flight back home.