Driving on a Namibia tour

Unlike some countries in Africa, Namibia has a good road network. This is a mixture of tar and gravel roads and these are generally well maintained and as a result it is easy for tourists to hire cars and drive around Namibia.

Before travelling to Namibia, you should obtain an International Driving Permit available from the AA in the UK or AAA in the US for a small charge. You should take this and your normal driving license as you may need to show them when hiring a vehicle.

Most places in Namibia, including all the main tourist destinations can be reached using a normal 2 wheel-drive car, but in the rainy season you may want to go for a 4WD vehicle in case you need to go through any shallow rivers that may cross the road (on some roads, fords are used rather than bridges but the rivers only tend to carry water for a few days each year during the rainy season and are dry the rest of the time).

2WD vehicles tend to be cheaper to rent, and have a boot (trunk) for storing baggage out of sight and are fine for most trips and are probably a good choice unless you are planning to drive off road.

4WD vehicles are more expensive to rent and use more fuel. However they do have some advantages – you are slightly higher off the ground so may get a better view when watching game, and they can cope with crossing sand patches or small rivers better than a 2WD. A disadvantage is that their higher centre of gravity makes them more likely to roll if cornering too quickly.

The main routes (e.g. Windhoek to Etosha) are tar roads which are well maintained and are easy to drive on. The majority of other roads tend to be gravel roads. These are generally very well maintained, but do need extra care to be take.

Tips for driving on gravel roads:

* The speed limit is 80km/hr and it is important to stick to this speed for safety – many drivers are lulled into a false sense of security by the good condition of the road and this can be dangerous.
* When vehicles are approaching from the opposite direction then you should both reduce your speed – this reduces the chances of stones being thrown up by either vehicle damaging the other, and also helps reduce the size of the dust cloud your vehicle throws up.
* Switch on your lights when travelling through a dust cloud
* When overtaking, wait till you have good visibility of the road ahead for a reasonable distance, and once you have passed you should not pull back in front of the other vehicle till you are around 100 metres past them to avoid blinding them with your dust cloud.
* Slow down before bends and dips in the road.
* Keep a constant eye out for potholes, patches of loose sand or other hazards and reduce speed as soon as you spot hazards as taking late evading action can easily result in a skid.

When hiring a car, you should check to make sure it has been supplied with a jack, and a spanner that fits the wheel nuts – you don’t want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire only to find you have no tools to change a wheel. If you do have to change a wheel, make sure the nuts are fastened tightly – gravel roads cause a lot of vibration so the nuts need to be tight to ensure they done work loose.

It is always a good idea to take plenty of water with you – if you do have a breakdown then you need to have water to drink to prevent dehydration. When you stop for fuel, most petrol stations sell water.

Driving at night is something to avoid wherever possible. If you are forced into a position where you have to drive at night, drive a lot slower than normal and take extra care – a lot of wildlife is more active at night and may react to your headlights and dash out in front of your vehicle. The colouration of many antelopes makes them extremely hard to spot at night, and collision with even a small kudu could do serious damage to your vehicle.

If you have to drive in sand and become stuck, first of all check if you have a pump to re-inflate your tyres. If you do, then let some air out of the tyres to reduce the pressure – this should provide extra traction to help you get through the sand.

When renting a vehicle, an important factor to consider is insurance, and the collision damage waiver (or excess) in particular. The CDW can vary a lot between firms, but is generally very high, so in the event of a collision you can end up paying most of the cost of repairs. Many insurance policies state that if the accident is due to negligence or no other vehicles are involved in an accident on a gravel road, you are liable for all the costs although some firms can offer policies to cover this for an extra charge. The best way for tourists from the UK to hire a vehicle without these risks is to hire the vehicle through Sunvil travel in the UK – if you rent the vehicle in Namibia through Sunvil, they offer a full 100% insurance cover policy, meaning you wont be landed with any repair costs even if the accident is due to your negligence while driving on a gravel road.

Quick Facts About Namibia

Location
Namibia is located in Southern Africa, on the North-West border of the Republic of South Africa. Namibia is a large country, around four times the size of the United Kingdom, but with a population of less than 2 million giving Namibia one of the lowest population densities in the world.

Climate
Much of the country is semi-desert and gets very little rainfall, but the North of the country including the Caprivi strip in the North-East of the country receives higher levels of rainfall and as such has far more natural vegetation. The rainy season falls in Namibia’s summer (October-March). Most of the rivers in Namibia are seasonal – they are dry river beds for most of the year, and for a few days in the rainy season they carry water. Namibia does have five perennial rivers (they carry water all year round), and these are all located on the borders of Namibia – in the South there is the Orange river, and in the Caprivi region in the North-East, there are the Kunene, Okavango, Zambezi and Kwando/Linyati/Chobe rivers (the latter being known under different names in different places)

Temperatures in Winter (April-September) are warm-hot during the day (around 26 degrees C) and cool-cold at night (8 degrees C or less with freezing point being reached occasionally). During the summer, temperatures are higher – around 33 degrees C in the day and over 10 degrees C at night.

Language
The official language in Namibia is English, but Afrikaans and German are also widely spoken, as well as a number of African languages such as Herero.

Short History
Namibia was declared a German protectorate in 1884 and named German South West Africa. During the first world war, it was conquered by South Africa, and remained under South African administration until 1989 when following a protracted war between South African security forces and Swapo (South West African Peoples Organisation) which started in 1966, free elections were held, and on March 21st 1990 Dr Sam Nujoma became Namibia’s first president.

Currency/Money
The currency of Namibia is the Namibian Dollar, N$, which is divided into 100 cents. The Namibian Dollar is linked to the South African Rand which is also legal tender in Namibia. This means tourists can obtain South African rand before they visit Namibia as these are easier to obtain than Namibian Dollars, and if flying via Johannesburg, rand can be used in the shops at the airport whereas Namibian Dollars are not accepted outside Namibia.

Clothing
When travelling to Namibia on safari, lightweight clothing is fine for the daytimes, but a light jacket or fleece is recommended for early mornings and evenings, particularly if you are going to be go on game drives on a guest lodges vehicle which are generally open vehicles and it can be cold first thing in the morning. A torch (flashlight) is highly recommended as when you are away from the cities, nights are extremely dark – in the UK there is so much background light from houses, streetlights etc that there is normally enough light to see – in Africa however guest lodges can be miles from the nearest neighbours and background light is almost nil. This does mean that in conjunction with the lack of pollution in the atmosphere the views of the night sky filled with stars are beautiful.

The Namibian flag
The Namibian national flag is intended to represent the nation in every aspect.

* The sun symbolises life and energy, and the colour gold represents warmth and the colour of the plains and the Namib desert.
* Blue symbolises the Namibian sky, the Atlantic Ocean, Namibia’s marine resources and the importance of rain and water.
* Red represents the Namibian people, and their determination to build a future of equal opportunity for all.
* White represents peace and unity
* Green represents Namibia’s vegetation and agricultural resources.

Economy
The mining industry has played a major part in Namibia’s economy for many years, with diamonds being the largest earner of foreign exchange. Onshore diamond mining is declining and production turning to offshore sources. Namibia also has deposits of Uranium, copper, lead, zinc, arsenic, silver, gold and more.

Tourism
Although Etosha is the best known national park within Namibia, it is far from the only one – in fact Namibia has twenty six parks and reserves covering around 15% of the total land area of the country.

Water
Water from taps in Namibia is safe to drink, and water from boreholes is also usually safe to drink. Water is however scarce in Namibia and visitors should use water carefully – take showers instead of baths, reporting leaking taps etc.

Driving in Namibia, Self Drive Safaris