Namibia Self Drive Itinerary with Kids
Namibia Self Drive Itinerary with Kids
Namibia has an incredible landscape and it’s expanse means its a great place to self drive. There are a large number of people who pack up a 4WD or rooftop camper and head off on a big adventure and Namibia is well set up for this.
You’ll get to experience sand dunes, deserts, amazing rock expanses, wildlife safaris and so much more travelling through Namibia and I think you’ll find its easier than you think.
If the thought of taking your own DIY tour through a very foreign land makes you a little nervous, you’ll find Nambia’s German heritage comforting in that you’ll find good German bakeries with amazing bread, European supermarkets allowing some sort of Weetbix which appeases the kids and plenty of English spoken.
I know that you’re not travelling all the way to Africa to experience a culture like your home, however when travelling with kids I know it will make some feel a bit better to know you’ll have similar foods available for those hard days when there’s just too much new stuff going on.
Why we chose to self drive in Namibia with kids
- With kids it gave us the freedom to go where we wanted and run our schedule
- Tours usually had an age limit as you don’t want to have kids on a truck for hours on end. The travel times can be quite long
- Being forced to do it yourself is a great way to learn more about the culture and life
- It didn’t actually seem like it would be too hard and I was ready for an adventure
We also found the campsites in Namibia to be incredible. So many of them had private bathroom facilities meaning we weren’t sharing with strangers and lots were very private and away from others.
In fact, many places who offered camping only had 4-8 campsites in total, so if you were expecting big holiday parks with 100+ campsites, that’s not quite the case. This does mean if you have a particular one on your bucket list then you probably need to book this in advance, especially if you are visiting in high season.
Article Table of Contents
- When is the best time to visit Namibia?
- How to travel around Namibia?
- How long should you stay in Namibia?
- Is it safe to self drive in Namibia?
- Campsites in Namibia
- Day by Day Namibia Self Drive Itinerary with kids
When is the best time to visit Namibia?
Tour companies say the best time to visit Namibia is between May and September. This is because the weather is a bit cooler (because it’s winter) and it’s also drier.
Dry weather means two things in Namibia. Firstly, it makes game viewing easier as the animals will congregate around water holes. So if you are visiting Etosha National Park, this is totally the case. We visited in October 2010 and the variety of animals around a waterhole was pretty awesome to see.
Secondly it means the roads should be better. While you think that a bit of rain isn’t a problem, it does mean the dirt/gravel rounds get mushy from the rain, and then they dry in those horrible juddery tyre marks making for a very unpleasant ride. Graders will come through and help grade the road, but Namibia is a big place and this can take a while.
Namibia, being a desert also gets really hot, so the climate can be much more manageable in winter so exploring will be more fun.
We visited Namibia in early/mid April and the temperatures were up in the high 20s and early 30s during the day, but dropped to about 15C at night. It would have been hard work if the temps didn’t drop in the evening to sleep, but it all worked out well for us.
We had one day of light rain in Swakopmund and a shower overnight near the border but didn’t experience any other rain. So given we have visited in shoulder seasons both times, I wouldn’t discount that either.
How to travel around Namibia
We chose to hire a 4wd vehicle with double rooftop tents. A 4WD is much more comfortable on the gravel roads (which there are a lot of) and just gave us the piece of mind when it came to road conditions that we would be fine no matter what we encountered.
We only drove on sand once and that was at the Sossusvlei Dunes in Namibia so you could probably get away with a car.
The difference between the price of a 4WD with and without the rooftop tents only worked out to be around $50 per day and although there were a few add ons we needed such as a fridgea and we could have added linen, the difference was negligble.
We wanted the ability to self cater on the road which I much prefer with kids and there was a lot of hotel type accommodation that didn’t include kitchenettes. It also meant we got to stay in some pretty remote areas.
You could definitely self drive Namibia and stay in hotels and lodges too but this was a more cost effective way for us to travel Namibia with kids.
Someone asked me over on Instagram why we didn’t use a campervan in Namibia and honestly, I don’t think I’d be able to get over the rattling. Also there were some crazy potholes which would have been much harder to negotiate with a big motorhome. Is it doable? Probably but it didn’t seem like the right option for us.
How long should you stay in Namibia?
I think two weeks is a great length of time to stay in Namibia for the first time. Our own road trip itinerary was 11 days but we skipped Etosha National Park which is a big drawcard for a wildlife safari as we had done that before.
You can easily complete a Windhoek – Windhoek 14 day itinerary and see a lot of the major highlights, or you could combine your Namibia road trip with a visit to South Africa and/or Botswana for a longer African itinerary.
Is it safe to self drive in Namibia?
We felt perfectly safe self driving in Namibia with kids. In saying that, I feel when you are camping and out in the wilderness with few people, I’ve never felt unsafe not matter what country I am in.
I find in the cities you need to be more vigilant wherever you go. There are obviously some problems which I haven’t heard about much more than petty crime, again nothing more than any other main city around the world.
There are parking attendants who will look after you car for a small tip and almost all of the campsites we visited had security on the main gates so that helps you to feel more comfortable. We probably felt the safest here out of all the countries we visited (and there was no where that we ever felt we were in a bad situtation, but maybe you just took more note of your surroundings)
Being from New Zealand we are very lucky in that we are very relaxed in terms of safety as I feel really comfortable. But in saying that, our car was broken into when we were on an overnight hike recently, so again, nowhere is completely safe.
But I would definitely self drive in Namibia with family and have no problems recommending it.
Namibia Campsites
Here’s a quick cliff notes version of all the campsites in Namibia we stayed it. I’ve given reviews in our day by day itinerary in Namibia, but here there are just for reference
- Lake Oanob Campsite in Rehoboth
- NWR Sesreim campsite
- Alte Brucke campsite in Swakopmund
- Spitzkoppe Rest Camp
- Erongo Rocks Campsite
- Urban Camp Windhoek campsite
- Kalahari Bush Breaks near Botswana Border
Namibia Self Drive Itinerary with kids
This article will go through our day by day itinerary. We chose to do a rooftop 4wd camping trip which we booked all independently, no travel agent used. You don’t have to use rooftop tents, you could easily stay in hotels along the way, but this was an easy option for us and we are used to camping at home.
We will review all the Namibia attractions we visited, provide Namibia campsite reviews and discuss any pros and cons we came across so it should give you a good idea of why we made the choices we did
So here was our Namibia Self Drive Road Trip Itinerary with kids
- Day 1: Fly to Windhoek / Pick up 4WD rooftop camper / Drive to Lake Oanob campsite
- Day 2: Drive to Sossusveli / Stay at NWP Sesreim Campsite
- Day 3: Sunrise hike to Dune 7 / Drive to Swakopmund
- Day 4: Rest day in Swakopmund / Stay at Alte Brucke Campsite
- Day 5: Mola Mola Safari Day Trip in Walvis Bay
- Day 6: Sandboarding with Alter Action
- Day 7: Spitzkoppe Rest Camp
- Day 8: Amazing Erongo Rocks campsite
- Day 9: Back to Windhoek / Stay at Urban Camp Windhoek Campsite
- Day 10: Drive towards Botswana Border
- Day 11: Cross the Botswana Border – Head to our Botswana Itinerary
- Additional add on’s to this Namibia itinerary
You’ll note that this was quite a short trip and we didn’t hit some of the highlights of Etosha in the North or down to Fish River Canyon in the south. This was because in 2010, Ashley and I did a big overland truck trip and went to these places. We wanted to make sure this trip to Africa with the kids was different and covered more ground (although we did a couple of these things on this trip for the second time)
I have added on some things I would do if you were spending longer in Namibia as they are definitely worth doing.
Day One: Arrive in Windhoek
We flew from Johannesburg to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. A very easy two hour flight and we directly with South Africa Airways. There was even a good light lunch/snack on board included in the price (flying from the Pacific/Asia, I feel like nothing is included these days – win)
We were collected at the airport by Warthog Safari Rentals, included in your vehicle hire, which is handy as its a 40 minute drive to the city. They gave us enough time to get cash from the ATM and pick up a simcard onsite at the airport before starting our trip to the city.
Don’t underestimate the amount of time it will take to collect your vehicle and head on your journey. Especially if you are picking up a camper, there’s at least an hour of running through everything inside and showing you how it all works
I think our flight arrived at 11am and we didn’t leave until around 2.30 ish in the afternoon.
We headed to Super Spar, the Grove, which is in a shopping centre and this was the nicest super market we frequented on our trip. There were lots of German breads in the bakery and everything you needed to make simple camping meals. You will need some cash to pay for parking if you’re there longer than 60 minutes (ugh we were 63 minutes and it needs to be Namibian dollars not South African rand – which you can also use here)
We were heading down to Sesreim to the sand dunes and we didn’t pass anywhere else to pick up supplies, so make sure you do it here before you leave.
Also don’t forget that your fridge is a limited size, so don’t go too overboard on the chilled things.
We probably should have stayed in Windhoek the night, but we weren’t going too far, down to Lake Oanob Resort, about an hour south of the capital
Accommodation: Lake Oanab Resort 10/10
Lake Oanob Resort was a place that had mixed reviews online, but for someone who is staying in their own camper, all we actually need is a toilet and a decent place to park. There were a few reviews of the bedded accommodation which I obviously can’t comment on, but the campsite was awesome.
We had our own sheltered fale with a braii bbq, shade and plenty of bench and sink area and our site was right on the waterfront overlooking the lake which they said had no crocodiles, hippos or predators. We also had our own private bathroom, so no sharing, yay!
Unfortunately due to our late arrival we didn’t have time to swim, but I would definitely have loved to stay a day and relax here. It was a dreamy start to our Namibia family road trip.
Day 2: Lake Oanob to Sesreim
The start of the gravel roads and this is where I was really glad that we didn’t have a campervan because that thing would have rattled forever!!
Google maps was pretty accurate for our road trip all across Namibia. You can drive at 120km/h on the tarseal and 80km/h on the gravel (obviously depending on the type of gravel) I am going to say the roads were pretty good except between Solitaire and start of the tarseal going into Sesreim and the Sossusvlei area. (you’ll become very excited when you see this very good road)
A few tips for the drive
- If you can head over the Spreetshoogte Pass (photo below) on the D1275, then do. It was the most interesting part of the road and there’s a viewpoint at the top of the pass. There’s even a cobbled section in the very steepest part. It’s not a very long section and it wasn’t hard to drive at all.
- Fuel up at Solitaire. There is a gas station at the campsite area at the entrance to Sossusvlei but it was out of fuel when we were there. In fact, so was Solitaire, so we had to get some on the way back. We were thinking we would have to wait for the fuel truck so always always fill up just in case.
- The famous apple pie at the Solitaire Bakery is good (7.5/10) and a huge portion. I think it was about $5-6 per piece but we could have had two for the whole family.
Accommodation: Sesreim Camp 8/10 with a caveat
We stayed at Sesreim Camp, a Namibian government campsite and to be honest it’s slated online. But maybe I’m not fussy because it worked for us.
NWR Sesreim Campsite review
We had a huge tree that we were shaded by and there was access to power. Toilets were fine, nothing exciting although we didn’t try the showers. We had only been on the road for two days and we’d been for a swim so showers weren’t hot on our priority list.
There was a free pool that was actually freezing. Despite the 35C temperatures, the fact they dropped considerably overnight meant the pool didn’t seem to warm up. But hey, the kids swam, I got up to my waist and was sufficiently cooled.
The kicker is the price which ended up being 2345 Namibian dollars, or about $220 for one night for the five of us. This made it our most expensive camping accommodation of the trip.
But the one bonus with staying here is that you are already within the national park gates. This means you can leave at dawn, 6am to get up to the sand dunes first and get all those lovely photos as the sun rises. The main gates opened an hour late at 7am and I’m pretty sure we were already walking out to the dune.
The huge sand dunes are what you are here for and it got super hot, even at 10/11am when we finished up. The kids were spent. So for us, the extra cost here was far better than staying outside the part.
Alternatives to Sesreim NWR campsite
There is another campsite, also a Namibian government one that people do suggest is better: Sesreim Oshana campsite.
If both of these were booked out you could also try the Sossus Oasis site It’s more secluded and has less people. The Travelyn family did a review on that but it was already booked out when we were there.
But don’t be put off by bad reviews for Sesreim. You are outside in our own tent with basic facilities and if you’re cool with that, I’m sure you won’t have a problem.
This is the one campsite you need to book early. We got one of the last places and it was booked out when we were there.
If its sold it you could also try Little Sossus Campsite, but it is a bit further away
Visit Sesreim Canyon
A short little side trip from Sesreim Camp is the Sesreim canyon and I’m glad we did this in the evening as it had cooled down a little. We went around 530pm and besides the road being crazy bumpy, it was a 20 minute ish drive and you could just explore the canyon as you wished.
If you didn’t know it was there you probably wouldn’t have stopped as its a huge crack in the ground and you can go down to explore it. There were a number of people with guides, but I didn’t think it was necessary.
Great little side trip and I’m glad we did it on arrival as we would have flagged it after being too hot the next day
Day 3: Dune 7, one of the highest sand dunes in the world
If you see photos of Namibia, it is probably these beautiful fiery red orange dunes at sunrise that you’ll recognise first.
We got up at about 530am and packed up the gear which I swear feels like it only takes 15 minutes but in between toilet breaks and forgetting the car keys were in the inside pocket of the tent (unfold, get them, refold/pack the tent again), I’d say always allow about half an hour.
We ate breakfast in the car, boiled eggs and muesli bars and fruit and drove the hour or so to the dunes. We were at the main gate around 6.05am and there were at least a dozen cars ahead of us.
Road Condition: Driving out to the Sossusvlei Dunes
The road out to the dunes in tarseal and the speed limit is only 60km/h although I’m not sure why. People drove faster and the road was excellent but maybe because it’s quite busy.
You’ll reach an area where you can hire a 4wd/shuttle out to the dunes if you didn’t want to drive on the sand, but most people carried on. When we were there, it wasn’t too hard to drive in but you just want to keep going, so don’t follow too closely behind someone else. There are plenty of paths so just choose a set of tyre tracks ahead of you.
I’m not sure how often the shuttle drivers pull people out, but I bet it happens a lot. We only drive a 4WD on the farm and don’t have any advanced skills and it was fine. But I’m sure conditions do change.
Climbing the Namibian Dunes
Climbing the dunes at sunrise was super fun and the light was so pretty. The photographer in me wished I had booked another night to shoot it all again from a different angle as the light changes so fast. But no one would have wanted to do that, so I’ll leave that for another day.
It was so lovely and cool to start and you can see in a few of the photos we still have our sweatshirts on. We climbed up the wrong dune to start with but it eventually lead up to Dune 7, the tallest dune in Namibia.
There really wasn’t any signage that explained exactly where to go. I remember standing in front of one sign directly in front of the carpark, but it didn’t really help. But if you’re there, go straight ahead if you want to go straight to Deadvlei, or head “left” around the bottom of the sand dunes in front of you, along the flat section for a while to head up to the tallest dune which is up in behind. (I clearly didn’t do my research first)
The groups who went with guides knew where to go, but we got a section of dune that was far less busy so maybe it worked out okay. The guides said it was totally fine to run down the sand dune so we indulged ourselves and that was one of the kids favourite memories but oh so much sand in your shoes.
At the bottom of the sand dunes you’ll find Deadvlei, which is a mummified forest. The trees aren’t dead as such but they do ask you not to touch them as they’re almost 1000 years old. The contrast in the sky, dunes and white crusted ground makes for some pretty interesting photos.
Tips for visiting Sossusvlei and Deadvlei
- Take lots of water. We had a couple of bottles but it wasn’t enough and the heat intensified very quickly with little warning. We actually had electrolytes in the car and gave this to everyone afterwards.
- There was no toilet paper in the toilet in the carpark, just FYI
- Don’t forget your sunhat
- Go as early as possible to avoid the heat
We had originally planned to stay at Solitaire, just an hour up the road but since it was so hot, we chose to head to Swakopmund early, a 5 hour drive away so we could spend the day in the aircon.
The Solitaire campsite wasn’t bookable anyway so I just emailed ahead to Alte Brucke in Swakopmund and asked to add another night to our booking and fortunately they had space.
Notes from driving from Sesreim to Swakopmund
- If you’re going to stop for a picnic on the side of the road, there’s a good spot at Gaud pass with a bit of shade, about 60km north of Solitaire. It’s quite a cool little section of road and there’s not much shade anywhere
- There’s only fuel at Solitaire and nothing until Walvis Bay (30 mins from Swakopmund)
- Fuel station at Solitaire only carries packaged junk/snacks
- The main road is wide and gravel and mostly we could drive at 80k/h. There were what we call corrugated bumps along the way, created from tyre tracks from the rain but it wasn’t too bad. (better than the road from Sesreim to Solitaire)
Day 4: Alte Brucke, Swakopmund
We used this day as a rest and admin day as we had originally planned to be driving and it worked out perfectly. It was also signifcantly cooler in Swakopmund which made it easy to relax. About 18C compared to 35C in the south. Yay for a bit of cloud and a good cooling sea breeze.
The kids did some school work, I did some more trip planning as we had excellent wifi right to our vehicle (not just in reception) and had the best shower ever.
I feel like this is a good time to do a Namibia campsite review: Alte Brucke Swakopmund
We grabbed this campsite recommendation from the Travelynn family and I’m so glad I just trusted them as they said it was one of the best campsites they stayed in and while it wasn’t the prettiest of sites, it was so so practical and here’s why we loved it
- Grass: yip they water the little patches of grass which with kids you will appreciate feels amazing after days of dirt and sand. It’s the little things
- Wifi: Excellent all across the park and it made planning so much easier (I didn’t try to download a movie or anything though so unsure if it has that capability)
- Own private shower block: Every site had their own toilet and shower. There was even a lockable safe in the bathroom. The shower had excellent hot water and great pressure. I think I showered twice a day here it was so good.
- Undercover area which was great as it rained
- A dryer rack for your clothes/towels (again the little things)
- The kitchen area to wash your dishes, at your own site, had hot water – hallelujah, so no boiling a pot of water to wash them
- Good flat surface to park
The campsite isn’t the prettiest, with some concrete block fences and no views or remarkable features. Given that Namibia is german, it had a hard practical exterior but it was definitely one of the best in terms of facilities. It felt super safe and I’m glad we stayed 4 days.
Highly recommend it: 9/10
Day 5: Mola Mola Safari
One of our biggest splurges was on a Mola Mola day safari, based out of Walvis Bay (just a 30 minute drive from Swakopmund) The day trip was two part. We started with a boat cruise on the day and the afternoon trip was a dune drive. I have mixed feelings about this trip as the total cost for 2 adults and 3 children was around $1800NZD which is a huge outlay for a day. So let me explain a little more
The one thing I was impressed by was the pelicans. I’d never seen one before and the captain yelled out “there’s the Namibian Air Force” and as I looked for planes I realised they were pointing at the pelicans off in the distance.
A couple of pelicans did land on the railing which was awesome to see. They are huge birds and that was a real highlight of the trip.
There was a light lunch that was tasty and included oysters and then we finished out our boat trip
Verdict: If you haven’t done a boat trip with sea life before, definitely do it, or if you really want to see pelicans. We saw lots of wildlife, but if you have seen lots in New Zealand or your home country, then I would skip it. The landscape doesn’t make it worth the price, unlike other places like Kaikoura in New Zealand where seeing the dramatic mountains adds to the experience
My rating: 6/10
You could self drive these dunes but it is quite dangerous if you didn’t know where you were going. Not just for the fact that you could easily get stuck, but the dunes are really steep and you wouldn’t be able to see if a vehicle was coming up or was slowly heading down the other side.
Mola Mola are the only operators that have tall flags so you can see them, even if the vehicle is a bit out of sight, which is a smart move I think.
I liked how we could relax and really explore the desert without the stress of getting stuck. That was worth the money for me.
My rating: 8/10 – great trip!
See the Dune tour here with Mola Mola Safari 
Day 6: Sandboarding
My husband and I did an Intrepid overland truck trip through Africa in 2010 and when we booked a sandboarding tour for us and the kids, it turned out to be the same company as back then – small world.
For context the kids are 11,9 and 6 and this was the perfect family activity. A rush of adrenalin, a little bit of bravery required and a morning of absolute fun.
We were collected from our accommodation (great as we didn’t have to pack up the rooftop tents) and driven out of town to their special spot.
The kids got helmets, picked up their plywood sand board and the hardest part: walking up the dunes. We brought buffs from home to keep the sand out of their faces which was a good idea but sand got in every crevice no matter what.
There were 6 runs, including a tandem one where you ride together and it was super fun. They have a speed gun and while nobody beat my 74km/h from 2010, the kids got high 60’s and kept repeating to try and improve it.
If the kids are younger, like Emilia or smaller, they can have the option to go with a guide. They actually ride on the guide’s back, which Emilia did once or twice, but found the courage to do it on her own. She did a great job and they all absolutely loved it
Your trip gets filmed (included) and you have the option to buy a set of photos after the fact, however these are screenshots of the video and the quality isn’t great. It was only an extra $30NZD but just take your phone instead. I had my big camera but I wasn’t game enough to get it out in all the sand.
Day 7: Spitzkoppe
This was one place that I was extremely excited about returning to as it had been a highlight in 2010. I remember sleeping outside on the ground as there were no bugs and it was a comfortable still night back in the day. Good fond memories
There are so many beautiful photos as the Spitzkoppe mountains are extremely unique looking and the sun hits the red rocks and they just glisten.
I know this place can get booked out so when we arrived and there was no record of my booking, my heart did skip a beat I swear. So it turns out the invoice looking confirmation was actually a quote and I hadn’t paid for it… fortunately they had space phew! Crisis averted because this spot was honestly a highlight.
It was crazy hot when we were there. Okay it was 30C which coming from New Zealand is quite hot and we don’t do heat well.
You are not allocated a campsite, so you are able to drive around and choose your own. There are about 31 campsites, many labelled A and B and they are all spaced quite far apart so you will have your own privacy.
We chose 11A, well away from everyone which I really liked and the kids could climb all over the rocks. There was also some shade from the rocks at all times of the day (we were there in April) so you could avoid the heat, even if it was just a wee crack in the heat of the day.
We dropped off our table and chairs and set up a few things to make sure it looked occupied and went for a drive.
Things to do at Spitzkoppe
- Find the big rock arch that frames the Spitzkoppe mountains. It’s really pretty and we had no idea it existed pre Instagram
- Explore the ancient rock art. There are guided tours
- Climb the rocks – there are lots of them
- Hike to the top of Spitzkoppe mountains. If it hadn’t been as hot we would have done this
- Just sit in the still and appreciate the amazing orange nature of this place.
We had lots of fun here and I considered staying an extra night. As a photographer I would have loved to have 2 nights here to give me a few options on sunset and sunrises. But if you are just looking around, then one night would be suffice.
Day 8: Erongo Rocks
It’s often the hidden gems, the unexpected that become highlights of the trip and our visit to Erongo Rocks was exactly that. You’re not going to find it on someone’s Instagram highlights or must visit maps – yet… but I was searching for unique campsites in Namibia and had to go deep to find it and now I’m going to put it on your Namibia must visit list.
Erongo Rocks was about a 2 hour drive from Spitzkoppe. We left about 10am to drive in the heat and while we arrived too early to check in, owner Terry was so nice and suggested we take a walk to their waterhole to cool off while our campsite was being prepped.
This was the most relaxing, most lovely way to spend an afternoon and the kids were totally captivated. It was one time we sat back and said… gee this is the life.
It was a 15 minute easy walk, following some cute hand made signs to a lovely little oasis in the rock face. There’s not always a lot of water here and it was honestly the perfect temperature. Cool enough to take away the heat, but warm enough you never had to grit your teeth as you hopped in.
Plot Twist: We shared this oasis with thousands of tiny tadpoles. The kids had so much fun watching them swim and we had this whole waterhole to ourselves for the two hours we spent here, far longer than we needed to.
Here is the highlight: The Camp DikDik site was the most unique setup I’ve ever seen and all of the sites here have something quite special.
It was like the modern day Flintstones with a bathroom built into the rock, a bucket shower, flushing toilet and even a mirror. The kitchen and living space had marble countertops, multiple in fact which I think would be where the shade hits at different points in the day.
Of course there was a firepit/braii area and even a table and chairs. All we had to bring was our rooftop tent to sleep.
It was the coolest setup and I’m so glad we went quite out of the way to stay here. I would have stayed 2 nights, but there was only 1 available and then we could have done one of the viewpoint walks or just spent some more time relaxing at the waterhole. Highly recommend. It will be a real highlight.
Camp Dikdik at Erongo Rocks: 11/10
Day 9: Drive to Windhoek
I had a few days loose in my itinerary in case I needed to move things around and I booked this campsite kind of at the last minute and it turned out great actually. It was a 3 hour drive, half on gravel and half on the main roads, even got a big ol highway in there that you really appreciate after days and days of bumps.
No activities planned, just a school day for the kids. They did a few hours of work and we spent the afternoon by the little pool.
Urban Camp Review
This campsite was great, especially as it was right in the city. The reception and small pool area was well set up and had a great laid back vibe. We actually ended up eating here for dinner and had the best meal of the trip, an eland schnitzel that was super juicy. Namibia is a great place to try out local game meats. It’s far more common here than some other countries we visited.
I loved how the campsites had shade and we had a big table which was ideal for a big family dinner and also our school work and the kids enjoyed the hammock.
The shower blocks were constantly being cleaned and they had both indoor and an outdoor shower which the kids thought was really cool. Unfortunately by the time I had my shower later on in the morning there wasn’t any hot water.
Definitely recommend this Windhoek campsite if you are driving through
Day 10: Drive to Botswana Border
We left as late as possible after some school work as we only had to drive another 3 hours to reach the border.
We stayed at the Kalahari Bush Breaks which wasn’t my favourite spot. It was fine but not a destination on its own. There was a floodlit waterhole which was kinda cool and we saw a few antelope from afar but this camp, from a campsite perspective was just a piece of dirt.
Was it all we needed, yip and it did the job if you just need a place to stay, but its not worth a visit on its own, unlike some of our other stops.
There was a cool lightning storm though.
Coming soon – Part II of our Africa Road Trip continues to Botswana and Zimbabwe
Extend to a 14 day Namibia road trip
If you want to spend more time in Namibia and a create a longer Windhoek to Windhoek itinerary, this is what I would do
Head down to the Quiver Tree Forest and Fish River Canyon after Day 1. Then you could head back up to the sand dunes and continue the loop
- Fish River Canyon: We visited here in 2010 and the canyon is pretty impressive. It has Grand Canyon vibes and is the largest canyon in Africa. There are a number of hiking trails in Fish River Canyon and viewpoints that are accessible to see the vastness of the canyon. A great stop if you’re happy to head that far south, or if you were driving up from South Africa. We may have done this is we weren’t quite so restricted on time.
- Quiver Tree Forest: The Quiver Trees are 200-300 years old and are only found in Southern Africa. They’re pretty unique looking and very rare as far as trees go. You’ll find this forest near Keetmanshoop.
- Kolmanskop: )photo below) If you’ve been looking at photos on Instagram you might spot the sand filled ghost town of Kolmanskop. It was an old gold mining town in the early 1900s but now its deserted and buried by sand. You’ll need to pay an entry fee and get a photography permit if you want to take photos. It’s well off the main route however could be worth a visit
Add on a trip to Etosha National Park with kids
If you aren’t doing any other self drive safaris such as Kruger National Park then I would definitely add on a trip to Etosha. We visited here in 2010 and loved it. We were there in October which was quite dry and it was a great place to see animals gathering around the waterhole. It would visit here after going to Erongo Rocks.
I ummed and ahhhed about visiting here with the kids and the only reason we didn’t go was that we did three other locations for safari and I didn’t want to do too many animals and by the end of our last safari location, they were definitely done and so were we. I think it is possible to do too many.
A few tips for visiting Etosha National Park
- If you want to camp there, you’ll need to get a booking in advance, especially in the dry season as its busy then. I think the campsites are a bit like the NWR sesreim site where you are definitely paying for the location, but that’s sometimes just apart of travelling. If you stay inside the park, you’ll be ahead of those travelling in from the gates where cars line up to get in in the morning.
- Etosha National Park has floodlit waterholes and I remember this being one of my favourite memories in 2010, hearing the roar of the lions and watching the animals arrive at night.
- You can definitely self drive, I don’t think you would need to have a specific guided game drive
- Make sure you have filled up on fuel prior to entering as the national park fuel stations can run out.
Visiting Africa with Kids
Here are a few more articles you might find useful for planning an African safari with kids and some cool places you might want to include
- Moela Safari Lodge Review: Amazing all inclusive luxury lodge in Botswana right overlooking the Boteti River, home of the Zebra and Wildebeast migration
- Hwange Community Rhino Project: Walk with the Rhinos in Zimbabwe and really learn about local communities here
- How to plan a trip to Africa with kids: Packing Lists, Safety, Money and Currencies, where to go, how to travel – coming soon
Jennifer
Founder of Backyard Travel Family
Jen is a super organiser when it comes to travel. Having travelled extensively in Europe and Africa, has lived in London and the USA and holidayed in many parts of Asia, she is not a newbie to the travel space
Jen has three young children, 11 and under and travels around New Zealand with them.
