Driving in Namibia - Stan's takes on Southern Namibia

Stan and Marianne Rogers have travelled 5883 km so far and are now exploring Southern Namibia. Stan shares his views after spending a couple of days driving in Namibia…

First things to be said about driving in Namibia (at least Southern Namibia) are:

• Namibia roads are in great condition, making driving there with a 4×4 a pleasant experience. Although you will find mostly gravel roads on this side of Africa, it is well graded and there isn’t a lot of traffic to mess it up. Despite the temptation to go faster, we kept a modest 80 to 90 km per hour speed.

Remote roads through southern Namibia near Ai-Ais.      Photos by Stan Rogers

• The temperature reaches a scorching 41 degrees Celsius during the day and drops to 31 degrees at night. Tonight near Aus is cooler at 25 degrees Celsius.
• As towns are far outstretched in this big country – a lot of diesel goes into the tank. What’s more is that roads are quite desolate – other than the odd farm you won’t see more than five other vehicles per day passing by. This is the perfect space to clear your head!
• Although the area had exceptionally good rains in December last year and in January this year, it reminds me of a lot of the Australian Outback – it is extremely dry. In fact, only 50 mm rain per annum falls at the Fish River Canyon and most of the southern Namibian country.
• The landscape is beautiful in its own unique way and it seems to change the whole time – from flat dry plains to impressive mountains with boulders, crags and canyons. The weird-looking Quiver tree you’ll encounter from time to time provides an ethereal look to the desolate landscape.

A Quiver tree

• The locals next to the road are friendly and wave like crazy most of the time.

Keetmanshoop

We spent our first night in Namibia at the Quiver Tree Forest near Keetmanshoop. We saw some cheetahs being fed and also visited the boulder-strewn “Giant’s Playground” with its strange rock formations. What a great place to camp! We also met up with Frikkie and Fiona again and had such a wonderful “braai”.

After getting the necessary supplies and finding the appropriate sim card for my laptop’s mobile modem, we headed down to Fish River Canyon. The impressive site the next morning blew us away! The canyon reminded me of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Driving in Namibia should be on every traveller’s to do list. Above is the Fish River Canyon.

Desolate country near Fish River Canyon is what we encountered when driving in Namibia.

Ai-Ais hot springs resort (only 70 km down the road) offers a great luxury experience. Here you will find a restaurant, bar, hot mineral baths in a cool indoor setting and a beautiful swimming pool fed by the springs. The water temperature is a balmy 30 degrees Celsius (the hot springs water comes out of the ground at 65 degrees Celsius)!

What a beautiful scenic drive we had the next day through some stark mountainous country along the Orange River! We were bordering on South Africa to the diamond mining town of Rosh Pinah and then on to Aus. The plan is to stop at the old diamond-mining town of Kolmanskop and then the port of Luderitz. Here we will spend a couple of days and let Tin Can rest for a while.

We will keep you updated!

More tips and information on driving in Namibia.

For car rental check out 4×4 rental Namibia for reliable rental.

Read more about Stan’s adventures on driving in Namibia.