Getting ready for the road

On Tuesday 8^th of November it was finally time to begin our road trip. During the planning phase we had thought of all the different options: guided safaris (very pricey!), teaming up with other travelers, combining bus transport and self-drive etc. But the most convenient, best-suited and the most recommended option for us was to rent a car for the whole 21 days, since we wanted to see the whole country in all its glory.  

Different forums offer a lot of advice and recommendations for self-drive-safari cars, and the vehicle options vary from a regular Polo to a massive 4x4. It was quite a puzzle to try and figure out what kind of a car would suit our needs the best. We’d do just fine with a Polo if we would stick to the main roads and tourist attractions like Fish River Canyon and Sossusvlei, but the moment we want some privacy and to do some camping in the more remote areas, a bigger 4x4 is way more comfy and safe. Some roads are filled with soft sand and are super bouncy, so driving these roads with a Polo would take an eternity (Obs! We did meet a lovely Swedish couple in Sossusvlei who had a Volgswagen Polo, and they had been very happy doing their trip with it ;). But in the end if you're going for a longer trip and do not want to feel every bump in the road, we wouldn’t recommend the cheapest option. We decided to rent a 2x4 SUV via rentalcars.com, since we found a good deal where insurance and a second driver were included in the price. Usually you need to pay extra for tyre and windshield coverage, and in these driving conditions it's wise to have them covered, since the gravel roads are usually not the best buds with your car. 

Enough room for two?

On Tuesday morning we packed our bags and got ready to get the car from a local Hertz office at 10 am. It's good we were there 30 minutes early, since the renting part was a bit of a hassle. Service at this office was straight from comedy and luckily we got a translation from a Dutch couple. In the end no SUVs were available so we ended up getting a huge Toyota Hilux 4x4 with manual transmission. This was very nice since it's not enough of a challenge to drive on the wrong side of the road with an automatic transmission… 

All the essentials for a good desert dinner

Getting ready for the road trip in Namibia requires a bit more than just the car. Unfortunately for a budget-cautious traveler the accommodation could turn out to be a small concern as well. For our daily budget (which was already way beyond our calculations after having rented the car), lodges and bungalows were too expensive (around 800-1500 N$ per person per night), so we chose to rent camping gear. There are a few companies in Windhoek that provide services for renting camping gear, but ended up using Adventure Camping Hire, and for a very pleasant total cost we got a tent, hiker's mats (we had sleeping bags with us), an all-inclusive kitchen set with gas etc. and a fridge for the car to provide us with cool refreshments and fresh produce during our trip. In addition headlamps, a showel, firelighters, a braai grid, biodegradable dishwashing liquid, chairs and a table are quite essential to bring with you even though many of the camp sites are well equipped. And so we were ready to go!