Namibia Transportation Tips by toonsarah

Drive yourself

One of the joys of a holiday in Namibia is that you can drive yourself - perfect if, like us, you prefer to be able to stop when, where and for as long as you please. And you don't need a four-wheel drive for most of the main roads, although as almost all of them are gravel rather than tar you need to drive carefully. It’s all too easy to skid and spin the car, as we found out!

If you book a hire car you’ll be given a map, and as there are relatively few roads it would be quite difficult to get lost. There are also relatively few petrol (gas) stations, so we were pleased that our map indicated where these were. Our car had one of those in-built computers that estimate how many more miles you can drive on what you have in the tank which, although not 100% reliable, was a reassuring extra.

Make sure your car comes with a good spare tyre, tools and a fuel tank too – we didn’t have any problems but with the rough roads and wide empty spaces it’s best to be prepared.

When you collect your car at the airport the hire company assistant will check it over with you – make sure he/she marks down all existing marks and scratches (of which there will be plenty) on the appropriate form. The car will be checked again when you return it and you don’t want to get blamed, and charged, for any damage you didn’t cause. But don’t worry too much about the odd scratch – these companies understand that you can’t drive these gravel roads without getting a few!

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Type: Car/Motor Home