What's the general outlook - safety, getting around etc with family in a rental? I've hunted in Namibia loved, now the family wants to tag along for a vacation.

I did it with my family in June. Overnighted at Onganga(sp) on arrival, used CrissCross Safaris as a facilitator , drove to the coast, Etosha, and a few other spots before going to hunt. My kids are 12 and 14. Can't adequately describe what it did for them. Safety not an issue for anyone on their game. Driving on the left tends to rivet your attention! Feel free to PM if I can help out.

Bengaltiger,

Namibia is one of the safest counties in the world. I now the country quite well, please PM if you need any question to be answered.

Namibia is the ONLY country in the entire world to change from right-hand driving to left-hand driving. I assume that it occured after WW-I when the Brits took over adminstration of German Southwest Africa from the Germans and administered what is now Namibia as a subdivision of South Africa.

At any rate, having tried to navigate in an LH country (Jamaica) when I was much younger and quicker to adapt, I can only caution that it ain't easy! Coupled with the reputation of Namibian drivers as, shall we say, "informal" in their habits, navigating Namibian roads can be a bit of a challenge for a "righty". Actually, once you make it out of Windhoek and into the countryside, it won't be too much of a problem. Lots of tourists (mostly Europeans) drive Namibia regularly and successfully.

However, you might find hiring a guide and his car to be almost as economical as driving yourself. Something you might want to check into before you commit.

My wife and I rented a Toyota Hilux in Windhoek this past September and drove around for two weeks. We went from Windhoek all the way to Victoria Falls and back seeing a fair amount of the country. It is quite safe and I wouldn't hesitate to take the entire family. The roads are in good shape and well marked, fuel is abundant, and the people are friendly. Navigating on the left-hand side of the road is fairly simple and if you have even the slightest bit coordinated you should be alright. The only caution I would recommend is making right hand turns. Be careful driving on gravel roads as they are in such good shape some tend to drive too fast on them. Also, I would not recommend driving long distances at night as game and livestock can appear out of no where.

If you will be driving in the communal areas in the north keep in mind that livestock will be on the roads a good bit. After spending about a week driving in the communal areas I can tell you that goats will generally move off the roadway when you approach and move quicker when you blow the horn. Cattle on the other hand are evidently dumber than your average box of rocks and will continue to walk out across the road as you approach at 70 MPH followed by the next, followed by the next, followed by the next and so on. Blowing the horn only confounds these stupid beasts and stalls the whole process as they will only stand there in the roadway trying to process the sight of a bakkie hurtling at them at a high rate of speed with the wheels locked, tires smoking and screeching, while the horn is blaring.

Good luck and enjoy. It will be a great trip. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or if I can make any recommendations.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Namibia is the ONLY country in the entire world to change from right-hand driving to left-hand driving. I assume that it occured after WW-I when the Brits took over adminstration of German Southwest Africa from the Germans and administered what is now Namibia as a subdivision of South Africa.

At any rate, having tried to navigate in an LH country (Jamaica) when I was much younger and quicker to adapt, I can only caution that it ain't easy! Coupled with the reputation of Namibian drivers as, shall we say, "informal" in their habits, navigating Namibian roads can be a bit of a challenge for a "righty". Actually, once you make it out of Windhoek and into the countryside, it won't be too much of a problem. Lots of tourists (mostly Europeans) drive Namibia regularly and successfully.

However, you might find hiring a guide and his car to be almost as economical as driving yourself. Something you might want to check into before you commit.

Samoa switched from driving on the right to left on September 7, 2009

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:

Samoa switched from driving on the right to left on September 7, 2009

Right you are! I had forgotten about Samoa. I was flabbergasted when I heard that on the news. I think it had something to do with getting lower cost cars with left-hand steering wheels built for the domestic Japanese market.

The number of countries which have gone from L to R is significant. I can't recite all of them, but many are in Europe where I guess everyone but the Brits are now on the right.

I remember how easy it is to get run over trying to cross the street in Australia. We Yanks naturally look first to the left as we step out onto the street, whereas the immediate danger comes from the right in a LH country.

Driving on the left-hand side is a cinch. Just remember, when you first start out from Windhoek, that if you want to turn right onto the freeway that you have to go over the highway first. B roads are very good but watch out for the baboons. C and lesser roads have to be more carefully driven due to potholes or sand drifts. Rest stops consists of a pull-out with no restroom facilities. You'll have to use the bushes so watch out for puff adders.

My wife and I had no problem renting a car or getting around Namibia. The roads were great and the traffic very lite to say the least! We saw more Warthogs on the roads than other vehicles.

We rented at the airport and drove up to Etosha spent a few unforgettable days there and then dropped off the car in Tsumeb or Otavi (can't recall which), where we met our PH.

I did the booking online myself and had no issues at all. Both Avis and Budget hire cars and are located at Hosea Kutako International.

For a person like me, used to driving in Boston, Namibia was sheer joy to drive around.

In 2004 I rented a car at the Windhoek Airport and my son and I drove over 1500 miles in Namibia and it was great. We did 95% of our driving in daylight as our friends there didn't recommend night driving (drunk natives, warthogs on the roads, etc). Open road the LH driving was no problem. One must concentrate while in the towns. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. We visited three different farms with friends we have there and we didn't have to impose upon them to meet/transport us.

However, I booked the car rental on-line via an internet outfit in Europe and when it came time time to settle up at the end of the two-week trip the rental agency had a considerable different price in mind then what I had been qouted. Cost me about a grand more than anticipated (for a VW Rabbit/Golf kind of car).

My suggestion is deal direct with whoever it is that is handing you the keys to the car in Namibia. Email and telephone, work all details out in advance so there are no surprises.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:

Samoa switched from driving on the right to left on September 7, 2009

Right you are! I had forgotten about Samoa. I was flabbergasted when I heard that on the news. I think it had something to do with getting lower cost cars with left-hand steering wheels built for the domestic Japanese market.

The number of countries which have gone from L to R is significant. I can't recite all of them, but many are in Europe where I guess everyone but the Brits are now on the right.

I remember how easy it is to get run over trying to cross the street in Australia. We Yanks naturally look first to the left as we step out onto the street, whereas the immediate danger comes from the right in a LH country.

They switched to be able to get new LH drive cars from Australia and New Zealand cheaper than they could get RH drive cars.

I've been very satisfied with this company:Offroads tour , but take a look also here:windhoek car hire, it is them guided tours organization.

here the url of the tour that I did, tour july 2009, I appear in two photos while cooking at Khaudom park camp.

the "problems" are: Namibia is a very very wide country, it is an absolutely a "travel during the day and stop with the dark" country, the most interesting places are out of the touristic routes and are not really easy to visit. For example a lot of people goes to Etosha (very touristic), at khaudum park, our group, in the first camp, was the only one present. In the second camp we met another group, but there were maybe fourty people in all the park in that days. No other groups at the baobab park in Busmanland and very few people, or none, in many other places. We were in the wild.

Namibia is safe, if you follows the rules, but it take time. A good rule should be: travel a day, rest and visit the second day, and so on. Don't try to visit too many places in one travel of a pair of weeks or you will run from a place to another one continuously. If you want PM me for more infos.

Additionally we were advised not to do a long haul near any towns on a Sunday. Sunday is by far the heaviest traffic day with Friday being second. We also ended up with a HiLux and found it to be perfect. When we went to get the truck our liason from CrissCross insisted two of the tires be changed. We did some interesting driving and never had a flat. The comment above about driving too fast on the dirt is a valid one. We were told that on any non paved surface that speeds of over 100KPH would result in rock breaks.

We rented a Hilux (damn, I wish we could buy them here!) and a Volkswagen while we were there. Had no problems with either, and the driving on the left was fine. I just pretended I was hogging the left lane of the freeway here.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
At any rate, having tried to navigate in an LH country (Jamaica) when I was much younger and quicker to adapt, I can only caution that it ain't easy!

SA for me but I must agree. Every time I reached for the turn signal I turned the whipers on instead!
Got used to it though and enjoyed the experience.

quote:

Originally posted by oupa:
...Every time I reached for the turn signal I turned the whipers on instead!
Got used to it though and enjoyed the experience.

Yep. Me as well. Along with reaching for the volume knob on the radio to turn it down and ended up changing the station, and trying to get in the passenger side of the car to drive.

There is a little more detail in my July Namibia hunt report, but the short of it is I had a great time driving and camping around Namibia with my daughter. I rented a camping car from:

http://www.advancedcarhire.com/

Wife and I toured about in 07, no problems, no fears. Be aware of some different rental requirements, we arranged a rental via Hertz before we went. Think other major rental companies are represented in Windhoek also. If you can, check with them first, most agencies want a pre-athorized charge of as much as $1000 as a deposit against damages etc. I felt safer with Hertz and Amex than with a local outfit....I may be unfair in this, but that is how I feel.

Just a Thank U to all who have replied, all suggestions very useful.

quote:

Originally posted by Jorge400:

quote:

Originally posted by oupa:
...Every time I reached for the turn signal I turned the whipers on instead!
Got used to it though and enjoyed the experience.

Yep. Me as well. Along with reaching for the volume knob on the radio to turn it down and ended up changing the station, and trying to get in the passenger side of the car to drive.

Ain't that the truth, turned every corner with the wipers on

My wife and I rented a car there last August and didn't have any problems at all except for the damn windshield wipers coming on like oupa said. One thing that was different was the amount of time it took to turn in the car. When we mentioned that we had taken it on a dirt road they actually put it up on ramps to inspect the bottom of the car for damage. You may want to keep that in mind when you are planning your airport return time.