Headed over to Nambia in a week with my wife and two sons for their first trip to Africa. We will be hunting for ten days, then head to the coast on a self drive to Swakopmund. We will be there four days for some shark fishing and a bit of touring around.

Any recommendations on things to do/see?

Head north up the coast to the largest cape fur seal colony.You know you are close as the smell goes for miles.LOL

Make durn sure you get some bratwurst & sauerkraut. The best I ever had was in Swakopmond.
Beautiful town.

We enjoyed the museum.
Also, they had an open air market one day that had some great stuff at even better prices.
Hope the shark fishing goes better for you than it did for us. Just little buggers.

quote:

Originally posted by d.unger:
Headed over to Nambia in a week with my wife and two sons for their first trip to Africa. We will be hunting for ten days, then head to the coast on a self drive to Swakopmund. We will be there four days for some shark fishing and a bit of touring around.

Any recommendations on things to do/see?

1) Go on the ½ day or full day tour of the Namib Desert with "Charly's Tours" it's awesome and reasonably priced;
2) Eat at the Brauhouse Restaurant. In 2013, a complete filet mignon dinner there was about US 12.00;
3) Go to the open air market right off the main drag, a block from the ocean. There are hundreds of native artisans there, and make sure to negotiate the hell out of them on prices. The most you should ever pay is 50% of the asking price, and 33 ⅓% is doable if you're a skilled negotiator. For example, I bought a beautiful carved kudu that was marked the equivalent of US $30. I got it for US10.
4) Bring a sweater/ warm coat. Being right on the ocean, it gets MUCH colder there than inland.

Desert tour and Brauhouse for sure. A burger at the Lighthouse is also an interesting experience. The market is nice as well. Not nearly as pushy as the yahoos in Okahandja. The snake house is pretty "interesting" to say the least as well if it is still open. Lots of venomous stuff to keep you on your toes!

Most folks probably don't spend much time there, but the small aquarium attached to the Marine Research facility (where you will likely stop to get your fishing license) is quite nice too. Shark feedings are scheduled daily so you can see that go down if you wish.

The marine and sand dune tour to Sandwich Harbor out of Walvis Bay used to be well worth the money. However, the last time I went on the tour (2013) there was clearly a change to running the tourists through the standard paces, collect their money, and send them on their way. Hopefully things have changed on that front.

On the way to the seal colony north of Swakop I would suggest stopping in Henties Bay for lunch/dinner at the Fishy Corner. Best Calamari in the world!

Drive a few miles S and rent ATVs for a guided tour of the Sand dunes. Can be scary depending on how bold you are. (I'm not, afraid of heights.)

Thanks for all the suggestions, much appreciated.

Avoid buying a copy of "Words Cannot be Found; German Colonial Rule in Namibia."

The Hansa Hotel in Swakop is a nice and very comfortable, not too-pricey place to stay. In the same half block is one of the best jewelry stores in Southern Africa, African Art Jewelers at 1 Hendrik Witbooi St, 'tho it's been a long time since I shopped there.

Is a casino in Swakop at the Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre as well.

Regards

Stayed for three days in Swakopmund in 2011 after our hunt. Had a great time shark fishing, riding ATV's, visiting the museum and eating at the Brauhaus.

I believe we used Aquanaut Tours for the shark fishing.

My son & I spent a couple days relaxing in Swakopmund after a hunt. We had fun riding the ATV's in the dunes, fishing, eating, shopping and seeing the sites.
My son's (14 years old) favorite activity was tandem sky diving.