Table of contents for 2016 in go! Namibia

Camping is an easy way to get back in touch with Mother Earth – quite literally, because you’ll probably be sleeping on the ground! Leave your tent flaps open at night and nature seeps in: a cool breeze, the call of a nightjar and… a mozzie! Nature can also bite, but then again, you’ll be ready with a can of Peaceful Sleep. It feels good to get your hands dirty hammering in tent pegs, chopping wood and quickly flipping a chop when the tongs have gone AWOL. And then the best bit: wiping your hands on your trousers afterwards. Camping makes travelling to countries like Namibia affordable – there are good campsites near all the best attractions and game parks. But to camp blindly can be disastrous. You want to…

Ek kan skaars my geluk glo. Dis ’n Sondagoggend net ná sewe in Oktober en ek sien net perde hier by die Garubuitkykpunt. Agter op die horison rys die berg Dikke Willem soos ’n skilpaddop uit die landskap. ’n Mens kan maar net kamera lig en knoppie druk (sien foto links). Op ’n vorige besoek in 2010 het ek vier keer voor ’n verlate dammetjie kom stilhou. Ek kon darem by een geleentheid ’n handjie vol perde op ’n afstand gewaar. Maar nou wei byna die helfte van die trop wilde perde van die Namib – wat jaarliks duisende toeriste van regoor die wêreld heen lok – doodluiters hier digby Weg se Duster op ’n dorre vlakte op die oostelike randjie van die Namibwoestyn. Ek hou op tel by 80.…

Karibib has its origins in 1895, when German trader Eduard Hälbich bought a piece of land from Zacharias Zeraua, a Herero chief. Hälbich knew that the railway from the coast to the interior was due to run through the area – there was water at Karibib, and steam trains needed water. By 1900, when the first train pulled into the station, Karibib was literally put on the map: It had become a town. Shortly afterwards it would play an important logistical role in the German war campaign against the Hereros. Hälbich even became the town’s mayor after the war. Today Karibib is one of those towns where tourists might stop to fill up, get a Coke and then barrel forth. Years ago, I toured Namibia by train and I remember…

STAY HERE: DAY 1 Khowarib Community Campsite The campsite has toilets, hot showers and braai areas, but no electricity. Upon arrival, go cool off in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall, which is within walking distance of the campsite. Rate: R80 per person. GPS: S19.26548 E13.88372 Contact: None available. Pull in. DAY 1 Getting there One of the best staging posts for a visit to southern Kaokoland is the village of Khowarib, 35 km south of Sesfontein. This six-day itinerary is based on my own experiences of a road trip I did in October 2015. The tour starts at Khowarib and ends at the nearby Ongongo Pool, which makes it an almost circular route. It’s a long day’s drive from either Windhoek or Swakopmund to Khowarib so it’s…

Rates. Accommodation rates and other prices listed in this guide were correct at the time of going to print. Use these rates as a general guideline and always call or e-mail to check current rates. When you book accom modation, make sure to mention that you’re South African – SADC residents often get a discount. Also enquire about discounts for children and off-peak rates. Money. We list prices in rand – the rand is equal to the Namibian dollar, and you can use rands anywhere. As a precaution, travel with a variety of debit and credit cards, such as MasterCard, Visa and Maestro, as some ATMs and pay points don’t accept certain cards. Telephone numbers. If you are calling from South Africa, remember to add 00 264 before every number…

MORNING 8 am. Have breakfast at your guesthouse. I stayed at Kairos Cottage ( kairoscottage.com) and my omelette was second to none. After breakfast, cruise around Diaz Point to Halifax Island on the Zeepaard catamaran ( 00 264 81 604 2805). Be sure to pack your camera because you’ll see African penguins and Cape fur seals (at Halifax Island) and even Heaviside dolphins if you’re lucky. It costs R400 per person; minimum two people for the 8 am tour, other tours minimum six people; free for children under 12. 11 am. Make sure you’re back in time for the guided tour of Kolmanskop, a deserted mining town 10 km east of Lüderitz. The 45-minute tour (R85 per adult; R50 per child aged 6 – 14) gives you a good overview…

MORNING 6.43 am. It’s a misty Sunday morning in November. I leave my travel partner Alice asleep at Atlantic Villa in Swakop and stroll down to the beach, barely 200 m away. We got a good deal at the villa, splashing out on creature comforts after a week of camping in Damaraland. 7.07 am. The beach is empty except for a big dog that pauses its patrol when it reaches a dead seal, washed up on the high-water mark. Then I see people, and stroll over. Pieter and Christelle Kruger lived in Gauteng for 13 years, but they tell me they’ve returned to “heaven”. Swakopmund is indeed many a Namibian’s idea of heaven: cool weather, access to a variety of shops and restaurants, good schools… It offers a very good…

Just like you, we love to camp in Namibia. In fact, our journalists camp 80 % of the time in Namibia – not only to save money, but because they enjoy it so much. This list of 20 campsites is based on years of experience. They are tried and trusted spots, except for one brand-new camp which could become your new favourite place. These are destination campsites: places where you can spend more than one day and explore the surrounding area. They all provide access to some of Namibia’s top attractions. As you can see on the map at left, they’re evenly distributed throughout the country. You can easily string them together for a perfect travel itinerary. Unless stated otherwise, all these campsites are accessible in a 4x2 with good…

Years ago, before I’d even visited Namibia or heard of Kolmanskop, my friend JP du Toit told me about Pomona. It used to be a diamond-mining town in the Sperrgebiet, a strip of desert that stretches for 280 km north of Oranjemund, with a surface area of 26 000 km² – bigger than Israel. The desert might seem hostile, but there are riches below the surface. The Germans realised this and declared it off-limits in 1908. Since then, about 10 % of the Sperrgebiet has been mined for diamonds and access has been strictly controlled. Unlike Kolmanskop, which you can see from the B4 tar road 10 km inland from Lüderitz, Pomona is about 60 km further south, in the middle of the desert. “Pomona is spooky but not creepy,”…

A white Land Cruiser labours up the steep bank of the Hoanib River to my campsite. It’s October 2015 and I’m in southern Kaokoland, west of the village of Sesfontein. I recall Dr Laura Brown’s reply to my e-mail requesting an interview with her. “We will find you in the river,” she wrote, as if it were a street address in a city. “We drive an old Land Cruiser with a roof rack and Desert Elephant Conservation logos on the doors.” That was that – and here they are! Laura Brown and her husband of 30 years, Dr Rob Ramey (both 59), are from Colorado in the US. A passion for science and adventure brought them to the wilderness of Kaokoland to research the unique elephants found here. An elephant…

MORNING 4.45 am. It’s crucial to get up early, because the Namib Desert is hot, and you best get your sightseeing done before the sun sizzles at volume 10. The cooler front and back ends of the day are also the best times for photography, so there’s no excuse for sleeping late. In any case, everyone around you in the campsite at Sesriem will be starting up their cars. Camping in the park means that you can enter the Namib-Naukluft National Park a full hour before the people who are staying outside the park. And you get an extra hour after sunset, too. Start early and max out your day! 5.30 am. The gate is open and we follow the tar road towards the dunes. The tar lasts for 70…

OUT OF THE BERG This water comes from a spring on a farm at the foot of the Naukluft Mountains. Where? Sesriem’s camp shop, but also elsewhere, especially in the south of Namibia. We paid R15 (1 litre, still) CHEERS! Vigo is Namibia’s answer to something like Appletiser, but it comes in more exciting flavours like Marula, Wild Orange and Kiwano (African horned cucumber!) Where? Countrywide. We paid R8,80 – R9,80 per can. (Also available in glass bottles.) SUNDOWNER CLUB Most of us are familiar with Namibian Breweries products like Windhoek and Tafel lagers, but this Club Shandy is still coasting under the radar. It’s the perfect light alcoholic sundowner option once the tent is standing and the barking geckoes are piping up. Where? We bought ours at Ocean View…

MORNING 9 am. Have breakfast at your guesthouse (Klein Windhoek Guesthouse has a good buffet) or go to Craft Café in the city, inside the Old Breweries building (40 Tal Street; 00 264 61 249 974; Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5.30 pm; Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 3.30 pm). Buy a big mug of milky coffee (the Germans call it Milchkaffee) for R32 if you’re in need of a caffeine boost and order the omelette with salad and home-made health loaf (R83). And it’s never too early for a slice of apple pie (R39)! Relax on the veranda and send a selfie to your friends back home using the free Wi-Fi. Namibia Craft Centre is on the same premises so you can also buy some…