Mainly Namibia

RooFlyer

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I can't recall the genesis of this trip. About a year ago I think I was looking at the map for somewhere I hadn't been before, and where I could see interesting things. Namibia had always be of interest, and I noticed Intrepid had a 'Premium Namibia' 10 day tour. I'm more and more attracted to tours these days, especially in non-first world countries. I was happy enough driving around Chile last December and Japan a few months ago, but I decided I'd see a lot more on a small group tour here, being driven around with everything organised.

So that was the first plank.

1723116766352.png

What else then. I've been to South Africa many times for work and had driven around a lot of it - mainly the south (wine areas) and around Jo'burg (gold mines). What else? Been to the countries in southern and east Africa except Angola and the new-ish South African 'homelands' and visited game parks in Kenya/Tanzania. Madagascar was put aside for a separate visit.

Not much appealed. Looking at the timing of the flights from/to Oz - and knowing that I want at least a day between beginning and finishing a tour and the arriving/departing flights, there was going to be a 4 day gap at the start. Somehow I decided to visit the Madikwe game reserve in NW South Africa.

1723117306099.png

At this stage I brought in my trusty travel agent and asked them to construct an itinerary with QF flights SYD-JNB, onward flight to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, driver to Madikwe, a nice lodge there, then out and flights to Windhoek where I would join the tour, then back home.

Then the fun began. The TA asked "Why would you want to start at Gaborone? There's nothing there". And in addition to the flight cost, its going to cost $900 to get to the game park and back and also a border crossing which might be lengthy.

HOW MUCH? Its an hour or two - almost a thousand bucks in the third world country? I started a thread asking for alternatives but none were forthcoming and we found no alternative to the expensive drive.

TA came up with plan B. There is a 'shuttle' air service between Madikwe and JNB which seemed to be the usual way of getting from JNB. So the TA priced some lodges and the flights and we came up with Tau Lodge. Flights A$1,200 there and back. :(


Live web cam

Three nights was moderately expensive and, coupled with the flights, it had better be good! So everything was locked in about 6 months ago. Almost.

About 6 weeks ago the flight people said that I was the only passenger each way, so if no-one else came forward I'd need to pay for two. Ummmm ... no.

So I and the TA start pricing hire cars - again I started a thread on this, but in the end I couldn't get comfortable with the cost/insurance/safety/rental car usual hassle equation.

So final, plan C. TA comes up with Day Trip Daytrip: Private Car Transfers with Sightseeing essentially a private car transfer - they operate around the world. Lock it in; A$800 for two four hour transfers. Meh. I'm on holiday. Flight people then come back and say a pax has popped up for one of my flights and they'd put a flight one way, car return package for ... A$1,000. Nick orf.

As usual, I've got some health things to look after. Not serious this time - arthritis in a finger knuckle and in foot. Got the finger injected with steroi_ on Monday and the foot will be done tomorrow. Finger not doing so well, but still has a day or so to take full effect; Saturday is a rest up foot day and fly out Sunday.

1723119470061.png

HBA-SYD QF J
Rydges at SYD
SYD-JNB QF J
Premier Hotel at JNB
Car JNB-Tau Lodge return
Tau Lodge 3 nights, 2 game drives/day, full board
JNB-WDH SAA J
Pre tour night in The Weinberg THE WEINBERG
Premium Namibia tour
Post tour night in The Weinberg
WDH-JNB Airlink J
Premier Hotel at JNB
JNB-SYD-MEL-HBA QF J

HLO

Namibia will be country #99, but who's counting :)
 
Last edited:
I can't recall the genesis of this trip. About a year ago I think I was looking at the map for somewhere I hadn't been before, and where I could see interesting things. Namibia had always be of interest, and I noticed Intrepid had a 'Premium Namibia' 10 day tour. I'm more and more attracted to tours these days, especially in non-first world countries. I was happy enough driving around Chile last December and Japan a few months ago, but I decided I'd see a lot more on a small group tour here, being driven around with everything organised.

So that was the first plank.

View attachment 401289

What else then. I've been to South Africa many times for work and had driven around a lot of it - mainly the south (wine areas) and around Jo'burg (gold mines). What else? Been to the countries in southern and east Africa except Angola and the new-ish South African 'homelands' and visited game parks in Kenya/Tanzania. Madagascar was put aside for a separate visit.

Not much appealed. Looking at the timing of the flights from/to Oz - and knowing that I want at least a day between beginning and finishing a tour and the arriving/departing flights, there was going to be a 4 day gap at the start. Somehow I decided to visit the Madikwe game reserve in NW South Africa.

View attachment 401290

At this stage I brought in my trusty travel agent and asked them to construct an itinerary with QF flights SYD-JNB, onward flight to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, driver to Madikwe, a nice lodge there, then out and flights to Windhoek where I would join the tour, then back home.

Then the fun began. The TA asked "Why would you want to start at Gaborone? There's nothing there". And in addition to the flight cost, its going to cost $900 to get to the game park and back and also a border crossing which might be lengthy.

HOW MUCH? Its an hour or two - almost a thousand bucks in the third world country? I started a thread asking for alternatives but none were forthcoming and we found no alternative to the expensive drive.

TA came up with plan B. There is a 'shuttle' air service between Madikwe and JNB which seemed to be the usual way of getting from JNB. So the TA priced some lodges and the flights and we came up with Tau Lodge. Flights A$1,200 there and back. :(


Live web cam

Three nights was moderately expensive and, coupled with the flights, it had better be good! So everything was locked in about 6 months ago. Almost.

About 6 weeks ago the flight people said that I was the only passenger each way, so if no-one else came forward I'd need to pay for two. Ummmm ... no.

So I and the TA start pricing hire cars - again I started a thread on this, but in the end I couldn't get comfortable with the cost/insurance/safety/rental car usual hassle equation.

So final, plan C. TA comes up with Day Trip Daytrip: Private Car Transfers with Sightseeing essentially a private car transfer - they operate around the world. Lock it in; A$800 for two four hour transfers. Meh. I'm on holiday. Flight people then come back and say a pax has popped up for one of my flights and they'd put a flight one way, car return package for ... A$1,000. Nick orf.

As usual, I've got some health things to look after. Not serious this time - arthritis in a finger knuckle and in foot. Got the finger injected with steroi_ on Monday and the foot will be done tomorrow. Finger not doing so well, but still has a day or so to take full effect; Saturday is a rest up foot day and fly out Sunday.

View attachment 401313

HBA-SYD QF J
Rydges at SYD
SYD-JNB QF J
Premier Hotel at JNB
Car JNB-Tau Lodge return
Tau Lodge 3 nights, 2 game drives/day, full board
JNB-WDH SAA J
Pre tour night in The Weinberg THE WEINBERG
Premium Namibia tour
Post tour night in The Weinberg
WDH-JNB Airlink J
Premier Hotel at JNB
JNB-SYD-MEL-HBA QF J

HLO

Namibia will be country #99, but who's counting :)
If you get the opportunity when at Walvis Bay, drop in to this spot🏄‍♂️
 

I can't recall the genesis of this trip. About a year ago I think I was looking at the map for somewhere I hadn't been before, and where I could see interesting things. Namibia had always be of interest, and I noticed Intrepid had a 'Premium Namibia' 10 day tour. I'm more and more attracted to tours these days, especially in non-first world countries. I was happy enough driving around Chile last December and Japan a few months ago, but I decided I'd see a lot more on a small group tour here, being driven around with everything organised.

So that was the first plank.

View attachment 401289

What else then. I've been to South Africa many times for work and had driven around a lot of it - mainly the south (wine areas) and around Jo'burg (gold mines). What else? Been to the countries in southern and east Africa except Angola and the new-ish South African 'homelands' and visited game parks in Kenya/Tanzania. Madagascar was put aside for a separate visit.

Not much appealed. Looking at the timing of the flights from/to Oz - and knowing that I want at least a day between beginning and finishing a tour and the arriving/departing flights, there was going to be a 4 day gap at the start. Somehow I decided to visit the Madikwe game reserve in NW South Africa.

View attachment 401290

At this stage I brought in my trusty travel agent and asked them to construct an itinerary with QF flights SYD-JNB, onward flight to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, driver to Madikwe, a nice lodge there, then out and flights to Windhoek where I would join the tour, then back home.

Then the fun began. The TA asked "Why would you want to start at Gaborone? There's nothing there". And in addition to the flight cost, its going to cost $900 to get to the game park and back and also a border crossing which might be lengthy.

HOW MUCH? Its an hour or two - almost a thousand bucks in the third world country? I started a thread asking for alternatives but none were forthcoming and we found no alternative to the expensive drive.

TA came up with plan B. There is a 'shuttle' air service between Madikwe and JNB which seemed to be the usual way of getting from JNB. So the TA priced some lodges and the flights and we came up with Tau Lodge. Flights A$1,200 there and back. :(


Live web cam

Three nights was moderately expensive and, coupled with the flights, it had better be good! So everything was locked in about 6 months ago. Almost.

About 6 weeks ago the flight people said that I was the only passenger each way, so if no-one else came forward I'd need to pay for two. Ummmm ... no.

So I and the TA start pricing hire cars - again I started a thread on this, but in the end I couldn't get comfortable with the cost/insurance/safety/rental car usual hassle equation.

So final, plan C. TA comes up with Day Trip Daytrip: Private Car Transfers with Sightseeing essentially a private car transfer - they operate around the world. Lock it in; A$800 for two four hour transfers. Meh. I'm on holiday. Flight people then come back and say a pax has popped up for one of my flights and they'd put a flight one way, car return package for ... A$1,000. Nick orf.

As usual, I've got some health things to look after. Not serious this time - arthritis in a finger knuckle and in foot. Got the finger injected with steroi_ on Monday and the foot will be done tomorrow. Finger not doing so well, but still has a day or so to take full effect; Saturday is a rest up foot day and fly out Sunday.

View attachment 401313

HBA-SYD QF J
Rydges at SYD
SYD-JNB QF J
Premier Hotel at JNB
Car JNB-Tau Lodge return
Tau Lodge 3 nights, 2 game drives/day, full board
JNB-WDH SAA J
Pre tour night in The Weinberg THE WEINBERG
Premium Namibia tour
Post tour night in The Weinberg
WDH-JNB Airlink J
Premier Hotel at JNB
JNB-SYD-MEL-HBA QF J

HLO

Namibia will be country #99, but who's counting :)

Signing on for this TR 🍾 🥂 :cool:
 
Currently Day 6 in Namibia, and at Etosha Village just outside Etosha National Park....have just been to amost all of the places on your itinerary :)

Namibia is brilliant but some of those gravel roads give great African massages ;) I think all of us are nursing sore bums and backs!
 
Namibia is brilliant but some of those gravel roads give great African massages ;) I think all of us are nursing sore bums and backs!
I suspect the roads were better when I was there in 1984. Even then we had to tighten up nuts&bolts on the Landie on the doors and roof rack at the end of the day. At that time people told us the roads were better in 1950-60's. Fewer vehicles and not as heavy.

kpc trip report?

Is a fascinating area of the world
 
Last edited:
Sounds great. Looking forward to the TR
 
Try to fit in a hot air balloon ride next to Sossusvlei dunes. :cool:

Not offered.

If you get the opportunity when at Walvis Bay, drop in to this spot🏄‍♂️

Nice. Hmmm .. the itinerary says:

Continue your journey to the beachside town of Swakopmund on the Skeleton Coast. Stop by the small settlement of Solitaire. Scattered with abandoned trucks, cars, petrol pumps and cacti, it's the only place between Walvis Bay and Sossusvlei to feature a petrol station, post office, general store, and bakery. Enjoy a piece of the local apple pie which has earned itself quite a reputation. Continue on past moon valley, named for its eerie lunar-like appearance, and the Tropic of Capricorn. Walvis Bay is the hibernation area for thousands of migratory birds, most notably flamingos. If in season you may take quick detour to see these elegant birds.

I'll try to squeeze in a few tubes In between admiring the petrol pump and chomping down an apple pie while gawking at the flamingos. :rolleyes:

The good news is that the travel wholesaler is throwing in a Menzies escorted service through immigration at JNB on arrival, for stuffing my TA around. No idea that that's worth, but I'll take it. :)
 
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The good news is that the travel wholesaler is throwing in a Menzies escorted service through immigration at JNB on arrival, for stuffing my TA around. No idea that that's worth, but I'll take it. :)

Hmmm....that could be anything. Escorted to the windowless room for questions and the rubber glove treatment perhaps?
:rolleyes:
 
First of all, I would like to apologise to the person who may have been put in a non-reclining seat on my flight to JNB because of some DYKWIA type. That would be me.

There was a 2 hour delay advised last night, which was good, as it allowed check-in at about 8:30am not 6:30am. When I did check in at SYD First counter this morning, they said "Oh, you are on standby..." :oops: Excuse me?

She immediately went off and chatted to a guy at the end of the counter. This wasn't looking good! They chatted and tapped away, and made a call. Gulp.

Came back and explained that there was a broken seat - actually 3 - (reason for the delay is so they can hopefully repaired), but here is your BP, (in another seat). Unknown and unprompted by me, they have swapped me with some other poor sod, who may get a non-recliner. So, all you DYKWIA types who have bumped me in the past, you might be forgiven, if the bump was done without your requesting it.

QFF Plat and F check-in seems to have worked. I'm warming some more to this airline. :)

Yesterday I had an excellent QF flight up from HBA - faultless, with lunch. Refused QF transfer to International because I didn't have an international BP (like, how do I get that without getting to International? HBA wouldn't check me in for the int flight the next day). Schlepped to the train, then to Rydges where an excellent check-in, very efficient, informative re facilities and a nice quiet room. Bit of extra time this morning thanks to the delay, then to check-in, as recounted above. Quick immigration and slow security.

Currently in the F lounge, with brekkie completed. I hope that screaming kid isn't on my flight!! Token F lounge pic, because if no photo, it didn't happen.

IMG_3218.jpeg
 
I thought there was a free transfer bus from Domestic to International

There is, but they require an international boarding pass to get on it!
__________

That honeymoon didn’t really last much longer. I arrived the gate 15 minutes before the delayed boarding time ( I like to stand as much as I can before a long flight) just in time to see the FAs settle into of the seats in the gate lounge. And the plane not at the gate.

We eventually departed about four hours late, which wasn’t a problem until we arrived at Johannesburg.

The flight was okay the first meal service and drinks very strung out and delayed as per usual Qantas way of doing things. Pics and notes here


The downside of being shifted across to the RH side of the plane became apparent once we have entered cruise. The window became hot and radiated heat the whole journey (all daytime). And of course the dumb electronic shades didn't black out, so you get this (except its blue tinge, not pink - that's iPhone)

IMG_3238.jpeg

IMG_3233.jpeg

Overall the flight very smooth and not too bad, for 14 hours.

At JNB, I had a Menzies escort through to arrivals - a freebie given to my TA for her being stuffed around. Not really neeed - met at the gate, walked through the very large terminal (well, long, anyway). AT immigration at 6:15pm - Fast Track closed at 6pm :mad: and the line was pretty slow. Only two counters open for foreigners and the counter I was sent to, the young lady kept up a constant conversation with the two young blokes hanging abou the back of her booth. She managed to put my passport on the scanner, type a few things into the computer, stamp the passport nd hand it back to me with only the barest glance at me.

No bags, so straight through. Its a very long walk, all up! Out into Arrivals, ATM, then he showed me how to get to the bus terminal, for my shuttle to Premier Hotel. Here he earned his tip - the shuttle had just pulled away - he sprinted after it, pulled it up and on I got - saving a 30 minute wait. :)
 

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