Some facts and ideas planning a trip for Africa

You need to plan early if you want most options

If you want many options, you need to book at least 6-9 months in advance. Especially, if you want the best camp sites and mid-range places in Namibia and Botswana, as both countries are very popular.

Unfortunately, we were only able to book the trip three months in advance this year due to family matters. This limited some of our options to budget or high-end places, as the best mid-range places are booked well in advance - often one year ahead. Therefore, many of the best campsites and mid range places were already gone.

Near Madisa Camp, Damaraland, Namibia,  2012
Link to homepage (link)

How do you plan the route?

Planning the route, I enjoy reading many guidebooks and stories from other travelers (like this blog). I also enjoy studying maps and whatever information available on the internet. It´s a joy and hobby for me to spend hours dreaming about the trip considering different routes.

Near Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch, Namibia 2009 

When the plans start to materialize, I usually contact a specialized travel agent to book the accommodations for us and to suggest alternative options when necessary. For Southern Africa, we have used "Expert Africa" three times, and we are very satisfied with this agent (link homepage). They tailor the trip for us based on our own ideas, and they can handle both budget and luxury. If you dont want to do a lot of planning yourself, you can find many trip ideas and get inspiration from on their homepage (trip ideas)

Heading for Sandwich Harbour, Namib Naukluft Park
South of Swakopmund, Namibia 2009

Playing in Dunes near Sandwich Harbour, Swakopmund, Namibia 2009

We also had good experiences using another agent called "Safari Drive" once (link homepage). Their concept is often more expensive as it is based on their own fully equipped (and very nice) Land Cruisers and Land Rovers.

Both travel agents are located in UK.

Our accommodations for 2019, more luxurious than planned 

Accommodations driving clockwise from Windhoek with destination
Livingstone in Zambia . Also a short deviation into Botswana 

Due to the late planning, we ended up with more luxurious accommodations than planned. Many of the best mid-range places were already gone. If you want a less expensive trip, replace some of the places below with nice campsites and bring your own tent along. We have done that several times before.  

1. Luxury Room at Galton House, Windhoek (link)
2. Standard Room at Sam's Giardino, Swakopmund (link)
3. Villa at Desert Breeze Lodge, Swakopmund (link)
4. Beach Chalet at Terrace Bay, Skeleton Coast (link)
5. Camp site at Palmwag Lodge, Damaraland (link)
6. Sleep-out Deck at Etendeka Walking Trail, Etendeka Mountains (link)
7. Luxury Room at Opuwo Country Lodge, Kaokoland (link)
8. Safari Tent + campsite at Epupa Camp, Kaokoland (link)
9. Camp Site at Kunene River Lodge, Kunene Riiver (link)
10. Standard Room at Toko Lodge, vest Etosha (link)
11. Thatched Family Chalet + Thatched Chalet at Ongava Lodge, vest Etosha (kopi)
12. Bush Suite at Onguma The Fort  (link) + Settler's Room at Onguma Bush Camp, east Etosha (link)
13. Tented Chalet at Nunda River Lodge, Caprivi Strip (link)
14. Thatched Chalet at Nxamaseri Lodge, Okavango Delta (link)
15. Tented Room at Nambwa Tented Lodge, Capivi Strip (link)
16. Chalet at Serondela Lodge, Caprivi Strip (link)
17. Standard Room at Avani Victoria Falls, Livingstone (link)

Simple living conditions, on the road near Twyfelfontein, Namibia 2012

Biting cold and lion roars outside our tent!

Sunday Pan, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, August 8th kl. 0400 a.m.

“Aaoouu—a soft groan startled me. I slowly lifted my head and peered over my feet. My breath caught. It was a very big lioness—more than 300 pounds—but from ground level she looked even larger. She was moving toward us from about five yards away, her head swinging from side to side and the black tuft on her tail twitching deliberately. I clenched a tuft of grass, held on tight, and froze. The lioness came closer, her broad paws lifting and falling in perfect rhythm, jewels of moisture clinging to her coarse whiskers, her deep-amber eyes looking straight at me. I wanted to wake up Delia, but I was afraid to move.”

― Mark Owens, Cry Of The Kalahari (Quotes at Goodreads)

Deception Pan, August 8th

 

Full moon

It's 4 o'clock in the morning. We have finally fallen into a deep sleep after the day's hardships and after lying and listening to all the sounds around the tent. The children are sleeping safely on the roof of the car. They talked for a long time together before falling asleep. We are completely alone in the world in the middle of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. As far out on the edge as one can get in this world. Suddenly, we are wide awake!! There are all too clear lion roars sounding only about 200 meters west of the tent – there are many of them. We think of the enormous, real Kalahari lions that we just saw at Grasslands Safari Lodge. "Did you hear that?" I ask softly. "Yes," Pia answers. There is no need to say more. We just lie completely still and try to breathe without making a sound. Good thing the children didn't wake up – it's a bad time to call. The minutes pass, seemingly without them coming closer. After about an hour, I hear the lions again, now south of the tent. They are a little farther away. Glad that this is the last night in Central Kalahari. It is too extreme...

In Danish [Kl. er 4 om natten. Vi er endelig faldt I dyb søvn efter dagens strabadser og efter at have ligget og lyttet til alle lyde omkring teltet. Børnene sover trygt på taget af bilen. De talte lang tid sammen, før de faldt i søvn. Vi er helt alene i verden midt i Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Så langt ud på kanten, som man kan komme i denne verden. Pludselig er vi lysvågne!! Der lyder alt for tydelige løvebrøl kun ca. 200 meter vest for teltet – der er mange af dem. Vi tænker på de enorme ægte Kalahari løver, som vi lige har set i Graasslands Safari Lodge . ”Hørte du det”? spørger jeg sagte. ”Ja” svarer Pia. Der er ikke behov for at sige mere. Vi ligger bare helt stille og forsøger at trække vejret uden at lave en lyd. Godt børnene ikke vågnede – det er et dårligt tidspunkt at kalde. Minutterne går, tilsyneladende uden de kommer nærmere. Efter en times tid hører jeg igen løverne, nu syd for teltet. De er lidt længere væk. Glad for at det er sidste nat i Central Kalahari. Der er for ekstremt…]

Kalahari lion