Namibia DRIVE report, the Landy made it back!

[DJLSteenkamp]

Molt wanneer jy klaar is met RR gooi asb vir ons syfers van wat so n trippie vir vier mense kos. OK nou nie helemal vier mense nie!!

Ons het die naweek nogal daaroor gepraat. Dit was so net onder die R40 000. My vrou doen die budget vir ons vakansies so sy betaal amper als. (ek kan nie budget nie, alle aftrekkings gaan by my af en watookal oor bly kan ek op bikes spandeer )
ons het so 5000km gery, en teen die 8 na 8.5kmpl wat ek gekry het is dit so R9000 net daar aan petrol al klaar. Die 3 nagte in Swakop was so 800 elk en die kamp plekke was seker as gemiddeld so R500 n nag. Dit was 15 nagte so daai is dan rofweg nog so R10k op verblyf.
Omtrent alle besienswaardighede is so R80 per person en soms ekstra vir die kar ook, dan is die kos ook maar duur oor die algemeen. Die duine ry was R800. So kom n mens dan maklik uit by die R1000 n dag spending money, dan prober ons redlik matig wees en nie te veel uit eet en so nie.

[size=12pt]Ja mens kan netsowel oorsee gaan[/size].
Verder my tyres was opgesit vir die trip, die vorige stel was te sag, dit was R11k tweedehands daai Roofrack en drawer system nog R11k (tweedehands) en die tent nog R5k. Ek weet die goed is een keer gekoop klaar gekoop maar die geld moes uitgehaal word nogsteeds. 

Nou is dit maar weer n jaar spaar vir die volgende vakansie.

Sal maar nie vir my vrou die wys nie

 

[Sam]

Molt wanneer jy klaar is met RR gooi asb vir ons syfers van wat so n trippie vir vier mense kos. OK nou nie helemal vier mense nie!!

Ons het die naweek nogal daaroor gepraat. Dit was so net onder die R40 000.

Ja mens kan netsowel oorsee gaan.

Not a chance......especially not for a trip as good / lekker as the one you've just done.

Just did 3 weeks in Bali and surrounds. It cost me more than that on my own...….and I am a real cheapskate traveler.

The ZAR is klaar. It was quite depressing to see how cheap everything was for the Aussies.

 

[Chrisl]

The price of the campsites are shocking!!
Campsites are getting too expencive to me going there by bike.

 

[m0lt3n]

The price of the campsites are shocking!!
Campsites are getting too expencive to me going there by bike.

Remember our initial intention was not to camp. So when it became clear we did have to camp, we chose the best camping sites, exclusive camping, whenever the option was available.

 

[Brucet]

The price of the campsites are shocking!!
Campsites are getting too expencive to me going there by bike.

Thats so true. Its actually got so expensive in some areas its actually cheaper to find a B&B somewhere.
Last year I hired a self catering chalet in Balito for 10 days and it was cheaper than Camping for 6 days in Gonarezhou with no facilities at all. I still prefer Gonarezhou but there comes a time when you have to recognise when you are being ripped off.

 

[m0lt3n]

From a lake Oanob we set off on some tar to Gochas (can't remember if gravel started at Stampriet¿) where we had a quick drink at the hotel. I always underestimate these small town Hotels, decent prices and proper servings. The children had ice cream and chocolate sauce which was welcome on this hot day.

Our destination was Red Dune Camp Site. This was to be our last night in Namibia and we finished it on a high note. The place was very basic but felt like home with the red Kalahari sand. It was a good last day.

We went for a walk with the children which was fascinated with the large shongololo. My son tried reconstructing the bits of one and even requested that we buy him one as well to build at home. He wasnt to keen on touching a live one though.

There was also one of those very popular Donkies which we did not bother to get going for hot water. Another interesting thing was the firelight eers we got the previous day in Windhoek. They really worked a treat. Haven't seen them locally though.

The next morning we woke up to a great sunrise, or my wife did, we slept. We did have to hurry though, you don't want to be caught in the sun breaking up camp.

Next stop Molopo lodge RSA

 

[m0lt3n]

Next stop would be Molopo Lodge, a reluctant stop. Having your holiday meticulously planned and booked is awesome, but has its drawbacks as well. If we hadn't paid for Molopo already we would have preferred to just skip it and put in a long day to get home. But all is well that ends well and in the end we realized it was a necessary stop. It would have been a tiring last day otherwise.

On the planning a ride thread we got advice to take the D503 after Aroab as it was a scenic route, but somehow we missed the turnoff. At first I was a little pissed as I really wanted to do the last bit of something out of the ordinary. Well my wife made a plan and we rode the D616 which I believe was the same type of road. Just a lot shorter.

It was very funny, getting onto the D616 I was met with the Keep left sign on a twee spoor gravel. We had to drive more than a 100km of that sand two spoor, sometime over successive dunes and it was awesome. I really enjoyed this stretch. My wife could also have been a model for Vigo, the cold drink was super on that hot day.

The border crossing was quick and efficient and Molopo surprised us with some proper good food. Its actually a very nice place. The bed the kids had to share was a little high but we managed to make a plan.

Fluit Fluit my storie is uit.
I like to give my opinion on my equipment and such after writing an RR, I will go think a bit and do so in a next installment. Thanks for reading all. It's the comments which keeps one motivated to finish an RR. Appreciate it.

 

[windswept]

Nice one. I think your kids will have their first memories of this trip when they are older.

 

[ClimbingTurtle]

That 2nd last pic of your daughter and her milkshake is stunning! captures the entire pleasure!!

Great RR - thank you for sharing!

 

[m0lt3n]

Opinion sharing time!

On Namibia: I loved it but cant help to compare it to South Africa. We have done some extensive traveling in RS of A as well and its a lot cheaper and the scenery just as epic. Where it does not compare is on the remoteness. And where it is remote its not as focused on tourism as Namibia is. This is all good and everyone should do this trip at least once but, and a big but. Its like the tourism side of Lesotho. I wouldn't want to do it twice. Now this is the issue for us. This was an intro trip for me to test the Landy and test the family setup on an adventure. Our intention is to do a lot more remote places, something you should have a buddy with you. The problem is our buddies have not seen this and would probably want to tick these boxes first (as one should) before joining on a more remote and further trip. We are still figuring this out.

Bike vs SUV/family adventure. No I didn't miss the bike much. Except where the going got slow on bad roads a bike would have been nice. But you cant beat family time and an AC. I start to miss the family anyhow after 3 days on a bike trip so will probably be sticking to this setup now for a few years until the children have grown up some more and I need me time to get away from teenagers.
Not selling any bike though! (if my wife reads this, don't get ideas...)

Landy. Yap, its like cheating. We are supposed to be on an adventure but it just does everything with ease. I don't know how I can ever change to anything else. It behaved extremely well. When the sand gets very thick its awesome to put the infotainment on the 4x4 screen and see your diffs locking up automatically and just feeling a new surge of power. I should put a Nike sign on it, Just do it.

Family in a car: I need to see if I can get some tv screens in the back, its a bit tough on the little ones to expect them to behave 7 hours a day being strapped into a car seat, day after day.
We should have stayed at some places longer to give everyone a rest, ,setting up tent gets old quick, but I cant see myself staying for days at end at a place where a good sunset is the only attraction.

Setup. I don't know what I would want to change, except for setting up tent so much. Or rather not tent, but the bedding. Blowing up matressess and folding up sleeping bags. But we are not to sure that a rooftop tent is the answer with a 2 year old. Then there was the drawer system as well which I almost took out....its awesome. Just to have everything securely in its own place. THe weekend after this trip we went to Waterford and did some proper 4x4 driving in sand. Drawer system was out and the car was a lot noisier inside. I am not to convinced that a fridge would have been worth the money for this trip, but a better coolbox would have been. A box with a tap to take out water and one that is bigger. But for a more remote trip, we will have a fridge (black Friday specials! lets see!)

The trip was awesome, next up we intent to go more north, Caprivi maybe or Botswana. What I would also like to do is one of those escorted expensive sand dune driving trips.

Highlights
Swakop impressed us, I can see why someone would fly over, get a rental and spend a week there.
Khoimassis our first camping site. Brandberg also.

 

[Brucet]

I have the LR entertainment system in the rear headrests of my disco. To be honest they have only been used a couple times and I really think it was a waste of money. A much better option for you to look at is get them each an ipad and then mount that on the back of the seat. Mountings for Ipads are available from LR. The cost will be more or less the same maybe even slightly cheaper that the entertainment system.
Fit a dual battery system and a fridge. Your family will love you for it. Nothing like Ice cold drinks or ice-cream on a hot day in the desert.

Also as a suggestion get yourself a suspension controller. What this basically does is give you all the suspension settings at the turn of a button. That includes super extended mode. With this device you are also able to travel faster than 55km/h without the suspension lowering.
Alternatively as a cheaper option you can get johnson rods or locally disco east rods that basically trick the suspension into thinking its at standard height when it is actually at off road height. When you select off road height you are almost at super extended height.
I dont use the super extended height unless im doing water crossings.

 

[m0lt3n]

I have the LR entertainment system in the rear headrests of my disco. To be honest they have only been used a couple times and I really think it was a waste of money. A much better option for you to look at is get them each an ipad and then mount that on the back of the seat. Mountings for Ipads are available from LR. The cost will be more or less the same maybe even slightly cheaper that the entertainment system.
Fit a dual battery system and a fridge. Your family will love you for it. Nothing like Ice cold drinks or ice-cream on a hot day in the desert.

Also as a suggestion get yourself a suspension controller. What this basically does is give you all the suspension settings at the turn of a button. That includes super extended mode. With this device you are also able to travel faster than 55km/h without the suspension lowering.
Alternatively as a cheaper option you can get johnson rods or locally disco east rods that basically trick the suspension into thinking its at standard height when it is actually at off road height. When you select off road height you are almost at super extended height.
I dont use the super extended height unless im doing water crossings.

THanks this is great feedback

I forgot about the battery issue. I had a battery pack along capable of jumping a car (allegedly). I still worried when I got a low battery warning on the dash. Living out of the car the doors were constantly being opened and 12V sockets powered up, I can see how this can become an issue and will be seriously looking at that second battery. Just need to decide if I want to build it in or have it as a separate unit I can move around.

And agreed on the suspension controller. I have been looking at those Johnson rods, very tempting to get a proper lift for R700 but guess it would be best to just get a good OBD tool that can do it all. I did find the 55kmph max speed on the offroad height a pain in the sand.

We will look into the tablets. slightly in two minds with this as its a pain to setup then. You don't just dump a dvd in the player and press play. But we will do some brainstorming on this still as what you are saying makes sense.

 

[Chrisl]

I need to see if I can get some tv screens in the back, its a bit tough on the little ones to expect them to behave 7 hours a day being strapped into a car seat, day after day.

Slaappilletjie in hul Pronutro soggens? eepwall: >
Ek dink hulle het goed gedoen met so n eerste trip en so nog so klein ook.

 

[m0lt3n]

I need to see if I can get some tv screens in the back, its a bit tough on the little ones to expect them to behave 7 hours a day being strapped into a car seat, day after day.

Slaappilletjie in hul Pronutro soggens? eepwall: >
Ek dink hulle het goed gedoen met so n eerste trip en so nog so klein ook.

Dan slaap ons daai nag niks! Haha

Maar ja hulle het baie goed gedoen, ons ry darm wel oor die algemeen baie en hulle doen nog altyd goed as ek so vergelyk met vriende. Ons bly nie juis naby aan enige iets nie. Maar in dieselfde asem, ek moes al paar keer af trek en pakslae uit deel. Ek hou nie van stop nie

 

[TinusBez]

ek moes al paar keer af trek en pakslae uit deel.

:laughing4:

My voorland Maart April Wes en Noord Kaap trip. Ek stop die kar en julle loop huis toe sien ek gebeur op Gamkaskloof pas.
Gat jik waag ek se om bakkie te ruil v landy  >
Daai ding kan maar.

 

[m0lt3n]

ek moes al paar keer af trek en pakslae uit deel.

:laughing4:

My voorland Maart April Wes en Noord Kaap trip. Ek stop die kar en julle loop huis toe sien ek gebeur op Gamkaskloof pas.
Gat jik waag ek se om bakkie te ruil v landy  >
Daai ding kan maar.

onthou ons het n spaar bed of twee hier, julle altyd welkom. hier self n trampoline en wifi (ek weet nie wat werk nou vir jou knders nie!)

 

[m0lt3n]

edit. double post

 

[TinusBez]

edit. double post

wifi beslis nie op die menu nie of enige internet. Ongeag van stads kinders like hulle die buitelewe veral my oudste na sy met 'n visvang tydskrif by huis aangekom het. Na kaart bedrog wat lui facebook as merchant is ek af van facebook. Weet nie hoe hulle my kaart gekry het nie, nogal kwaai verloor en forensics kon net helfte recover. My enigste social media is hier, WhatsApp en LinkedIn maar self die is nie secure nie. een van die dae gaan ons terug na die trek telefoon toe.

 

[Dragonfly-XC]

:sip: Ek vermoed daai "keep left" teken, is bedoel vir die overlanders wat vanaf lande kom waar aan die "verkeerde " kant van die pad gery word.  Wanneer jy vir lang tye ry sonder om ander verkeer tee te kom dan vergeet mens, soos met Abie en Lynn en die Kanadese in die Katbakkiespas gebeur het.

 

[Brucet]

I found the OBD tool a pain. As you have to stop plug in go through the menus and then get going. The suspension controller is just a turn of the knob.
I may have some disco east rods that I need to find. You can have them.