Wanderlust in Windhoek

With flights booked almost a year in advance with Lufthansa, finally we were on our way to the glorious country of Namibia. I had previously backpacked around Southern Africa in 2003 for sixth months with my partner Robin. Then we had started in South Africa, then we headed to Madagascar, back to South Africa, then around to Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and then back to South Africa. We had spent around a month in Namibia and I have great memories of hiring a VW Golf with another backpacking guy, breaking down in the bush, losing our exhaust, me running back to pick it up (so it didn't get stolen), then returning to Windhoek and running away with my credit card details to take a train. Anyway, I digress....!

Our flight, on an Economy Light fare with Lufthansa (but operated by Discover Airlines), was £729.94 for one adult and one child. The fare included two carry on bags of 8kg each which, with hindsight, may have been enough but I additionally paid £110 for one checked in bag which was our backpack - £55 each way. So the total flight cost came to £839.94. Still a bargain.

Our flight was from London Gatwick Airport on Thursday 4th April so we had a half day at work and school and drove to Gatwick. I actually had Tiger's travel car seat as well as the backpack but managed to 'wrap' them together in the airport as my single checked in piece of luggage!

Our flight wasn't direct, but the connections were absolutely fine. Our first stop from Gatwick North Terminal was to Frankfurt International leaving at 17:45 and arriving at 20:20, a short 1h35 flight time though. So far so good!

In Frankfurt airport we had an hour and a half until our ten and a half hour flight to Windhoek. Tiger got changed into her pyjamas and did get some decent sleep on the plane. This left on time at 21:55 however there was heavy fog (less than 50m visibility) and we couldn't land in Namibia so ended up landing in Gabarone, Botswana. "Welcome to Botswana" is not really what you want to see when you’re hoping to land in Namibia! So we ended up refuelling, came back, and finally arrived 4.5 hours late. But we had arrived and the Lufthansa crew were amazing.

Before we left the airport, we visited the MTC Office to get our Namibian SIM card. I paid N$ 594 (£25.44) and this was enough for the whole trip.

Then, our first stop was the Arrebush Travel Lodge, which was £54 for one night with a pick up from the airport organised by the car hire people. We could have stayed anywhere but we had been recommended to me by the car hire people (No Limits 4x4 Rentals) as they had their base literally outside the gates. It was also quite cheap, had a great restaurant, swimming pool, and a huge petrol station with a grocery store all within walking distance.

By the time we arrived to check in it was almost 15:00 and I was so tired I could barely think so we collapsed into our beds for a nap, getting up for 18:00 to check out the swimming pool, see the sunset and grab some food from the restaurant. The latter was super busy but we got pizza and a bottle of wine for £17 (420 Namibian dollars).

The next morning, we woke up in our little house and met with the guy who delivered us our quite incredible 4x4. Initially I had booked a regular hire care for £427 but after more online research I realised that, despite previously decades earlier managing to somehow get around in a VW Golf, I eventually realised that I did need a 4x4 and got that refunded!

Once I finally realised this, I had hoped initially to get a Suzuki Jimny 3-door 4x4 from Namibia2Go. This would definitely have been the most cost effective solution for the two of us (N$ 1095 per day, £45), but unfortunately all their Suzuki Jimnys were booked out and I couldn't find any of these cars with any other providers!

So, instead, we ended upscaling to a manual Toyota Hilux with a tentbox with 4x4 No Limits. This was more expensive (N$ 1700 per day, £70), but we had no choice as we needed it and it was also amazing as it was fully kitted out with just about everything you could possibly need - GPS, fridge, chairs, tables, plates, cooking sets, sleeping bags and every conceivable bit of car kit! We could even have had two tents on the roof (would have been fab for a family of four) for no extra cost, if we'd wanted.

Our total cost for 13 days was:

• 2020 Toyota Hilux 2.4 4x4 manual at 1700 per day: N$ 22,100

• Insurance for zero excess at 520 per day: N$ 6,760

• Airport pick up and return 250 per person: N$ 1,000

Before coming to Namibia I had paid a deposit of N$ 7,340 (£310.17) so once I was there I just needed to pay the remainder which was N$ 22,520 (£964.50) so the grand total was £1275 for the 13-day trip.

The next bit of our story is quite funny in some ways - we met up with Ella, a teacher on sabbatical from South Korea. Essentially, I was aware of the huge amount I had spent on the 4x4 and, realising it was just Tiger and I and we had plenty of space for passengers, I had it in mind to take a backpacker along with us and so I 'met' Ella on a Facebook group for Backpackers in Namibia! We chatted via Facebook messenger, checked in with eacher other when we arrived (Ella was in an Airbnb) and then actually met her as we were learning how to put the tent box up!

I did have a few moments of wondering if this was some terrible mistake especially as her social media was quite quiet, so I was very glad when she appeared in person. Ultimately, we got on like a house on fire and I was so happy to have her along for some of our trip. I also added her to the insurance, although she didn't ever drive in the end as she had never driven a manual car! So, less than 24 hours after our arrival in Windhoek we were off!