Review: Audley Travel’s Self Drive Namibia Tour

On the eve of an important birthday, I packed for a monumental journey: a 1,200-mile self-drive from Windhoek, Namibia, to Victoria Falls, Zambia, during which I would experience eight safari camps and explore five major rivers and four countries over a course of two weeks.

I had never been to Africa before, so I decided to put myself in the hands of Boston-based custom tour operator Audley Travel. This is what it’s like to book and lead a self-guided Namibia tour with Audley.

Qualified customers

Flexibility on the part of the traveler is crucial when it comes to traveling to Africa, and especially when traveling with your own vehicle. River levels, wildlife migrations and driving distances put limits on what is practical in any given season. However, Audley is just as flexible and will change lodges or adjust the number of travel days on request.

The ideal customers for this trip are independent, well-traveled, adventurous, and happy to drive long distances in sometimes difficult terrain—in a word: unflappable. (I got lost a few times, and got stuck briefly on sandy trails more than once.) One morning I took a cold shower outdoors because my indoor faucet wasn’t heated properly. The food was uniformly excellent, but there was rarely more than one starter for dinner. Lions roaring outside a tented “lodge” may unnerve some customers.

Travelers must also be fully mobile and active as there are few, if any, accommodations for customers with disabilities. In general, an open mind, a sense of humor, and a willingness to explore will lead to great memories.

Driving training in Namibia and beyond

Audley contacted me several times to finalize his itinerary and answer my handful of questions. However, advance phone calls, emails and online brochures will never capture the reality of the trip: the amount of wildlife blew me away (I managed to see four of the Big 5) and the famous rivers (Okavango, Chobe, Zambezi) – full of hippos and crocodiles – were thrilling . No amount of planning could have prepared me for wild ostriches racing my car on the side of a jungle highway.

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Namibia’s main roads, mostly two-lane tarmac, are well maintained, but the many gravel roads and sandy trails require a four-wheel drive vehicle. Audley rented a 4×4 Toyota Hilux for me (right hand drive, automatic transmission), along with two spare tires in case of a blowout.

At The Weinberg, the cozy hotel in Windhoek where I started my journey, the local Audley representative gave me a detailed itinerary, printed driving directions and an old-school paper map (“More reliable than GPS,” she said), as well as a prepaid Flip telephone programmed with Audley headquarters number; their local representative, Europcar; and every game. Most of this information was also contained in the Audley custom app I had downloaded. She also gave me a cooler with ice packs and two bottles of water.

“You don’t want to break down in Namibia without water,” she said.

Activities to look forward to

Lodges (often called ‘camps’) have a similar menu of excursions: bush walks, game drives, river cruises and cultural visits to local villages. Although not guaranteed, customers are likely to spot elephants, Cape buffalo, hyenas, giraffes, rhinos, wildebeest, zebras and many other species. In some camps, wild animals often enter the grounds, requiring staff to escort guests to their accommodations after dark for safety.

Most lodges include one game drive per day; some include breakfast and dinner, others just breakfast. Audley provides details in the itinerary of what is included and what is extra.

The highs and lows of traveling in Africa

There were some minor issues during my trip. For example, due to the bureaucracy of renting a car in Zambia, I was directed by Audley to return my car to the immigration pier in Kasane, Botswana, then be chauffeured to my next accommodation. But my Europcar contact said to leave the 4×4 at Kasane International Airport. It all worked out—after all, a friendly, uniformed Europcar employee met me at the pier—but I felt it was an unnecessary worry that should have been ironed out beforehand.

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Audley’s selection of lodges was well informed and even had something of a musical beat, with luxury camps on my first and last nights helping me get in and out of the bush, with rougher but comfortable camps in between.

My 13-night itinerary included one night each at The Weinberg (B&B) and Onguma The Fort; two nights at Onguma Camp Kala; one night each at Taranga Safari, Riverdance and Nambwa Tented Lodge; and two nights each at Nkasa Lupala Tented Lodge, Serondela Lodge and Waterberry Zambezi Lodge. The trip also included transfers, car hire and safari activities at Onguma Camp Kala, along with a jet boat ride on the Zambezi, viewing Victoria Falls and breakfast on Livingstone Island at the very edge of the falls during the stay at Waterberry. Airfare, extra activities, tips and fuel for the rental car were extra.

The on-site Audley representative was helpful via the provided flip phone whenever I had questions and made me feel that—if anything had gone wrong—I would have received their immediate support. Overall I enjoyed a trip that ran smoothly and included great communication, wonderful hospitality, amazing wildlife and lots of adventure.

There was one time while we were on a boat in the Chobe near Serondela Lodge when a hippo attacked us (no one was hurt) — but I doubt even the Audleys, as capable as they are, could have come to the rescue in that case .