Namibia - South Africa

First trip to a new continent
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I had it stuck in my head that I wanted to visit Africa. I had never seen a safari, and always wondered what ‘wilderness’ really meant. What better place to explore this than Africa itself? I brought the topic up in passing with a few colleagues just before my departure, and so knew I had to make good on it. It was actually the last day of the G Adventures tour that drove me to actually proceed and book a tour (suffice to say I am still FOMO and deadline driven), and after much deliberation on the different alternate routes I finally decided to go from Windhoek to Cape Town with G Adventures, and then to have a safari trip with my dad. I narrowed it to Namibia as I had heard others I met while travelling mention the place as being impressive and safe, and someone had remarked to me “if you have already seen snow and the northern lights, why not check out sand dunes next?”.

The whole trip planning experience was truly nerve wrecking - with the trip booked exactly 2 weeks before departure I had the fortnight to research, prep and pack. With it being an entirely new continent I ended up looking into more things than expected, and getting stressed by seemingly mundane questions that I just could not find the answers to online. (I’ve jotted some of these down at the bottom of the page in case anyone else is planning to do a trip there!) Furthermore, Africa is huge but connectivity is limited, and it took me some time to figure out the typical routes as I was considering which region to go to and how to extend the trip.

We often talk about how the internet sometimes amplifies fears and negative information, and I truly felt that when researching for my trip. (TLDR: If you do your research and stick to the touristy areas it feels perfectly fine.) South Africa including Cape Town was painted in an incredibly negative light, and even discussions on channels such as reddit were anxiety inducing. Thankfully just a week before the trip I heard that a friend of mine had actually done a brief tour from Victoria Falls to Windhoek through G Adventures, so I chatted with her as well as another friend who had visited Cape Town to prep.

I had set my departure date as 14 Feb as it gave me enough time to reach in advance of the 15 Feb tour start, and it held some significance given that it was exactly a month since my last day. (Fun fact: my next trip is now also set to depart on the 14 of April). I probably lost weight and sleep in the last week leading up to my flight - that is how truly anxious I was - but on 14 Feb I was on the flight with my 40L backpack (which I managed to squish my belongings into after repeated repackings) and smaller frontpack.

The excitement of the trip started for me when I was on the second leg of my flights. I watched as we flew over JNB, seeing it for the first time through the windows of the plane. The landscape changed as we gradually moved towards Windhoek, and I was most amazed by the shadows cast by the clouds on the ground. The lady sat beside me was a Namibian herself, and she spoke on how it was the green season, and they were happy that the rains had come and made the place more beautiful with the greenery around. (From a tourism perspective, the green season is usually the low season as people try to avoid the rains, and it is more difficult to spot animals in the safaris).

Landing at the airport and finding my airport pickup from the hostel was smooth.

Tips

  • One item I was extremely stressed about was my initial transfer at O.R. Tambo. Here is some information about the self transfer that I previously struggled to find online.

    I arrived in JNB from a SQ flight and had to do a self transfer to an Airlink flight to Windhoek. For such situations, you will need to go out to collect your luggage and check in again for the next flight IF you have check in luggage.

    If you only have carry on, you do not need to leave and can go straight through to the international transit area, where there are airline counters to help you. They will stamp your passport with a transit stamp and you will go through another security check and then to the departure hall.

    If you are unsure after leaving the plane whether you need to exit the arrival hall or can go through international transit, there is also a helpdesk at the airport right before the immigration area for arrivals where you can ask.

    I arrived at JNB early in the morning around 6am, and it was an extremely quick process for me to get back through to departure (around 40min) - the whole international transit was extremely empty. However, researching online, I have seen many people suggest having a 5h transit timing if you have check in luggage which you need to collect and re check in.

    If you are transferring a JNB and your luggage is checked through, a few people in my tour group had their luggage lost and only received it a couple of days later, which may have been attributed to their short transfer timings. In any case, be prepared for this as a circumstance especially if you have a group tour to catch the next day (keep an extra set of clothing in your carry on)

  • Note that your international adaptor will NOT work in Namibia. In Namibia, power sockets type D and M are used.

    You can purchase an adapter during a transfer at JNB O.R. Tambo Airport, or the hostel or hotel you stay out may also sell one.

  • Looking at online sites, E-sims in Namibia don’t seem to work well. Airalo has also stop selling its e-sim for Namibia. However, you can easily get a sim card at the MTC shop in Windhoek airport. Take note to do this AFTER you leave the arrival hall as the rates there are more reasonable (compared to the ONE in the arrival hall)