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Intro

Heading out on a Road Trip with a camper is something which I think a lot of people have on their "Bucket List"...being absolutely free to go wherever you want (as long as you can drive there), stop whenever and wherever you want, spent as much time as you like without being dependent on any others` timetable or public transports is I think a great luxury in our clocked world. Ok, in fact you are almost always and everywhere depending on others in any way, but when you have your home with you, and enough food and water, it provides a good range of autonomy for a certain period...

My plan was to combine this autonomy also with an extraordinary environment to discover. Since a friend of mine who lived one year in Namibia shared his experiences, stories and pictures about this country, it has been near the top of my travel destinations. The nature and wildlife on one hand, while at the same time a relatively good infrastructure and safeness, backed by the colonial history as "Deutsch-Südwestafrika" I found it to be a perfect choice for such kind of adventure. Finally I was also lucky to find a good friend who was willing to join, and our schedules were matching ;).

We planned our Road Trip with a mixture of camping and lodging (at least some times you want to have some luxury in your vacation). Since Namibia is on the southern hemisphere, June is a winter month.....and yes - even if it`s Namibia the nights are cold in winter).

While planning the trip and route we thought that a stopover in Cape Town / South Africa would be a good idea, since it`s an interesting city, we both haven't been there yet, connecting flights from and to Windhoek are easy, and we are in the region anyway.


Cape Town | City Center & Table Mountain

Cape Town Intl. Airport

In order to dive into that vacation feeling, we decided to put Cape Town at the beginning of the trip instead of the end. This city is the starting point of South Africa...where it all began (at least newer history since the Dutch arrived). We booked our Hotel downtown close to the Longstreet which is Cape Town's bar / pub mile. Also its just a short walk to a bus stop to reach all parts of the city and surrounding areas. 

Longstreet itself still has the typical British Victorian style which you can also see in some old parts of Sydney. But here it is combined with intensive colors - on one hand the graffiti, on the other hand the Table Mountain enlightened from the evening sun - which, together with the warm breeze from seaside, creates a nice place to chill the evenings... too bad that Longstreet itself is quite occupied by traffic, making it a pedestrian zone would enhance the atmosphere a lot.


In general food and drinks aren't expensive, a full dish is between 5 - 10€ and a large beer comes along below 3€. We would recommend by all means having a Burger in the "Royale Eatery"! Nice litle restaurant, delicious food (try the "Fat Bastard") and a friendly female bar & waiters team which is extending opening hours if you are charming enough... ;)

If you like intensive colors you should also take a trip through Bo-Kaap, a district of Cape Town going back to Muslim residents in the 18th century. The tourist office can help you out, also "Free Walking Tours" are offered. In general some parts of Cape Town really have flair and are nice to discover. The coastal regions for instance (I would really like to know the square-meter prizes), and also the Waterfront area. Maybe you should wait a year or two, because we have also seen many construction sites there (June 2015).

No way visiting Cape Town without a trip on top of the Table Mountain! You can go up by cable car (including a funny relaxed ganja driver), or by foot. There are plenty of trails and many people are using it for their morning sports activity. As expected you have a nice view over the costal line and Cape Town. On the plateau it's quite windy which - at least during winter months - means that it's fresh... really fresh! Going up in shorts and t-shirt is....tough ;)

Cape Town offers many activities, most of them during summer months of course. Hiking, mountain biking, all kinds of surfing, skydiving, the wine areas... I guess February / March should be best months for a visit.

Not the only Township...

Unfortunately there are also not-so-nice things which are obvious. There is a lot of poverty, easy to see right from the beginning. When you are flying towards the airport, you pass many townships, people are begging for money or food in the streets, and we also witnessed drug abuse. It became reasonable why the Hotel team told us to go by taxi after sunset and avoid unsafe areas as well as walking between Waterfront / Longstreet. Honestly I never felt unsafe, although I have to admit that as a female I would follow the advice.


Cape Town | History & Community

When you get into contact with locals, the feeling that the Apartheid is still not overcome solidifies. Summing up the story behind, first western settlers from the Netherlands founded the colony in the 17th century as a supply base for the "Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie" (VOC) on their route to India. As time passed by more and more settlers came and increased the colony, and the Dutch also brought many slaves from other colonies to the "Cape of good Hope" how it was called in the meantime. In the beginning of the 19th century the VOC was insolvent and the Netherlands had lost much of their influence as global trading empire. So the British came up and took over the Cape Town colony. They also increased the territory in wars against the native black inhabitants (as often done by white settlers globally) and - in 1833 - ended the slavery installed by the Dutch. To escape from British governance and continue their slavery-backed economy, many Dutch settlers aka "boers" ("Buren") spread out (as so called "Voortrekker") and established new territories outside the former colony area (Transvaal, Oranje Freistaat...). 

The discovery of gold and diamonds eventually led to two wars between the British and the Boers. Finally the British won, but the result of the peace negotiations is an example for "White Man's Business" at its best. The Boer Republics and the British colony formed the South African Union, and divided politics and economy among themselves without participating the black and colored majority in any way. During the 20th century the white minority strengthened their power and system, and put it into a law after the Second World War - the Apartheid System was born. They separated black and colored into seven groups and pushed them out of public life, degrading the vast majority of the people not only to second but up to eighth class humans. 

"District 6" has a remarkable story

Being discriminated on one side, and the fear of the black majority on the other side led to enormous tensions between the two groups, and when the system collapsed in the beginning 90s, a civil war breakout was a real threat... if there would not have been a leader like Nelson Mandela reconciling the opponents...but I'll come back on that later.

Postcard view almost next to a Township

As I said officially the system has been overcome, South Africa is a democracy with equal rights and opportunities for everybody (at least per constitution),but the reality is different. Colored and blacks (which IS a difference here) are still doing the "low quality" work, whereas the top seats and wealth is still mainly in the hands of white people, they also live in different areas.

In the Royale Eatery we met Thogati, a young Xhosa lady (Xhosa is one of the several native black tribes) who is living in a Township, studying art and wants to become a photographer, but has not even enough money to buy herself a camera. We also got into contact with two whites of our age at a club in Longstreet, and when I said the Apartheid Regime is - in my opinion - described too friendly in the touristic buses' information, that it's described neutral instead of saying that it was a bad system, they got angry, bringing up Nazi comparisons and requested more time for their society to overcome this situation. We decided to end the discussion, agreeing that we don't agree but at least have something to think about...

We spoke to a black taxi driver, and in the plane to Windhoek we met the (white^^) principal of a German school in Cape Town with his family. We all know our western-capitalized-always better-more and further-time-is-money-world. Here both told us that there are considerable cultural differences between the black and white population. According to them blacks / colored culture is more short term focused. If you have enough money for today, it`s ok you don`t need to work, you start working again when you run out of money. Many people living in Townships are granted free houses from the government outside the Townships, financed by tax payers (same projects are ongoing in Namibia, you can see this when you are driving between Swakopmund and Walvish Bay). But quite a few people just rent these houses to others to earn money and go back to the Townships, and since they now earn money from their houses they don't need to work. Of course you can say they are used to this life and maybe feel more comfortable in their community, but the environment there is worse for sure, and you can't see the motivation to improve their lives. The saying "culture eats strategy for breakfast" was never more true than in this example...

Again this is general spoken and according to the few contacts we met, but it shows the lack of a strategic long-term planning, like where do I want to be in 5 years (common question in western business world). Motivation and effort are therefore in general somehow also less shaped, according to the taxi driver especially among black men. A lack of education in these groups is also a key element, keeping this system alive. All this together slows the progress (compared to western world) and has - together with other factors - led to the situation where the western societies (and asian but they also have the image to be disciplined and hard-working) could establish themselves as global leaders... for now. If there is one thing history told us...nothing lasts forever; even the biggest empires have vanished  Egypts and Romans to just name a few... 
The positive thing is, this style is more like living WITH nature, what`s available is enough. Where for western cultures you get the feeling it`s living AGAINST natural aspects, and it`s never enough. It`s less exploiting natural resources, and western performance-success-culture-diseases like burn-outs are not an issue here.

It reminds me of my talks in Jerusalem about the situation between Palestinians and Jews. It`s comparable in terms of education, jobs and wealth. Here it`s the cultural lack of motivation to go beyond, there it`s the cultural lack of a bigger picture, a more tribal based approach. Both focused more on short term comfort than strategic planning & progress or success (whatever one might call success), and combined with a lack of education (which there is mainly in the hands of the Jewish society...) leads to a system / situation where one group is dominating the other in all aspects of life. I guess in the long run this is only possible if these factors true. This again leads to the simple fact: Education is key! Even if there are cultural differences amongst certain groups (which is natural), education is the biggest driver to (self-) improvement, also enabling strategic success. This in the end (should) lead to a more balanced situation. Still having in mind that every society and culture has different aspects and needs to consider, for instance different kinds of labor force to function.

Since we all too often think from ourselves when we assess other`s actions (like what would I do, or how this be for me), we think that these people are per se unhappy with their lives, and we could not imagine ourselves living in these conditions. But this is not always true. Of course better situations are always welcomed, but the pressure from distress is apparently sometimes not big enough to evolve the effort needed to improve the personal situation, or what we understand as improvement is not desired. You can maybe see it like expectation management, adapting personal expectations to circumstances and favors. It gets reasonable if you consider the fact that many of these people just only know this kind of life from their parents and other people around them, so it`s not considered "bad". People which don't have a fair chance for improvement (f.i. disabled) are excluded of course. 
Another important component of happiness is the personal level of resilience, meaning how good are you to withstand setbacks and bad conditions around you. A memorable slogan I saw at a desk of our car renting company in Namibia said: "The whole sea cannot sink a ship until water gets inside. Likewise the sadness of the world can't bring you down unless you let it inside."

We are all children of our environment and the people that surround us, especially in our youth. Every human being is like a vanilla with talents and the potential to achieve things - if treated, encouraged and and challenged the right way. For some the (starting-) conditions are better for some they're worse, which makes it easier / harder to achieve things, but nobody is born dump or less worth than any other person. Being born into a first world country, and on top into an intact family / community, should be seen as a gift (and responsibility)...


Cape Town | Robben Island

When you come to Robben Island, history immediately gets real. All the stories and stuff you heard and saw about the Apartheid Regime become depressive reality. 

The by far most famous inmate in the long history of this prison island was of course Nelson Mandela. Mr. Rolihlahla Mandela - his original name, only British teachers gave him the name Nelson because they couldn't pronounce it - was imprisoned on Robben Island for 18 of his total 27 years as political prisoner for his engagement as part of the ANC (African National Congress) against the Apartheid System and suppression of the black and colored people.

The world famous cell #5 in Section B was his "home" during this difficult time. The sign at the door

18 years...4 m²...no bed...no toilet

reads "466/64" which means he was the 466th person imprisoned in 1964. Today this is a sign of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The cell is as small as it appears on all the pictures in media where famous people are visiting it. If you're inside, you can stand and stretch out your arms, but that's basically it (including a window). They had no bed and no toilet. Today some of his former inmates which are still alive are doing the tours through the prison, sharing more details about the conditions back then. For instance at the beginning there were no long clothes for the prisoners even in winter months, the windows had no panes, there were no shoes, food rations were limited etc...

Madiba - how he was often called since this was his Xhosa Clan name - was a passionate boxer in his youth. With the years the inmates were allowed to do sports, and so they founded football clubs (which was the sport of the black majority, only the whites played rugby). This was one of their amusements during all the days which followed the same structure. In his free time Nelson Mandela planted a small garden in the courtyard to have something to take care of...it is still there. For more details on this period, the SPIEGEL published an interesting essay.

Imaging spending 18 years in these conditions, then being moved to another prison for another 9 years, and all this only because one acted to get back equal rights and privileges that were stolen by a small minority which acted with excessive brutality against opponents. Then finally being released and elected as President in a country which was internationally proscribed, economy down and on top really close to a civil war because of all the things happened, especially in the last 50 years... and with all that acting like Nelson Mandela then did as a role model for the reconciliation between the different groups eventually uniting the country instead of seeking revenge (what many of his companions and advisers voted for) ... is an inconceivable achievement which make him one of the most outstanding personalities of the 20th century. The Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 is only a small esteem for that.

The movie "Invictus" with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon provides an idea about the difficulties he faced in his presidential years. The National Anthem (since 1996) has been put together from parts of the Song "Nkosi Sikelel`iAfrica" (God bless Africa) favored by the black population and the Boers Song "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" to represent them also. It also shows the diversity in the population, because the lyrics consist of five different languages (which are only the most spoken ones, in total there are around 10 different languages used). And among the dozens of books about Mandela I can recommend "Mandela's Way. Fifteen Lessons on Life, Love and Courage" from Richard Stengel. It's kind of a personal biography compressed in stories each with a central lesson, rather than a political book.


Namibia | Naukluft & Sossusvlei

Leaving Cape Town and the sadness of Robben Island behind, we departed to start the second part of our trip - the Road Trip. The sunset which we were flying into towards Windhoek was promising, and it should not promise too much.

Let`s roll...

The procedure to get the camper included a 1,5h introduction, depending on what type of car you rent, it can get even more I guess. The good thing was - it had basically everything we needed including 4x4 wheel drive for the sandy parts ;). We stopped quickly at a super market to buy food and water....and immediately learned about a Namibian Business Model. When you are using public a parking lot, there are guys walking around and taking care that nobody breaks into your car - for some money of course... (we paid 5 - 10 N$). The deal is signed by head nodding or raising a thump when he approaches you, and they overview everything, so they are at your car before you even had a chance to switch off the engine. When approached, looking at the price I think its better to sign the deal, the guy probably doesn't give a sh***, and if you refuse to pay, he maybe calls his friends to open....you know how this might ends.

Biltong! Tastes better than it looks

When you are driving outside of the cities in Namibia, you should really avoid driving at sunset or during nights. Its one thing to drive through a completely dark savannah (no "light pollution" where there are no lights at all^^), but additionally some of the wildlife have the habit to run into your car`s light, and on top its not the small ones which have that habit. Since we lost time with the introduction and the purchase, we failed that rule on the very first day and drove into darkness on the way to our first stop - "Rostock Ritz" in the Naukluft area. And we can say it with a bit more certainty... try to avoid it.

Rostock Ritz Camp Site

The lodge area looks a bit like Tatooine from Star Wars, Jabba the Hutt`s palace if you know what I mean. Its operated - as the name reveals - by a German. We booked a camping site, which was again a 20mins drive away from the main lodge. Around the camping site there is nothing, really nothing. Just rocks, sand and - in the night - darkness! This makes it a perfect place if you want to "hear" dead silence. And since there are no artificial lights around you up to the horizon, the starry sky is just wow! I have never ever seen this starry sky, you just sit there and look up, it's marvelous...you can see the Milky Way Galaxy... how can we humans think that we are alone out there...

360° angle from the Camp Site

Some 4x4 action....

Sossusvlei was our destination for the next day. It`s a quite touristic place, containing a nature reservation with big sand dunes which you can climb up. On our arrival day we have been at Deadvlei, an area where - according to Scientists there has been no rain since more than a thousand years, the few plants there live from ground water. Luckily by the time of our arrival there were no tourists around. To get to the spot where we have been it takes some 4x4 action...also quite funny (with the right car of course).

Here again you can witness absolute silence, sometimes just the wind blows a bit. As a westerner used to our hectic world, it`s a strange but impressive experience, you get the feeling as if the world stands still. And this not only for the hour or day you are there, but in the last thousands of years the environment and stuff did not change. Being here and imaging how the world would be without humans...and then as a complete opposite remembering how it was to be at the top of the Empire State Building in the night, hearing the noise such a city makes 24/7 and seeing the light pollution...we are a definitely a burden for this planet... (FYI: see the nice trailer from Conservation International)

The gates to the sand dunes open and close at sunrise / sunset, and from the gate it`s a 35 - 45mins drive depending on which dune you want to go. Also don't for get the time to climb up the dune; they can be several hundred meters high. Having this in mind, we all know when the sun rises during summer months...so you can imagine when we got up to be on the dune when daylight breaks. But it is worth the sacrifice! Witnessing sunrise in the desert is somehow unique. The colors of the sky and the sand... if you ever have the chance, don't miss it.

Different view...?!

The drive to our next destination - Swakopmund - lead us again through the Naukluft. The area is a rocky sand desert with Sossusvlei as highlight (including very finely granulated sand which we still "enjoyed" some days later). We were driving over the Kuiseb Pass towards Swakop. It`s all gravel roads, the recommended speed limit is about 80km/h. You are really hoping that there is wind, because otherwise you are trapped in the trail of dust of the last car (even if it's already kilometers away)...or you push faster to overtake them ;). 

140 km..... like this!

Depending on the road, your skills, and the heat of the sun burning all day, you will at some point tend to go faster (in total it was a 350 km drive this day^^). You can go up to 120 / 130 km/h with the right car, Google Maps proposed 5h and we did the whole distance in 3h. The last 140km are going straight through a desert with nothing around you. No trees, no animals, no curves, almost no other cars just straight to the horizon, over a hilltop and again straight to the horizon...


Namibia | Swakopmund & Omaruru
 

Swakopmund coast line

The first time Swakopmund became importance was during the time of the German colony "Deutsch-Südwestafrika", where it served as entrance for many German settlers and soldiers and guarded by German warships. It`s a colonial style city, and you can still see this heritage in the city today. A look at the street names, the pubs, cafés, but also the style of the buildings reveals the history. There is also a "Swakopmunder Karnevalsverein" still celebrating the fifth season every year. During our time there we did not do that much, we only had a day trip to Walvish Bay, going on a Kayak Trip where you get into close contact with seals (playful but smelling as hell), and in the afternoon doing some 4x4 action in the sand dunes of Sandwich Bay. When you are staying in Swakopmund, be aware, the weather can change multiple times a day, so no worries if it`s cloudy in the morning. I would also recommend a visit to "Kückis Pub" for Dinner, and then chill out at the "Tiger Reef Bar" with some beers or (and) long drinks...

The drive to Omaruru where we stayed at the "Namib Guest farm" was quite relaxed, because it was mostly tarred road. Driving this way you can see how the environment changes again to an African savanna with high grass and many trees, and also lots of high termite hills next to the street. The guest farm is operated by Mr. Siebold Sen. and his family, and has it`s beginnings in the colonial time. 

During sunset we had a game drive on his property, where we were able to see the wildlife face to face and take some nice pictures. Mr. Siebold Sen. lived his entire life in Namibia, and this is not planned to be changed. He is used to the wildlife of course, we witnessed that when we encountered a puff adder (Puffotter) - apparently quite a nasty poison bad ass snake - during the game drive. He stopped the car, and because the snake was too relaxed for his opinion, he took some wood and threw her towards the car, she landed maybe a meter next to it....not all of the guests in the car found that as funny as he did :D. Then he made jokes like "Oh I can't see her anymore she`s probably beneath the car..."...funny guy^^.

Game Drive pics...like all following

Back at the lodge we had dinner with the family and other guests, and we got into an interesting conversation. Mr. Siebold Sen. said that he does not employ Herero's, often they have trouble with people from other tribes and they are stealing. "This did not change since colonial times" he said. Also they request the land to be theirs and the Germans stole it from them, which is true, but you have to consider that before this happened, the Herero themselves just came into what is today Namibia and stole the land from the Bushmen just 30 years earlier... I think if you continue this discussion it leads to the same answer as the question to whom belongs Jerusalem? (Interesting talks which I also had with Palestinians and Jews visiting this spiritual place) The answer is: it always depends on how far you go back in history.

In fact there are several different native tribes living in the area, and everyone has it`s own language. On top there come German and English from colonial times, so every Namibian is what we would call a language talent, handling several languages with ease. Of course no one is able to understand / speak them all, but a language which is often the common basis is Afrikaans. The language was invented by the Dutch during their colonial times and is still alive, because everybody learned it at one point of time. It sounds like Dutch and I guess if you are from northern Germany you should be able to understand most of it, I was only able to get the general meanings and some words. It was also the language of the Apartheid System and was elected the ugliest language in the world.  

Having a closer look to the native languages, they have these click sounds. But a click is not a click! ;) There are different types of clicks and the different languages use different clicks. The Nama have 5 different clicks, the Bushmen 8 or 9... The Nama are considered the oldest tribe in the world, the Owambo are the biggest single group in Namibia today. If some of the older natives are asked how old they are (since they have no ID) they say between 50 - 60 or 60 - 70, but they don't know for sure. Reason is that in some years there has been no rain season so they didn' t know when a year was over (who would have thought of that).

A common practice in Namibia is to consult dowsers (Wünschelroutengänger) to find water before digging a well. Digging is expensive and the risk to get bad result (lime, sulfuric...) is high. Mr. Siebold Sen. said he himself is able to do it, and really sensitive dowsers are able to find water 80 - 130m deep. He recommended checking our homes also to find a good spot for the bed and avoid sleeping on water veins.

By the way, water is about to become a real problem. 280mm/m² rainfall p.a. is normal (in Germany: 729l/m² p.a.), but in the last years it dropped to less than 200mm/m² and the last big rain is 4 years ago (2015). The ground water continues to drop and especially for the cities like Windhoek this will become a big problem.

It was already late and so everybody went to bed....and we went out of the lodge to our camp site...yeehaw :/. Before leaving Mr. Siebold Sen. did not forget to tell us that leopards, gepards, jackals etc. are all running around on his lands...as I said funny guy. When we left the lodge to go to the camp site we saw several eyes reflecting the light in this little forest where the camping site was located...During nights the temperature drops below 0°, and somehow in valleys it`s colder than on hills. The night in Omaruru was the coldest in our trip, and the loudest. We got the full program of night wildlife in Namibia. When we were silent, we could hear them right next to our tent, and I needed ear plugs to fall asleep. 


Namibia | Etosha National Park & Waterberg
 

Our next stop was three nights in the Etosha National Park. There are several camps where you can either rent a lodge or camp site, and in between you are allowed to drive on your own on the roads but only during the day, and you are not allowed to get out of your car. We were at the Okaukuejo, Halali and Namutoni camps, all of them have enlightened water holes to watch the wildlife during / after sunset, which provides a good chance to see some of the Big 5.

Of course we all have seen most of these animals in zoos, but watching them in their natural habitat is different. Especially studying their behavior and reactions with/on each other is interesting (something which you can't really see in zoos because of the enclosures). You get a feeling how Gaia (if a concept like this exists) organizes life among the different species and their environment without any human interference. F.i. there are rules and hierarchies at the water holes, and - also interesting, when the thirst gets bigger, the brain releases dopamine which calms the aggressiveness and fears down and lets them focus on the main goal - drinking water. If there is a group of elephants approaching, all others stand back and wait till they have finished....and since they can drink several hundred liters per cycle, it takes some time to finish. I also can't talk about lion attacks because only one time we saw a female drinking while some giraffes were waiting in the background. 

While having breakfast at Halali Camp, we were visited by a Honey Badger. He's probably one of the toughest folks out there. Apparently he is missing an important natural concept which is called "fear". So this guy really doesn't give a s*** no matter whom he approaches, and especially if he`s hungry. After inspecting all the trash bins, he walked straight into the lady's shower room...another funny guy.

As I said if there are animals around, the night time is everything else but quiet. Wildlife is quite active, and also the termites and ants are in full motion collection food and increasing their homes. Termites always align their hills to the magnetic north pole... (if you ever get the chance to play "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" - Now you know it! And keep in mind it's the magnetic one not the geographic North Pole ;) and call me if it helped I want my fair share!.

Namutoni camp is around an old German Fort built by the "Schutztruppe" during colonial times. If you don't want to spend three nights in the Etosha, skip this one, the water hole has the worst view compared to the other ones.

Observing the animals, you can say that time has no meaning. Things take as much time as they take. Where in our world we always try to optimize things, efficiency etc. to be able to spent as much time as possible with joyful activities... 

Our last stop before returning to Windhoek was the Waterberg. It`s the mountain with the same kind of flat plateau on top as the Table Mountain in Cape Town, just bigger. It`s also the place where German soldiers fought against the Herero and - together with natural aspects caused a thousands death amongst them, some call this a genocide. The German General Lothar von Trotha was not able to defeat the Herero's completely at the Waterberg. The Herero' fled into the desert with their families, and he ordered to guard the water holes preventing them from coming back...not many were able to escape.

At the Waterberg there is a historical path prepared. If you have the time go for it, it contains interesting facts and is fun to walk. I was really looking forward the whole day to that evening to be able to see the starry sky again because the camp site there is also far off any civilization. But unfortunately it was full moon...so no starry sky...too bad. So the one in Nauklauft remains unique, I will never forget this view.


Namibia | Outro
 

Back in Windhoek I have to say the city itself does not offer that much. You can visit the State Museum, the "Alte Feste" - an old German Fort, Independence Av. is the shopping street and that's basically it. The only thing I recommend here is "Joes Beerhouse". Delicious food, beer (of course^^) and a really nice style. On our last evening we (2 Persons) had three full dishes, 10 big draft beers and 8 shots, which was in total 680 N$ (~ 52€). So you can compare the prizes with South Africa (1€ = 13 N$ and in general things are half the prize of Germany (2015)). Remember to go by taxi after sunset...

The meat in Namibia is all free range. During our stay, we tried Oryx, Springbok, Kudu, Zebra and Crocodile. Oryx & Zebra is the best in my opinion, Springbok has a pretty intensive taste, and Croco tastes similar to chicken. 

Even if tab water is officially good to go, I would not recommend drinking it from my personal experience...and I am still wondering why Namibian rooms (at least the ones we saw) have no power point in the bath room...? Remember every time you leave your car to put out all important stuff, because apparently cars are being broken up frequently everywhere (remember the Business Model...). You should also avoid showing luxury by yourself when walking around.

The people in general are friendly and willing to help, being on time is not their priority and you should also bring some time whenever you need some assistance. 

You don't need a navi, better use offline maps with GPS on your mobile, because there are not that many roads anyway :D. Get used to the vastness. We were driving around 2500 km in total. You will be driving for hours through deserts or savannas without anything happening, just the landscape changes maybe. The worst route was the last 140 km to Swakopmund... You will be happy when you come close to cities (close means 50 - 70 km) because then you get radio network again (German Broadcaster: "Hitradio Namibia"... yes one more amongst the 50 other Hitradios IN Germany^^). Expect mobile network only really close to cities or sometimes camps. Have enough water with you and stay on the streets, because if something happens you have at least the chance to meet other drivers (but that may take a while), and really avoid driving after sunset. We tried. It`s not fun. If you are driving a gravel road it`s up to you how far you push it....on the other hand you have lots of time to think...

Totsiens / Hamba kahle
(Goodbye in Afrikaans & Zulu)

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Wherever you are, be all there.
Jim Elliot