2023 Southern Nam Tour

[Mad Manny]

Summary, comments, feedback, highlights & insights:
Some musings & anecdotes:

The Disco:
A few people said I was crazy to go overlanding in a Disco.
It was a 2010 (same as Fearless) & had nearly 160 000km.
But Sueanne & I agreed it would be a better choice than Fearless for two reasons;
More Power
More comfort.
I was non too concerned, it was in great condition & had an exemplary maintenance record.
Yes, it suffered a break down but this was quickly fixed. It took us there. It brought us back.
The shattered rear window was actually a bigger hassle as we couldn't use the back door for fear the glass would fall out on opening & closing.
It towed great & handles the weight of my trailer (1400kg), the luggage & fridge & Sueannes 60kg RTT very well while still being remarkably light on fuel, it gave us a potential range of over 600km+ per tank.

Costs:
Each 'team/vehicle' had different costs, but the average costs, excluding exceptional expenses (like my tyre or the Disco's water pump housing) was around R36 000.
Our fuel bill nearly half that of others'.

Jaegermiester:
We had a lot, about 1 & a half bottles each.
I blame Christo & Wessie.

Highlights:
It's hard to select, Quiver tree forest, Giant's playground, the desert wild horses, Kolmanskop, Diaz Cross & the other touristy sights were great.
Obviously Sesreim Canyon &the Dunes & Deadvlei were memorable.
But the old hotel, the abandoned castle, the lovely little hotel in a small dusty town (I forget the name) & the other little gems were, to me, in away, even more fulfilling. We stopped at this old disused smelter thing, for example.
Hopefully the others can flesh out these stops a bit better than I have done.

The Dune driving was also the most fun.

Planning:
Andreas did a truely exceptional job, his route, the stops, the timing, everything - no one could have done better.

The Mileage:
We did 5000kn door to door.

So, if you get 7km/l, that's 714 liters at R21.00/L = R15 000.00

Diesel Prices:
Currently fuel (Angel tears - Diesel) in SA (if you avoid Shell, BP & Sasol & shop around) is about the same as in Nam & Bots.
Petrol (the Devil's juice) is R2.00 to R3.00 cheaper per liter there.

Namibia:
Short answer - Nam is like SA could have been if the ANC was not corrupt & the Nats had kicked Zuma to death instead of Steve Bantu Biko.

Best Part:
For me, the two weeks of; no phone (I don't take roaming when overlanding), no Loadshedding, no clients, no stress, no worries & far less irritations were the best part of the trip.
Then the laughter. Jeez, we had some good laughs.

ORRA Radios:
We won't do a trip unless everyone has a ORRA licensed good radio - as per club policy.
The Radios are invaluable. We had a few issues were the Noobies tried to talk too much crap rather than using it asa tool for vital comms.
But overall. You cannot do a trip like this without it...

[Mad Manny]

Tony's stunning pics:

[Bugjuic]

Damn great pics Tony!

[Bugjuic]

Thank you Ian! Had a look at the website Manny suggested, just random photos of him in his BlueBull Mankini. You Patrol posts are much better suited to my question.

Manny seems you had a great trip. Nice write-up. And don't worry the Disco matches your personality, many flaws but still loved by many...

[iandvl]

...
Had a look at the website Manny suggested, just random photos of him in his BlueBull Mankini.
...

I presume you noticed his Toyotaholics tattoo then ?

[Disco Nic]

Nice write up, Mannyfredo

Was an absolute treat seeing Andreas and his missus.

Wasn’t so bad seeing you either.

[Martin de Jager]

Manny, great report as always, love the photos. The tour on my bucket list, one day.

[grips]

First many thanks to everyone on the trip and especially Andreas for arranging everything and his great planning. Thanks Andreas.

This trip was not my first visit to Namibia but was still something really special. One always tends to skip the Southern part of Nam.
For quite a while I've been telling Karin that we need to do a trip involving Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei and Solitaire.

I have driven past Keetmanshoop so many times and did not know about the hidden gems like Quiver tree Forest and Giants Playground.

For Karin & I it was a dream came true as we were able to visit the places we dreamed of seeing.

I enjoyed the dune driving. Not my first in the Namib trip but first with the v6 Cruiser. Although fully loaded the V6 performed better than I expected.

We were also happy with our camping setup. It was easy and quick to set up and take down the camp arrangement on the Cruiser.

Just a bit sad to be back. What a nice country Namibia is. No Pot holes, No load shedding, No rubbish laying around.

O ja I am very glad that I was able to say hallo to Willem (Rico4e) .

Can`t wait for the next trip!!!

[Wayneman]

What are the regulations and licensing implications of using the radios in Namibia? Is the ORRA license valid across Southern African countries?

[Wayneman]

Sounds like a very enjoyable trip. I did a very similar trip years ago, and can also say what a nice country it is.

[Mad Manny]

What are the regulations and licensing implications of using the radios in Namibia? Is the ORRA license valid across Southern African countries?

If you have a ORRA User Authority it is valid in SA and Nam.
Don't think it is valid in Bots though.

[Paul#25]

What are the regulations and licensing implications of using the radios in Namibia? Is the ORRA license valid across Southern African countries?

If you have a ORRA User Authority it is valid in SA and Nam.
Don't think it is valid in Bots though.

As far as I know it valid for Botswana as well but you are restricted to certain channels/frequencies. My card has the SA, Namibian and Botswana flags on it.