Hi all,
I'm considering à 3 months trip through South Africa, Namibia and Botswana (july-september) but I'm not sure about how to get around and I'd like your opinion on what would be the cheapest and/or best way to move about. I'm a 26 yrs old male. somewhat experienced backpacker (asia/south america) but I've never been to africa and it scares me a little bit (in a good way though :-)
In previous travels I used public transport, which is quite often the cheapest; but I understand that in Botswana and Namibia there's slim to no public transport and it's almost impossible to get to the most remote places?
Renting a car for 3 months seems quite expensive: Appearently it's about 40USD a day to rent a car, so that would be 3600USD for three months. Especially considering the fact I will be travelling solo... Or is it easy to meet fellow travellers who join me for certain parts of the trip (and split the costs)? Quite expensive -> Hence the question: would it be cheaper to buy a car for those 3 months as soon as I land? Is it easy to buy a reliable second hand car for that budget?
Then I had the idea of buying a motorcicle, which would be cheaper than a car i suppose. Am I right? But what about travelling on a motorcycle: will my luggage get stolen the first time I leave it all unattended for 1 hour?
Does anyone know where to start to buy a decent vehicle as soon as I get there? Any idea about the cost? What about selling it once I'm done with the trip?
Or maybe it's best to travel by public transport through South Africa and only rent a car for Namibia/Botswana?
And on an unrelated note: are there many backpackers hostels with dormbeds in Botswana? (to travel cheaply and meet people...)
I've tried to make my questions as clear as possible. Hope I haven't failed too much :-)
Thanks for your completely subjective opinion on this matter. The more the merrier!