Itinerary questions for Namibia

Its doable. I have done it and my partner has done it recently. She drove from Windhoek to Sossusvlei and the dunes then onto Swakopmund and Walvis bay then back to Windhoek in four days. She drove roughly six hours a day. The roads are gravel in alot of places so limit your speed.

Its almost like a triangle so you can do it that way round or go to Swakopmund first. The dunes at Sossusvlei are another 60kms into the park on gravel so make sure you are there in time to get to them.

Windhoek is not a very exciting city so I would also give it a miss... Windhoek - Sossuvlei is a long day of driving ... Don't drive after dark, the road are badly lighten; the drive from Windhoek to Sossuvlei is cery nice, very interesting scenery - also some rough pass on a little car (lots of rocks, sand, ect.). Personnaly I wouldn't try to do both, but I'm not a big fan of too long driving days either

Oh, and for Sossusvlei vs. Swakopmund see this thread

You can actually fly direct on SAA from JNB to Walvis Bay (Swakopmund). That way you could skip Windhoek entirely if you wanted, or (probably better) fly in to one city and out of the other. Would cut out one leg of the triangle.

I think it depends on whether you can put up with 2 reasonably long drives.
Personally, I'd try and do both if you're OK with about a 6hr drive between Swakopmund and Sossusvlei on (good) gravel roads. The drive is stunning and a nice way to see a little more of Namibia in such a short time.

As you're pushed for time, you could fly into WDH in the morning, grab the car and go straight to Sesriem. Spend the afternoon at the dunes and the canyon. Get up very early for sunrise at the dunes and then leave late morning and drive to swakopmund arriving late afternoon. Fly out from Walvis Bay a couple of days later (flight leaves around lunchtime). You'd probably have to pay a one way dropoff fee on the car hire though.
Yeah, it's rushed - but definitely doable.

As far as dune comparisons go - they're totally different. If you had to choose just one - I'd opt for the more spectular Sossusvlei.

Thanks, this is great info from everyone, although I'm pretty sure when I checked that you can only fly SAA to Walvis Bay from Cape Town, not JNB. I like Jennand's suggestion of flying to WDH in the morning and driving straight to Sesriem and spending the night there.

One last question: Is Namibia a "left side of the road" country like SA?

Yep, they drive on the left in Namibia as well.

Have another look on SAA - there's a direct flight between JNB and Walvis every day except Saturdays. You may have looked at a Sat. I grabbed this from their flight scedule info.

JNB-WVB - 11:30 12:50 - SA1701 Non Stop
WVB-JNB - 13:30 16:45 - SA1702 Non Stop

Looks to be about NAD2160 incl taxes for June dates.

Hello,

In my opinion, you could easily give Windhoek a miss if you are pressed for time.

I went to Namibia specifically for the dunes, and I must say that the sunrise was one of the most amazing moment of my life. I just posted my photos this evening at my personal website -

http://www.stephen-braun.com/index_files/namibia.htm

Have a fantastic time!

Don't short-change yourself at Sossusvlei. Even though you are short of time, make sure you go all the way to the Main Dune at Sossusvlei itself. That dune, at sunrise, should be your objective, followed by a visit to the Dead Vlei nearby. Do not let them tell you that Dune 45 (which is on route) is Sossusvlei. It is definitely not.