Driving Cape Town to Windhoek with 2X4?

Hey,

We plan to go to South Africa and Namibia now in January, the plan is the rent a car in Cape Town and drive it up to Windhoek, and then fly home from there. I have a couple of questions, and would love your input:

1) First, do we need a 4X4 car, or can we manage with a small 2X4 in most of the interesting places along the way?

2) Can you recommend cheap/reliable car rental in Cape Town (ones which allow drop off in another country)?

3) We plan to have our own tent and mainly camp, how do we find good camp sites (does Lonely Planet guide book have good enough recommenadations?)

4) How easy is it to find (working) Internet places along the way in Namibia?

5) Is there some places in Namibia that you would definitely recommend to do with a guided tour, or is everything more or les doable by yourself?

6) Namibia in January is fairly hot, I assume. But is it usually blazing hot all day long, or does it vary a lot? (I'm hoping for variable, since me and very hot doesn't go that great together) ;)

Thanks a lot guys for all your tips!

1) No you don't need a 4x4, as long as you don't drive off-road or on sand.

2)) No. One-way drop will never be cheap in that region. The costs of retrieving the car are huge.

3) Do some searches. There are community sites in remote places. Read the Bradt Guide, too.

NWR is the government agency running the National Park sites. You can book through them, or, of course, a reliable agent, like Cardboard Box.

4) Most towns will have internet cafes.

5) Much of it is NOT doable by yourself. Kunene region is vast and remote. Doable in 4x4 and usually in convoy.

Sandwich Harbour is superb day trip south of Walvis Bay / Swakopmund. It involves driving up and over huge sand dunes. Recommend Turnstone Tours who have great guide. many other areas need guide.

6) Hot, yes.All day. You probably need aircon. Ours broke once and I drove with a wet towel around my head.

hi,
Go to SANPARKS web site.
They have all the camp sites etc listed.

How many people are you traveling with and how many days do you have for the trip? I'd consider flying to Windhoek and a rent a car from there. It is a long drive from Cape Town to Namibian border alone.

Most towns definitely have internet cafes--and cheap too. If you have a GSM mobile phone, you can pick up signal pretty much anywhere too--including in the middle of an empty desert where you don't run into a soul for hours.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/youngadventure/sets/72157625578378522/