Namibia: ordinary car or 4x4 with tent?

Hello everybody,

My wife and I are leaving for a 2-wk holiday in Nambia in April. I am running a bit late for the preparations and I have to make a decision on what type of car I want to rent. The choice would be an ordinary 2WD car or a 4x4 including a tent.
Does anybody have any suggestions what would be better? From what I've read it would not be necessary to have a 4x4 because the roads in Namibia are of good quality. But having a tent will give us some extra freedom (not having to look for hotels; staying out in the open etc). Does anybody have experience with this: did a 4X4 with tent really contribute to your holiday experience? And will the weather in April be good enough to sleep in a tent (so not too much rain)?
When I look at the rental prices for 4x4s with tent, they seem to be pretty expensive. So it doesn't really look like a cheap option... Am I right in this?
And anybody have recommendations for a company to hire cars? I am thinking of Asco Cars in Windhoek.

Thanks for your responses!

As the answer to this question really depends on where you plan to go, you may want to let us know. For Etosha, Swakopmund, Sossusvlei, etc. there is no need for a 4WD unless you want one. For areas along the coast up north and so on, 4WD is needed.

CK

Thanks for your response Chris. I forgot to include our itinerary. It will probably be something like Windhoek - Sossusvlei - Swakopsmund - Skeleton Coast - Etosha - Windhoek.

So you would say that no 4x4 is needed for this? But would it be more fun to have one anyway in your opinion?

I haven't been to the Skeleton Coast but am pretty sure you need a 4WD. You do not for the remainder of your trip, so depending on your routing you may want to get a 2WD for part and then 4WD for the Skeleton Coast. Plenty of people on TT have been there and can give you more detail.

CK

Hi Willem
Provided you stay on road 4WD should not be needed unless you want to go right up north to Skeleton Coast proper. Advantages of the 4WD, however, include 1) the ease of a roof top tent or just more room in the vehicle for all the camping gear 2) better road holding on the unsealed roads at speed and 3) you're sitting in a higher vantage point for wildlife viewing.

If you are happy to see a bit of the S part of the Skeleton coast and the Cape Cross seal colony and then travel up to Etosha via Twyfelfontein along the most 'out of this world' stretch of road see my previous post
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?messageID=14003133&#14003133
Cheers, Tim

Thanks everybody for responding to my enquiry. I think I will be going for the 4x4 with tent, not because it is necessary but because it will be more fun (I hope) to have a tent. Anybody have advice on which company in Windhoek to hire a car from?

With your proposed itinerary, you could go for the REALLY cheap option, which would be to rent a 2wd sedan and then rent a tent. You don't need a 4wd for the route that you've outlined so you may want to have a think about this.

Be careful this year :I've planning renting a 2wD next March and some friends, who live in Namibia now, tell me that this year there is a lot of rain and a lot of gravel roads will be very difficult to to with a 2wD due to rivers crossing even if there is no rain in the next days.
I don't know what can I do to cope with this.
It depends on your itinerary but ,next weeks, some gravel roads can be no useful for a 2wd.
It depends also if it coninues to rain...
RR