Last Updated: September 12, 2025

Adventurous Self-drive safari routes in South Africa & Namibia

Adventurous Self Drive
– bringing out your inner Camel Man…

We’ve been offering self-drive safari tours in Namibia and South Africa for over 30 years and we have planned plenty of more adventurous routes for clients during that time. We also have plenty of ideas on when you shouldn’t do a self drive safari…

But first let’s focus on the positive….

We offer some sample ‘adventurous’ tours on our website. These are not really off-the-wall but they do visit some more remote areas and involve some driving on gravel roads. We also have plenty of more adventurous trips which head up into the Skeleton Coast.

Adventurous Self-drive tours in South Africa

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KwaZulu Natal Adventure

This self-drive safari holiday includes some of KwaZulu Natal’s highlights: excellent game-viewing; relaxing on the Indian Ocean beaches, touring the Natal Battlefields, and walking or scenic touring in the Drakensberg Mountains. It’s an enjoyable mixture of discovery and gourmet delights amidst breathtaking scenery.

Zeederberg Trail

This adventurous self-drive safari combines game-viewing at two contrasting game reserves – the rugged Mashatu Game Reserve and the beautiful Entabeni Game Reserve – along with scenic touring in the highlands of Tzaneen and the Blyde River Canyon. You also have the option of adding a safari in the magnificent Kruger. You drive on tar roads for most of the trip, yet you travel through some of the most remote and authentic parts of South Africa.

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Cape to Kalahari

Now we start to get more adventurous as we head into the Kalahari… Experience the contrast between cosmopolitan Cape Town and the Cape Winelands and the stark beauty of the Kalahari Desert and Augrabies Falls on this self drive safari.

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Endless adventurous self-drive options

And two for Namibia…

Cape to Namibia

This three week self-drive safari offers a great contrast between cosmopolitan Cape Town followed by some of the scenic highlights of the West Coast. It then takes you up through Namaqualand and into Namibia, visiting the dunes of Sossusvlei, Damaraland and Etosha before ending in Windhoek. There are plenty of gravel roads so driving is tougher.

Namibia Adventure

This luxury Namibia self drive combines general touring with a superb safari experience, and is ideal for the first time visitor. Highlights include Etosha National Park, Damaraland, Swakopmund, the dunes of Sossusvlei and game-viewing in the Kalahari.

Adventurous Self-drive tours in Namibia

Do you dare to experience Namibia on your own pace?

Chat to us about a tailor-made Namibian self-drive just for you!

What about other options for adventurous self-drive safaris in Namibia and South Africa?

Driving from Namibia into Botswana to Maun
Driving along the Caprivi strip into northern Botswana (Kasane) or even to Victoria Falls
Exploring the northern Limpopo area around the Soutpansberg
Driving through southern Mozambique perhaps combining it with the Kruger
Exploring the Northern Cape

Download our Insiders Guide to Namibia Safaris

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Where we DON’T do self-drive safari itineraries…

We don’t offer the following sometimes-asked for areas because of the likelihood of getting stuck and the severity of the problem/delay if you do!

Most of Mozambique – the roads become very poor north of Imhabane. There are scenic northern routes from the Kruger but you need to sign up for a self-drive convoy using a specialist company.

Self-drive safari into the Okavango Delta – again this is for experienced 4×4 drivers, usually travelling in groups. Typically 3 or 4 South African couples might do this together. The roads are very sandy in the dry season and impassable and water-logged in summer. You need to know what you are doing.

Northern Kaokoveld in Namibia – many adventurous souls do drive up there in car rental vehicles but the roads are a mix of sand and a lot of rock and so it’s easy to wreck your rental car and then you could be stuck for many hours, even a day, as it’s so remote.

Zambia self drive safari – simply because we don’t know it for self-drive and frankly the distances between the game parks are too great to make it an attractive mode of travel.

Zimbabwe self-drive safari – this is a tricky one as we used to do many self-drive trips into Zimbabwe many years ago. There is no real reason why this is not possible to do again except that there are a number of police road blocks which would be disconcerting and unnerving for most clients

NOTE:
There are companies that offer escorted self-drive camping itineraries into remote parts of Mozambique. But we don’t offer that. Sorry!

Check out our South Africa Self-drive sample tours

Self-drive Routes

“Adventurous Self-drive safari routes” was written by safari specialist Cedarberg Africa

We hope this has been helpful? Cedarberg Africa is a specialist tour operator for Southern and East Africa focusing on upmarket tailormade safaris for discerning and busy people. We make our money on the difference between our trade rates and the public rates available to you. This means that all our expertise and years of experience comes at no extra charge to you.

Contact us if you would like a tailormade safari quote.