Driving gravel roads in Namibia

I have a 4x4 Car in Germany, but frankly I do not really use it and hence I have no clue about it. I have to learn it from Shelly, who learnt it in Colorado.

So first of all, there are A, B, C, D roads in Namibia. A is not existent, maybe a place holder for the future autobahn....

B is usually a tar road with 2 lanes, easy to drive. C roads are gravel roads and depending on the local grader group they are good, sometimes not so good. We have seen perfect Cs going straight for a long time (Skeleton Coast), where you can easily drive 100KM. In the mountains you will find often rocks, dips, herds of sheep or cows or dry riverbeds (sometimes not dry...in this case you should look for the tracks of the other cars). As there is virtually no traffic and rarely a construction place, you can achieve an average speed of 100KM/h, faster than on German autobahns....

A typical C road is usually at least 10-12m wide and contains of several tracks (if the grader wasn't recently there). As the traffic is very, very low, you can choose the best tracks, left, middle, right. The condition changes often, so you will change from time to time the best track. You have to be careful at a dip going up, as you do not see a possible other car directly. It is very rare that a car comes and you ALWAYS see them from the dust miles away from the car. So you shall be prepared to be on the right side (left).

A D road is smaller, but the condition varies. We have seen D roads, which are like a C. Others can be REALLY challenging (D3200). But that's Namibia, you never know....

Usually you do not need 4x4, only in rare conditions you want to activate it. For the popular Toyota Hilux you have a second gear stick, which is like an L. Per default it is on 2H, meaning two tires are connected to the engine. Next one is 4H, where all four wheels are driving. L4 is a very special gearbox, where the gears are very low, e.g. For the sand dunes in Soussusvlai (last 6KM). If you get stuck, do not to try to drive with higher gas, usually you will be digged in more. Take a breath and analyze the situation and react accordingly.

Maybe differential lock helps you to get out in combination with 4L. That means all tires are connected to power with a low gear box and the axe in the back is locked, so if one tire is deep in the sand and the other not, the free one will push hopefully the car out of the sand.

If you cross a riverbed, be very sure, that your car can drive through it and that your exhaust is not in the water. Sometimes you have cemented parts in the riverbed. Unfortunately they are not very wide, so be sure that you do not slide from them. A local guy told me that often somebody checks the riverbed with a long stick to find the best way through. If you get stuck and your exhaust is under water DO NOT start the engine, as the water will damage your engine!