According to very fresh information the gravel roads in Namibia is in the worst condition ever.

One friend lost a fairly new bakkie tyre, which was easily replaced in Windhoek. The worrying factor is that the other friend who lost two tyres on his all wheel drive SUV was unable to obtain replacements of the same size in Namibia. You have them flown in from Johannesburg having paid upfront, wait until they arrive, and is a happy chappy when they are in fact what was ordered. Before you can do that you need a buddy to take your useless wheels to Windhoek from wherever in Namibia where you got stranded. (I suppose Swakop will be a good second best with an air shuttle to Walvisbaai available from who knows where).

This is a serious situation for people thinking they can take their semi-low profile high speed tyre equipped vehicles into countries where these vehicles are foreign things not to be touched by the locals. You cannot expect dealers to lay capital out on stock that may rot on their shelves.

Just iImagine stones cutting the sidewalls of two of your tyres and you are 350 gravel kilometers away from Windhoek all on your own. 

The query by a forum user wanting to tackle the Namibian back roads during the hottest time of the year in a single vehicle - not convoy, promted me to post this message.

I know one can carry a sattelite phone in remote areas. Carrying enough spares could prove to be a better investment than a sattelite phone.

Kanneman