I have two weeks in Namibia coming up and thought it would be easy to just 'pop' down to Cape Town for two or three nights, but flight and rail connections don't seem to be make it easy or economical. Are there any cheap flights – just who is the easyJet of Africa? Chris Littlewood, Lincolnshire

Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: Owing to the vast distances involved in getting out of Namibia, and a low population density, there are no budget airlines offering flights on the 780-mile trip from Windhoek to Cape Town. The cheapest fares that you will find are about £200 return, with either SAA (0870 747 1111) or Air Namibia (870 774 0965). Incidentally, it is pretty much the same story to Johannesburg.

The current economic downturn and soaring price of oil has cut the number of airlines in South Africa, with Nationwide the latest to go bankrupt. The equivalent of easyJet in the region is Kulula, which has some great low fares in and around South Africa, but unfortunately doesn’t fly to Namibia. The same goes for the smaller 1time and Fly Mango, which both operate low cost flights within South Africa.

If you have a few days to spare and feel like some relaxation, I’d say that you are best off heading to Swakopmund, 110 miles west of Windhoek, and the nearest thing that Namibia has to a holiday town. There are some good beaches, plus plenty of great places in which to stay, eat, and drink.

Namibia from above

John Simpson takes his two-year-old on a light aircraft trip in Namibia to discover his African heritage

• How to do India with kids in tow

Namibia's strange desert blooms

Spring flowers and 2,000-year-old trees - the extraordinary beauty of Namibia's landscapes

• On Namibia's Skeleton Coast

On Namibia's Skeleton Coast

On a mission to cross Africa on foot, Fran Sandham chose Namibia's Skeleton Coast, graveyard of explorers

• Take a train through Tunis

Related Links

• The Skeleton coast on a budget

There is a friendly and buzzing atmosphere to the place, which is famed for it’s German style architecture (leftover from the days when Namibia was a German colony). However, it’s not for lazing or architecture-gazing that people come here, but to push themselves to the limits doing one, or more like several, of the many adrenaline sports that are on offer – from scenic flights over the dunes and surf, to ballooning, camel or horse riding, quad biking, sand boarding, or even skydiving.

For more information, see www.swakopmundnamibia.com, or www.namibiatourism.com.na

Times recommends

• Oasis of the Seas: the Times review
• The 20 best new year party places to stay
• Green Spaces 2009: are you the winning writer?