Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"The trip was a holiday of a lifetime and the special service you organised for us made us feel very very welcome.

The places we stayed will be etched in our memories for ever, and we couldn't believe how lovely the scenery was, and how friendly and professional all the staff were. As for the food, it was fantastic and putting on weight says it all !!

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Keep up the great work and enthusiasm. It was a joy to sit back, take 'expert' advice and leave you everything to the professionals.

Thanks again." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Wonderful "once in a lifetime" trip. Sabina was spectacularly helpful and knowledgeable. I will wholeheartedly recommend Namibia and EA to friends and family! Some comments and constructive criticism:

Positives:

1. Self drive is easy, totally doable and a great experience. We did not have any punctures or mechanical problems but were glad to have the high clearance of the four wheel drive. That being said never engaged anything but two wheel drive the entire time but appreciated the security.

2. Very safe - people were friendly and approachable and we never felt concerned about security or safety in any way. What a relief and pleasure.

3. No health hazards - since Namibia is a very dry country most water comes from bores and hence, while flavor can vary it is very clean. We had no GI issues despite carrying an extensive armory of treatments. Also regarding malaria - prophylaxis is adviced by US health authorities but noone we met in Namibia considered the country to have any Malaria, at least below the caprivi strip and particularly in the winter months (June-August).

4. Great roads - seriously, for a country with only 1.5mm people it is remarkable how good the roads, signage etc are. We had no problems and found it easier to drive around Namibia than to drive from New York to Boston (although need to be comfortable driving on gravel surfaces).

5. Variety of activities - unlike some of the other destinations we considered, Namibia offers much more than "just wildlife". While we saw plenty of animals, birds and reptiles, we also saw many different landscapes, experienced the ocean and had some exposure to the local culture - much more enriching than just a traditional safari experience

6. Variety of travel and accomodation approaches - Namibia is approachable in many ways, from small tour buses, to camping, to self drive to fly in/fly out. This is different to other locations that require, for example, fly in.


Some suggestions, requests and comments:

1. Cash - EA should alert clients that gas/service stations don't take credit cards or atm cards in many parts of Namibia. Self drive clients should take at least N$2000 in cash with them at all times. It takes over N$1000 to fill the tank of one of the double tank self drive vehicles. Contrary to suggestions some ATM machines would also not recognize my ATM card from the US (provoking panic!) although in large cities (WH and SW) things were fine.

2. Tips - clearly guides on safaris make most of their money on tips. I had no idea how much to tip a guide for example for taking us on a two hour trip into the desert or driving us to an activity? EA could helpfully give more guidance on this matter.

2. Beef up offerings of "active" activities - Namibia seems well set up for the older couples tourist but seems light on offerings for actively minded travellers (Swapokmund and Mundulea notwithstanding). I would suggest adding to the offerings of such activities in some locations; even where "nature walks" are offered they are not very well described or promoted, perhaps because the lodges/camps don't make any money on those activities.

3. Do more at the coastline - Namibia has several thousand miles of coastline but the array of activities related to the coast seems thin. We enjoyed the kayaking from Walvis Bay very much and perhaps should have taken another day in Swakop to venture down to Sandwich Bay. The whole notion of the Benguela current, and the history of the coast and the islands in the south, seem underdeveloped to me and seems to offer more opportunities and activity. The surf around Swakop is better than anything i see except on the very best days in California and the water, despite all the hype, is warmer than california as well and wetsuits are easily rented in those places. Why not start a surfing school in Swakopmund? Or windsurfing or kiteboarding in the walvis bay lagoon? Maybe these things are already available but it would seem a missed opportunity. What Namibia offers most is "animals plus other things" rather than "just animals.." and the more of the "plus other things" there are the more people will come and the longer they will stay.

4. Connect with local populations - sometimes we felt as though we were just going from one Wilderness Camp to another and not having any interaction with the local population. We learned a lot from our guides and the staff at the camps but as noted below they mostly came from other parts of Namibia and had little to say about the history or culture of the area we were visiting. I would like to see EA and WA (see below) develop some program where visitors can interact with the locals in the vicinity of the camps, learn about their culture, history etc. I know this is possible in some locations but perhaps we missed them.

5. Balance Wilderness Adventures/Safaris experiences with other experiences - we stayed at three Wilderness Adventures properties (Ongava, Doro Nawas, Kulala) and enjoyed them very much. They offer consistently great locations, excellent design, high standard of service. Their guides are "good generalists" but sometimes don't have the attention to details and small things of other guides (one guide at Doro Nawas told us the Levine family arrived at Twyfelfontein in 1974 whereas they left in the 1960's). My standard on guides is whether they pick up poo - if so, they are really paying attention, otherwise they may be just driving and animal spotting.

Sometimes the W-A places have a bit of a corporate feel, and their activities are often limited to just game drives, with few individually directed or physically active activities and guides who just focus on finding specific "big five" animals. They have lots of European groups visiting which seems to be good business but can also constrain the options in terms of access to activities for individual travellers. I would have though EA could find other accomodations in the same areas as the WA properties that are more "idiosyncratic" and authentic and offer the same activities and aspect." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Overall a fabulous holiday.Very relaxing. A truly stunning country.

In the context of an excellent holiday - a few pieces of feedback

1. I think we should have been recommended a 4x4 car - hadn't realised what the roads were like, and would definitely have appreciated that! We were consistently the only guests at lodges who were in a small car

2. Swokupmund was not worth visiting. .The purpose of our trip was to see the country, not a seaside resort, so we had always seen this as simply a stopover. During the planning of the holiday, we'd pushed quite hard for just a one night stop over there, but Expert Africa had been quite insistent that we would need 2. This was a wasted day, which was disappointing. We should have either been allowed to take the one night, or instead, should have taken 2 separate nights out in the countryside.
Recommendation - try to understand what's important for people's holidays (for us towns were absolutely not important)

3. Palmwag was disappointing" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and it was fabulous.

We have been to Namibia and Zambia before, but this was so very different.

We loved every bit of it and all the arrangements ran like clock work." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"A fantastic experience, many thanks.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

your service was perfect thank you" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"A very good trip with first class lodges selected by Expert Africa spaced at "do-able" distances. Local knowledge in choosing the overnight stops was much appreciated. The vouchers worked well. All the staff at the lodges were very welcoming, "old fashioned service" perhaps resulting from a slower pace of life.

I prepared a set of detailed route instructions and took a basic handheld GPS that does not have maps. Before leaving UK I matched the paper map with Google Earth for latitude and longitude at road junctions. Preparation was time consuming but worth the effort for peace of mind to ensure we were at the correct junctions and going in the right direction to the next. This was important when road signs only show the road number.

We detoured off the route to Henties Bay for lunch from Uis Mine instead of going directly to Omaruru and Erongo Lodge, and to the dinosaur footprints near Kalkfeld. The road from the dinosaur footprints, D2414, goes through Erindi game reserve - sign in and out at gates, but no charge.

Total distance was planned at 2200 km but we drove a little over 2600 km. Definitely a "must do again" adventure.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I can't think of anything at the moment" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"This was our first experience of Africa - and we would definitely like to return. All four of us (including a 15 & 17 yr old) really enjoyed it, and felt we had got a flavour of what Namibia was about - the animals - and the people.

Some handy hints - tips will be expected in various places - from a voluntary 'departiing' tip for the staff box at lodges, to a tip for 'guarding your car' every time you stop at the supermarket or to have a meal, to a tip for washing your car overnight when you didn't expect it! It would be helpful for Expert Africa to tell travellers what is the going rate for tipping - we worked out our own ratio in the end - more for staff at lodges, smaller amount for car guards etc.

It was initially a shock to come across 'car guards', as not used to this concept in UK. We also ended up giving juice and pencils as well as some money to some young boys who helped us unsolicited to change a tyre in the middle of nowhere. Some people in the country areas have very little.

Timings - Think in advance about when you are likely to arrive at lodges - some of the distances you will travel between them are pretty big - and you can't rush on gravel roads. If you are going to arrive just before dusk, you may not be able to do that walk in that lodgeyou had planned - unless you are there for 2 nights - which we found would have been preferable in most lodges.

Temperature - We noticed the drop in night-time/morning temperatures in Western Etosha - may just have been a fluke of the weather at that time - but it can be PRETTY chilly eating your breakfast at 6.00 a.m. in an outside restaurant - if you are planning to go looking for animals early which most people do whilst in Etosha, so you do need a jumper or fleece." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We have travelled with many holiday companies over the years and usually travel at least 3 times a year and we can honestly say that in all our experiences this ranks with the best of them, from our experience with Expert Afica who were always willing to help with any queries, and all of our destinatiions (except maybe a couple) it was a breathtaking experience for myself my wife and our 2 grandchildren, every single day was mind blowing.

Thank you so much Sabina for all your help in helping us arrange a lovely holiday.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Please believe me, your trips and service do not need to be improved" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"With the exception of the glitches mentioned above our Namibia trip was wonderful. [Ed: this is a reference to the car and flight reservations, mentioned briefly below.]

The lodges we stayed at (especially Mountain Homestead) were beautiful; we felt welcome, comfortable, and well taken care of at each; the hosts and hostesses at Mountain Homestead and Andersson's were charming and very knowledgeable about the areas where their lodges were located and about Namibia in general; the staff members were warm, friendly, and always helpful (Ben at Mountain Homestead, Koolus (sp?) at Erongo Wilderness Lodge and Ramon at Anderssen's Camp deserve special commendation).

The activities planned for us each day gave us a chance to see just what we thought we should see, were neither too many nor too few in number, and allowed us to get some exercise without being overly strenuous or exhausting.

Sabina was a pleasure to work with in planning the trip; she is clearly very knowledgeable about Namibia, had creative ideas throughout, and was extremely responsive to all my queries and requests.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The problems we had with the car rental and charter flight were not serious, all things considered, but Expert Africa may need to consider making further efforts to confirm and reconfirm arrangements on the ground." Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 1 on a Namibia trip

"Many thanks for another great trip, but please can you just confirm about the diving." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip