Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"Fantastic trip with such diverse experiences. We loved it !" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"In this short trip we could only scratch the surface of Namibia.

Travelling long distances on the gravel roads with hardly any other cars to be seen gave a sense of the freedom and vastness of the country. Obviously the dunes in Soussusvlei were a highlight as was the hiking in Bullsport.

Travelling times between places were in general underestimated particularly from Swakkopmund to Soussusvlei which took over 6 hours of driving." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"This was a fantastic holiday that surpassed our expectations. It was an amazing country and every area was different. We had a lot to fit in within a relatively short time but it was do-able and we didn't feel rushed.
Such a different country to the UK and everyone we came into contact with was friendly. We were lucky enough to stay in some excellent hotels.

Driving around Namibia was very easy. Being able to stop the car anywhere to take photos was great and the landscape changed every 50km or so!
We did experience the police road blocks 4 times, but only at one did we have any issues - we would recommend bringing an international drivers licence for peace of mind as although this was not needed, the police seemed to think it was!

Thank you Expert Africa for organising our trip at short notice and for all the advice before departure. We loved Namibia and want to go back and explore more on another self-drive trip!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is a breathtaking unreal incredible place. Expert Africa helped us plan in a way we never would have thought of doing it. We're glad we did the fly-in safari because we were limited on time (only a week) and wanted to see what we could. Also we are glad not to have driven for hours on the dirt roads.

The colors of Namibia are of a vibrancy that I've never seen anywhere else in the world. You must go.

Our experience with Expert Africa blew my mind. I never thought to use a travel agency before but I was lead here because I read about it in the Brandt Namibia guidebook and realized that Namibia is not one of those places where you can self-plan very easily. This saved me so much time of trying to figure things out on my own and was well worth it. I don't even think it was unreasonable in price given what we got out of the itinerary.

Thus, we will happily use Expert Africa for our African adventures, and are in the midst of planning our next trip to East Africa. I will recommend this company to anyone I know thinking about going to Africa." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 3 on a Namibia trip

"We had a really good holiday. At times th edriving was quite tiring given the state of the roads. Timing - although the country was quite green and attractive it did mean wildlife was scarce even in Etosha which put piad to some activities which was a shame. However, the scenery and wild landscapes more than made up fpr this. T

The only downside was Zebra River Lodge - i strongly suggest you drop this accommodation.

Hoodia, Kipwe & Erongo were our highlights.

Two very minor points on your itinerary:

1) I think Hoodia directions are wrong - to be fair it is wrongly located on a number of maps; and
2) Be aware that Kipwe does not provide a laundry service (we had planned to use it but no service exists)." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Everything went smoothly and according to plan. The only glitch was having to leave Nduvo a day early in order to get to Maun on time." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We had such high expectations and they were all met ,even in extremely remote locations.
The standard of accommodation ,food and service is overall very high.
At no time did we feel nervous or threatened and the driving is a challenge but was fun and an unforgettable experience.
Sharing the driving and hiring a proper 4WD vehicle is strongly advised
Don't just dream about driving through Namibia, book it and do it for the most wonderful experiences and memories

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"Let's start with the positives. Our guide (Lawrence) is a wonderful guy and skilled guide. Can't speak highly enough for him. The sites we visited were excellent, and the accommodations varied from "satisfactory" to "outstanding" with an average I'd say B+. The meals they provided were upscale and very good - whether at restaurants or in the tented camps. Game viewing was excellent. It was obviously a finely tuned itinerary - we saw an amazing variety in the time we had. Everything went like clockwork.

The overall experience was brilliant, but with two major caveats. First, they PACKED the vehicle (Land Cruiser) with EIGHT passengers (there are nine seats, including the driver and passenger seats). There was no storage space available, so water bottles/daypacks/cameras had to be underfoot the whole time. The leg room was minimal in some of the seats, especially for tall people.. The passenger seat has no access to the roof for photos or viewing while on safari. Some seats are more comfortable than others, so we were jockeying on a daily basis for who got the crappy seats. We joked about "business class" seats and coach. It sucked. Safari viewing with the top up was difficult, with seven of us trying to cram ourselves into the small viewing area. The saving grace was that our fellow passengers were all good natured and willing to take their turn in the bad seats.

To add insult to injury, after the first day or so, we noticed the air conditioning in the vehicle was failing. Coolant leak. Lawrence got a recharge the evening of the day we discovered the problem, but whatever caused the leak in the first place wasn't diagnosed - nor fixed. So we didn't have A/C for most of the trip, and some of the days were 40 degrees C. So we had to drive with the windows open. Most of the roads were gravel. It got pretty uncomfortable. It's hot (it's the desert...). Dusty. Every time we encountered a dust trail from another vehicle, we had to quickly close all the windows, opening them after the "smoke" had cleared. In the heat.

There were other problems with the vehicle as well - the doors wouldn't unlock much of the time. The roof leaked when it rained, turning the front row of seats into a pool. There was often a gas smell in the passenger compartment.

This was billed (and priced) as a luxury tour. For most aspects, it delivered that. But the transportation was more what you'd expect from a bare-bones budget travel agency. We'd go back to Namibia in a heartbeat, but I wouldn't book with Karibu unless we had assurances that their transportation wouldn't be packed like sardines, and the equipment was properly serviced." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"This was our 3rd trip to Namibia with Expert Africa doing variants of the caracal self drive safari. All 3 trips have been fantastic which is why we keep going back.

Sabina did a fantastic job in planning our trip and making suggestions and booking restaurants and activities. She put together an excellent itinerary which was perfect for our group of 7 which ranged from 8 to 61!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Most of the accommodation that Expert had booked was very good although we didn't find the staff, on the whole, as welcoming as we would have expected.

Once at the accommodation, in general, we found assistance with activities poor & some activities were just provision of a driver. We would have been happy to pay for such activities if they took us to places we couldnt get to on our own and offered more educational/informative elements.

However, we loved the country - the scenery was absolutely amazing - so varied and so devoid of people & we saw loads of birds and animals - BRILLIANT !!" Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 23 on a Namibia trip