Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"A very memorable trip. The Caprivi Strip is so different to the rest of Namibia. Delightful lodges. Expert Africa very good, as always.
Only two small comments:

1. there was a chap from Wilderness Safaris at Windhoek airport to meet & greet us. This has never happened before, so we walked straight past him. I hope he wasn't offended, but there was nothing from Expert Africa to say that we were being met at the airport. Bit of a surprise.

2. Wild Horizons transfers. Perfect and on-time for each occasion. The problem was communication. We we not given a pick-up time for the transfer to Livingstone Airport. Our previous driver said we would be contacted and informed 24 hours before pick-up. We were not contacted, and none of the telephone numbers given in Zimbabwe was contactable either from a mobile or the hotel's phones. I even tried sending a text, but there was no reply. In the end we had to ask the Avani concierge to phone Wild Horizons local office in Zambia. If Wild Horizons has a local office, why give travellers lots of numbers in Zimbabwe ? (none of which seem to work)." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"The self-drive trip was very successful.

From Expert Africa's staff to those in the various lodges ... and to those in petrol stations, cafes and restaurants, thanks for your friendly, helpful approach." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. It really could not have been any better, and was without doubt the best holiday I have ever been on. Everything from the lodges, through to the scenery, wildlife, service and organisation was just fantastic. I don't think I could fault a single bit (apart from Immigration at Johannesburg airport). And the food, everywhere, was just brilliant.

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Not much to say here apart from the service we received from you was flawless, and very much the reason the trip was such a success was down to both your recommendations and hard work. So I really could not thank you enough. It was the trip of a lifetime!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"This was our second trip to Namibia and Etosha, this time we included the Caprivi Strip. We arrived in Windhoek and awaiting in arrivals was a representative from Wilderness Safaris who took control of our luggage and escorted us to their private lounge. He then proceeded to help us purchase that all important SIM card and sort our car hire. Once done he collected our luggage and took us over to collect our car hire. Thank you Wilderness Safaris. We were soon on our way to our first overnight stop in Windhoek. Next morning our journey was to Swakopmund, then onto the skeleton coast and the Cape Cross seal colony where we spent a whole afternoon photographing these small creatures.

Early next day we set off for Damaraland, then into Etosha NP. Having left temperatures of the mid 50 degree we were soon enduring the 40 degree heat of Etosha, it was extremely dusty giving us pictures of what the UK is like having had a severe overnight frost, everything looked magical. Animal sightings did not disappoint us. When we sat at Heathrow we discussed what it would be good to see and we though a good sighting of a Rhino would be good. We ended up and had 20 good sightings in Etosha, we were even lucky enough to witness courtship and almost mating of two at Okaukuejo Camp waterhole. Lions however avoided us on this trip. Elephants were in abundance, with lots of babies and juveniles which gave us lots of amusement.

The Caprivi Strip was a little disappointing with a clear lack of wildlife but we were told that due to it being so dry the animals had gone deep into the bush. Although disappointing did it spoil the last days of our holiday? Not at all, we were in Africa and at anytime any animal could come into view, that's what it is all about and this will always bring us back.

Thank you Expert Africa for all your help in planning this trip and making it another memorable holiday. We will be back!

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Just keep on doing what you are doing. Always such a friendly, knowledgeable and helpful team of experts.

We will keep on recommending you." Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 27 on a Namibia trip

"We had a great holiday and are happy with how Expert Africa arranged things.

Desert Rhino Camp, Okonjima, Okaukuejo and the Olifantsrus viewing hide in Etosha were the highlights." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Thanks to Maruska who organised a great trip for us at very short notice. We had previously visitied Namibia 9 years earlier so chose to visits areas we hadn't been to before, going down to the Fish River Canyon and up to Bushmanland.

The whole range and variety of scenery across the country continues to be massively impressive, with many places to relax in remote areas looking across vast expanses of land.

Self driving is very easy (provided you don't forget your driving licence as I did, needing to courier it out!). We took a 4x4 this time which realistically we only needed (but then certainly did) in 3 or 4 locations.

Tourism has clearly grown a lot in the last few years - we saw many more tourists driving on the roads compared to 9 years ago. The country still feels very safe (albeit there are now warnings in some major towns with regard to petty theft).

The Namibian people continue to be warm and friendly but we did notice a significant reduction in the interest of guides to ensure we had a great experience - many seemed to have lost some interest in the job. This may have been because we were in less visited areas or a dfference between the South and North of the country.

Still a fabulous country to visit.

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No improvements - Maruska was fabulous (again)" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"This was a great trip.

The first two weeks were sightseeing rather than a traditional safari, but the photo opportunities were fabulous, Wilderness is a bit corporate for us, but extremely well organised, with great guiding. You cant fault Wilderness, but for us not a traditional safari experience. For a traditional safari that challenges mind and body mundulea is a must on the list. Where you can fly between camps, fly, the distances are huge

This is our 10th safari. In total we saw 34 mammals, 13 new species. if you are going for animals you need to be more patient in Namibia than other African countries. But every fabulous, iconic grumpy black rhino you see makes the wait worth while.

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When you are paying so much money for a trip, you want to make sure everything is 100%, occasionally we felt that we were being a bother as we were having to repeat questions. however Tracy was always a pleasure to deal with" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"This trip was very well developed and all arrangement worked perfectly.

Should I want to travel to Africa again, I will definitely use your services." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"This was a fantastic trip- thanks to Meghan and Tom who put it together for us. We are really glad we stayed 2 nights in Okonjima and would recommend this to others. Okuakuejo didn't fit with the feel of the rest of the trip. The draft trip had 2 nights in Okuakuejo and we only stated in Hobatere as there weren't 2 nights available in Okaukuejo - Hobatere was much nicer. It also had the advantage which we didn't appreciate until we got there of allowing us to drive through Etosha from west to east- this was an amazing experience.

Chish McIntyre's book was really useful for advice on tips etc but his best advice was to just drive from waterhole to waterhole through Etosha. We did this and the experience was almost indescribable.

I was worried about the roads and getting petrol along the way. The roads were scary to begin with but once we drove at a reasonable speed and were sensible they were fine. I really got into driving on them and was almost disappointed when we hit tar around Etosha!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent support prior to and during the trip -- Elizabeth quickly reponded to queries we had while we were travelling and we felt well supported; we were able to do everything we wanted and more; Wilderness Safari camps were highlights of the trip; we recommend 3 nights at Desert Rhino Camp." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip