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Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland
Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland
Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland
Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland
Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland
Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland
Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland
Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland

fly into the very remote areas of the region.

Watch out for old wrecks along the coastline.

Explore the unspoilt wilderness.

these semi-nomadic people have retained many of their traditions.

opportunity to meet the local Himba people.

nature drives into otherwise inaccessible places.

Rock formations near the Ugab river.

guided activities give you great insight into the area.

Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland

Reviews of safaris to Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland

199 holiday reviews from our travellers of holidays which include Skeleton Coast.

Showing 71-80 of 199
Duration
Arrival date
Mr & Mrs H
Cambs.

"My Jul 2016 trip"

I visited Namibia between 18 Jul 2016 and 5 Aug 2016
"We had a wonderful three weeks in Namibia.

The accommodation was generally of a very high standard and everything ran smoothly.

I had expected that driving such long distances would be tiring but in a 4WD and with little other traffic this did not prove to be the case." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Dr A, B & B
San Diego

"5-Jul-2016 to 4-Aug-2016"

I visited Namibia and 2 other countries between 15 Jul 2016 and 4 Aug 2016
"Have nothing to add beyond writing that Maruska was tremendous to work with. Well done!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only suggestion would be to have people drive out the east gate of Etosha (which we did) and south through Otavi on the way to Mundulea Reserve, rather than you suggested departure through the south date of Etosha. Although more gravel road, you see more game." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr Y & Mr T
San Fran

"Outstanding in every respect!!"

I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 28 Jun 2016 and 11 Jul 2016
"Having enjoyed wildlife-oriented safaris in both Southern and Eastern Africa, we wanted to focus our adventures in Namibia on that country's breathtaking scenery.

Expert Africa personnel (first Martha Young and Chris McIntyre; and later Tracy Lederer) did a superb job organising our three-lodge itinerary . . . Little Kulala; Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp; and Serra Cafema. Namibian lodges do not offer over-the-top luxuries (unlike high-end camps in Botswana, South Africa, et al), but we were totally pleased with our accommodations at all three lodges.

Hospitality was uniformly top-notch, and all 18 meals we consumed at the lodges were imaginatively prepared and delicious. Wilderness Safaris, the local operator responsible for our travel arrangements in Namibia, offered seamless service, from the moment our plane landed in Windhoek to our departure to Johannesburg ten days later.

Likewise, we thoroughly enjoyed the Rwandan segment of our holiday. Our only complaint (a minor one) is Virunga Lodge's kitchen, whose offerings were mediocre at best. Every other aspect of our Virunga Lodge stay was entirely satisfactory.

Our local guide/driver did an excellent job "negotiating" gorilla treks that matched our physical limitations. With his help, we were assigned easier families to visit and, thus, completed both our treks around three hours. We were not displeased with our, but we did notice slightly newer and seemingly more comfortable vehicles offered by other companies.

Don't know the differential between their rates and the other companies' but, given the long drive from Kigali to the Volcanoes area and, in particular, the bone-jarring ride to Virunga Lodge, we might have been tempted with a more comfortable option." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mrs L & Mr G
USA

"Epic Namibia"

I visited Namibia between 7 Jun 2016 and 16 Jun 2016
"I had done extensive research on Namibia but needed some expert advice to bring it all together. Sabina did just that - perfectly!

Namibia has been on our "to do" list for a couple of years. We've travelled in Africa quite extensively - this trip to Namibia has DEFINITELY been the best! It is magical, majestic, dramatic and unspoilt - there aren't enough adjectives to describe it and photo's can't capture it - it is truly "Epic"..." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr C & Ms B
Colorado

"My Jun 2016 trip"

I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 6 Jun 2016 and 24 Jun 2016
"In short, we felt like we had died and gone to heaven (and one of us almost pulled it off and went!). Maruska's expert advice, planning, and execution fulfilled our dreams and concepts of the perfect African safari. This unforgettable holiday started with us being whisked through the diplomatic lanes (by the delightful Wilderness Safari representative) in the Windhoek airport, and every experience that followed caused us to continually pinch ourselves ( I, 54 years old, even did cartwheels after sliding down the roaring dunes on the way to the skeleton coast).

Although we never imagined we would need to contact Maruska or Expert African on our trip, a surprise, unfortunate medical emergency caused Maruska to be contacted by our private guide Andrew Harkness. She immediately emailed me, expressing her sincere concerns and willingness to help in any way possible. She expediently helped me with the documentation of the cancelled portion of our trip, and all of her follow up communication has demonstrated her exceptional professionalism and her personal touch. We highly recommend her services and would use her again in a heartbeat!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We think you have a sterling operation, which we will recommend to everyone we know who is considering a trip to Africa. Thank you Chris McIntyre for your guide books and for heading this superlative travel service!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mrs K
Netherlands

"Once in a lifetime!"

I visited Namibia between 3 Jun 2016 and 16 Jun 2016
"IT WAS ALL I WANTED. I loved every moment of it.

It strarted with Sabina Hekandjo. She is the one who made it happen. I am very gratefull that she has patience with me and with her knowlegde. Because of that I had a splendid time. Thank you!!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, because the way your company is acting is something I never have witnessed before." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr H & Ms Q
Nevada

"Botswana & Namibia safari"

I visited Namibia and 2 other countries between 31 May 2016 and 17 Jun 2016
"Overall, and in every detail, this trip truly turned out much better than we had expected - and our expectations were high.

Maruska went the extra mile, several times, to ensure that our itinerary was precisely what we wanted. When the initial camp selections turned out to be more expensive than we wanted, Maruska proposed alternatives that worked out very well.

Our safaris to Botswana and Namibia couldn't have been better.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We never received a brochure, but did receive a glossy guide to your offerings, after we had returned home. Since we used your web site, and it's very good, it wasn't really an issue.

There were a number of comments about various camps that were only for Expert Africa, but there wasn't a place to put them. So we were obliged to just put them at the end of reviews. Ditto for some suggestions regarding improvements at camps, probably only of interest to camp managers. These things could be removed before posting the reviews, if you like.

We'd like to thank the Expert Africa team, and Maruska in particular, for arranging this very special trip for us." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Dr K & Dr B
Ontario

"My May 2016 trip"

I visited Namibia between 26 May 2016 and 13 Jun 2016
"Overall, our trip to Namibia was amazing. The accommodations were as expected and mostly first class, with two notable exceptions: Olive Grove Guesthouse and Damaraland Camp.

The scenery and wildlife in Namibia were exceptional and we would love to return again and again and again. If we did return, however, there are some aspects of the trip that would merit closer attention.

For example, the transitions between camps were sometimes problematic. As mentioned in my review of Scenic Air, the fact that they do not inform passengers of their flight times more than a day in advance makes planning arrival times very difficult. In order to catch our flight to Sossusvlei, which we expected would be in the early morning, we arrived in Windhoek the previous day and overnighted at the Olive Grove. Check out time was 10 am yet we weren't picked up until 12:30 so since late check out had not been arranged, we sat in the reception area waiting for two and a half hours (after already having spent the previous afternoon in transit as well as killing time all morning waiting for our pick up).

When I emailed Tracey, she explained that no other scheduled flights serviced airports close to Sossusvlei Desert Lodge but what frustrated us was not so much the wait as not having a choice about the wait. If Tracey had mentioned during our trip deliberations that we had a choice of a regularly scheduled flight to an airport 30 or 60 minutes drive away from the Lodge versus Scenic Air's unpredictable scheduling to the Lodge's airstrip, we at least would have been prepared for the wait. Furthermore, once we got to Sossusvlei, we discovered a fairly major airport within about 30 minutes of the lodge and another within about 60 minutes of the Lodge, both of which offered regularly scheduled morning flights. Our group came to the clear consensus that we would have preferred a flight to one of these airstrips as that would have saved us at least a half day of waiting.

Our return connection between Sossusvlei and Windhoek and then onward from Windhoek to Hoanib also seemed to be less efficient than it could have been. During trip deliberations, Tracy told us that the only way to get directly between Sossusvlei and Hoanib was via expensive charter flight so we elected to spend a night in Windhoek. But, while waiting on the tarmac at Doro Nowas, we encountered a couple who had flown in from Sossusvlei and were about to board the Wilderness Safari flight to Hoanib. I understand that these people did not fly from Sossusvlei Desert Lodge airstrip but it just seems that a little creativity - and perhaps an hour long drive from the Lodge to a different air strip - could have saved us another day in transit.

We also encountered more problems with our transfers than should have been the case; when we arrived at Eros from Sossusvlei, no one was there to pick us up. Our pilot had to call Wilderness Safaris, who then had to call a subcontractor/cab to come get us. When we arrived at Eros from Okonjima, Barnabus (from Wilderness Safaris), gave us cards that indicated we'd be picked up from the Olive Grove the next morning at 5:30 am. When we told him that we had to catch a flight leaving Windhoek International Airport that afternoon at 3, he called the office and arranged for us to be picked up at noon. When no car had arrived by 12:15, we had an Olive Grove staff member call Wilderness on our behalf and found out that they didn't plan to pick us up until the following day at noon!

Bruce and I were also frustrated that our Expert Africa package did not arrive prior to our departure. Tracy explained the late mailing by saying that she didn't realize we planned to travel within South Africa before arriving in Namibia but in our trip planning deliberations, I did tell her of our plans. Even Peter only received his package a day before he departed Australia and complained that it would have been nice to receive the package at least a bit in advance in order to have an opportunity to read and review the materials.

Another frustration concerned luggage restrictions. We are seasoned Africa travellers so well aware of the luggage limits required when travelling by small aircraft. However, Tracy insisted that even more strict limits applied to Namibia and our luggage must not exceed 10 X 12 X 24 so we ditched our much used Africa travel bags and bought smaller ones. Yet, when we arrived in Namibia, we found that everyone - including our travel companions - exceeded the 10 X 12 X 24 limits at least somewhat. Our old, reliable, Africa travel bags would have been perfectly fine - and would have made our packing much easier and our travel much more comfortable.

Another issue that arose during trip deliberations that turned out to be a false issue concerned our weight. Even though we provided Tracy with our weights before we made the final payment on our trip, we were later told that because we as a party exceeded the weight limits normally allowed for two men and one woman, we would need to either limit our total luggage weight to 15 kg per person or pay an extra $1,650 US. Needless to say, we were shocked, both because we are not particularly large people and because this felt like a bit of a scam having come up after having paid our full fare.

After some back and forth, Tracy managed to get the company to "acquiesce" to allowing us 20 kgs luggage per person which at the time seemed like a win. But, when we boarded each of the Scenic Air flights, we discovered that the "fourth" seat they had wanted us to pay $1,650 US for was never even used as a seat. For each and every flight we were on, it was folded down and part of the luggage compartment. Never was there a fourth passenger and never was our luggage even weighed!

I understand this issue has everything to do with safety; however, we can't be the only Expert Africa clients affected and I don't understand why this isn't dealt with before a quote is provided. Alternately, Tracy should have negotiated the outcome on her own before asking us to pay an extra $1,650. Only if she were not able to achieve the ultimate outcome (which was essentially no change) should she have gotten us involved and stressed out! In light of all the issues surrounding luggage size and weight, we packed less than we would have otherwise and found ourselves less comfortable throughout our travels. I sighed several times wishing I had a warmer sweater or a nicer outfit to wear to dinner. Small things, I know, but they add to the comfort and enjoyment of a trip." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Good
Porky
Perth

"Lots to See and I Saw Most of It!"

I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 25 May 2016 and 17 Jun 2016
"The highlights in some sort of order :
Hoanib Camp *****

Edo's Camp ****
Ongava Tented Camp****
andBeyond Soussusvlei Desert Lodge ****
Mack Air ****
Desert Air ****

Okonjima Bush Camp ***
Olive Grove Guest House ***

Wilderness Air **
Damaraland Camp *

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Tracy organised my/our safari really well. She had to blend in two different itineraries and there was a fair bit of juggling to be sorted through and she did it well.

The only arrangement that I found a bit frustrating was to find out that Wilderness Air did fly direct from Sousessvlei through to Hoanib, albeit from an airstrip a bit of a drive from Soussusvlei Desert Lodge. I felt that it should have been feasible to organise a transfer (perhaps at extra cost) to fly direct from Soussusvlei and avoid an overnight at Olive Grove in Windhoek which was really a """"wasted"""" travel day which might have been better spent at Hoanib.

And I think Expert Africa need to talk closely with Wilderness Air - the latter seems to have some problems." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Good
J&V
Florida

"A fantastic trip to Namibia"

I visited Namibia between 23 Apr 2016 and 5 May 2016
"Although I have tried to provide some constructive criticism, we loved our trip to Namibia and would repeat it in a heartbeat.

It was one of our finest international trips ever.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Maruska did a terrific job & we thought our trip was fairly priced. We appreciated getting a copy of Chris's guidebook as well." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Showing 71-80 of 199
99%
199 reviews of Skeleton Coast by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
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Where to stay in Skeleton Coast

Our suggestions for safari camps in Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland


Cape Cross Lodge

Cape Cross Lodge

Right on the Skeleton Coast, between Swakopmund and Damaraland, Cape Cross Lodge has easy access to Cape Cross Seal Reserve.


87% (63 reviews)
Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp

Hoanib Skeleton Camp

Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp is actually situated 42km inland in Kaokoland, this said they offer a superb guided day trip to the coast.


99% (38 reviews)
Terrace Bay

Terrace Bay

Terrace Bay is bleak. However, those that stay here come to experience the remote and inhospitable nature of the Skeleton Coast.


79% (37 reviews)
Serra Cafema

Serra Cafema

The luxurious Serra Cafema is in the most remote corner of Namibia - at the north end of Hartmann's Valley, across the Kunene River from Angola.


97% (35 reviews)
Schoeman's Skeleton Coast Safaris

Skeleton Coast Safaris

Skeleton Coast Safaris is a small, family-run operation that has organized trips here for 20 years.


99% (29 reviews)
Hoanib Valley Camp

Hoanib Valley Camp

The intimate and remote Hoanib Valley Camp offers a rare chance to explore this dramatic corner of Namibia and to search for its sparse desert-adapted wildlife.


96% (11 reviews)
Skeleton Coast Shipwreck Lodge

Shipwreck Lodge

The only property on this desolate stretch of coastline, the extraordinary Shipwreck Lodge opens up a new section of the Skeleton Coast National Park


96% (9 reviews)
Opuwo Country Lodge

Opuwo Country Lodge

Opuwo Country Hotel provides comfortable accommodation is well situated for a night's stop before travelling into remote parts of Kaokoland.


83% (6 reviews)
Epupa Camp

Epupa Camp

Epupa Camp is a welcoming oasis set on the palm-fringed banks of the Kunene River in north-west Namibia and close to Epupa Falls.


87% (3 reviews)
Leylandsdrift Camp

Leylandsdrift Camp

Used exclusively on the Schoeman's skeleton cost safaris, Leylandsdrift Camp is a great place to track desert elephant.


100% (1 review)
Kunene River Camp

Kunene River Camp

Used exclusively on Schoeman's Skeleton Coast Safaris, Kunene River Camp occupies a pretty location on the banks of the Kunene River.


100% (1 review)
Okahirongo Elephant Lodge

Okahirongo Ele. Lodge

Tucked away in Namibia's far northwest Okahirongo Elephant Lodge offers luxurious chalets, with stunning views and plenty of activities.


80% (1 review)
Kuidas Camp

Kuidas Camp

Kuidas Camp is usually the first-night stop on a Schoeman's safari. It is a very simple camp with stunning views of the Huab River Valley.


100% (1 review)

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