Travel reviews by Mr R from Chicago, USA

A Wonderful Relaxing Experience

On this trip, I visited Namibia & South Africa between 8-Dec-2012 and 28-Dec-2012 and I travelled with 1 other person.

We are very happy with most of the services and suggestions provided by Expert Africa. The lodge choices were excellent overall. We were also very happy that we decided to follow the recommendation of renting a 4x4. It made the driving much more comfortable and worry-free. Gwynn was a pleasure to work with. She is obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about her home country. The map provided was perfect! We had no problems at all driving ourselves.

I do have to mention two small bumps throughout the process. The first was a problem with the bank transfer from the US. Even though it is clearly explained in the instructions, I wish someone would have made it stand out. There are pages and pages of instructions to read and things are easily overlooked. It would be great if you could have a small list of highlights, including payment instructions. We ended spending over USD$300 to correct the bank transaction problem.

I was also disappointed about our lodging arrangements in the Kalahari. When we first discussed the lodging we were told that we were going to have to stay each one of the three nights at different places because everything was booked. To our surprise, when we arrived in Mata Mata and called !Xaus we were told that they had plenty of rooms available. They told us that they had availability when Expert Africa made our reservations. We ended up losing our entire payment for our night at Mata Mata Rest Camp which was not pleasant.

Feedback response

Its great that these travellers enjoyed their trip, and that the 4WD was right for them. Different payment methods are available and currencies can be complex but we've changed our instructions in the light of this to try to make them even clearer.

We're also sorry about their disappointment with their Kgalagadi accommodation. There had clearly been a misunderstanding, for which we have apologized. We were not aware that these travellers would have liked to stay at !Xaus for longer.

I stayed at and have reviewed:

Place	Overall rating
Acorn House, South Africa 8-Dec-2012 review: Comfortable and Beautiful B&B	Excellent
Farmhouse Hotel, South Africa 9-Dec-2012 review: Great Hotel with an Amazing View	Excellent
Ndedema Lodge, South Africa 10-Dec-2012 review: What a Lovely B&B	Excellent
Mountain View Guest House, South Africa 11-Dec-2012 review: A Perfect Stop in Springbok	Excellent
Canyon Lodge, Namibia 12-Dec-2012 review: Beautiful Lodge-Not Environmentally Friendly	Terrible
Dabis Guest Farm, Namibia 14-Dec-2012 review: Beautiful Farm but Awkward Experience	Good
Desert Homestead, Namibia 15-Dec-2012 review: Awesome Location - Wasted Potential!	Poor
Sam's Giardino, Namibia 17-Dec-2012 review: Wonderful Experience, Warm Personal Service	Excellent
Terrace Bay, Namibia 19-Dec-2012 review: Completely Out of the Beaten Path	Average
Camp Kipwe, Namibia 20-Dec-2012 review: Great Location to Explore Damaraland	Excellent
Elegant Farmstead, Namibia 22-Dec-2012 review: Tranquil and Romantic	Excellent
Auob Lodge 23-Dec-2012 review: In Case You Cannot Make to Mata Mata	Average
Kalahari Tented Camp, South Africa 24-Dec-2012 review: Great Self-Catering Option in the Kalahari	Excellent
!Xaus Lodge, South Africa 26-Dec-2012 review: Amazing Place Off The Beaten Path	Excellent
Le Must River Residence, South Africa 27-Dec-2012 review: Beautiful B&B in Upington	Excellent