Reviews of safaris to Bushmanland

"Beautifully organised again by Expert Africa and Maruska in particular. Attention, guidance and care second to none. Thank yoi

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Keep on going." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"This trip was planned by Tracy Laderer and myself. I told her what I wanted to see and she figured out the details.

This trip would not have been possible without Expert Africa and even with my experience I still would want to plan my trip with them. My satisfaction is described by my description of my Namibia Adventure. My pictures are on my Facebook page for John White.

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Could not be more satisfied. Website was a big help." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"It worked out fantastically. Loads of variety and activities. Despite the long drives we never got bored - Namibia is so beautiful and varied.

Elvis - our guide for the whole trip was fantastic - he felt like one of the family by the end of the trip. He was incredibly knowledgable and interesting, kept us organised, and was very thoughtful and considerate. He really made the trip." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"We have done many long haul trips and we've been to some amazing countries, but this holiday was the best of the lot!

Sabina had made the perfect itinerary for what we wanted and I would hardly have changed anything - just one extra day at Corona Guest Farm would have been good. There were a few highlights - a hot air balloon trip over the desert with a champagne breakfast whilst at the beautiful Kulala Desert Lodge/ Corona Guest Farm as an overall wonderful stay and. of course, the privilege of staying with Arno and Estelle at Nhoma and experiencing the lives of the Bushmen." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We loved our time in Namibia-the variety in what we saw and experienced, the people we met.....we had hoped for a holiday of a lifetime and we got it!!

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We didn't have a price breakdown of each accommodation. I'm still undecided if this would have would have been helpful or not......it may have been interesting to compare places, and may have affected feedback, as value for money is another factor." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We had an excellently planned holiday, although we found it quite tiring towards the end of our three week stay.

The camps were mainly excellent and certainly as good as we had hoped. We had an unfortunate incident when my wife's bag was stolen from the car outside our guest house in Windhoek and the staff at Galton House couldn't have been more helpful, as were the head office staff at Wilderness Safaris in helping us resolve matters.

There is obviously quite a bit of crime in Windhoek (and possibly other towns) and travellers should be aware of this and keep their wits about them. We were identified as a target once we arrived in Windhoek while driving a hire car with South African number plates, followed, and then robbed outside our guest house in a quiet street with nobody else around. If my wife's handbag had been hidden in the back of the car or in the boot things may have been different.

However, this didn't detract from a very enjoyable three weeks in a scenically amazing country with Namibian people who made our stay memorable." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"Saskia was amazing. She catered to our every need. I would not hesitate to recommend this company. I am delighted, my boyfriend is delighted and our pictures will be amazing. We couldn't be happier. Saskia never mentioned the waterfalls at Epupa falls so that was a delight. Make sure people know to cherish their time at the water hole at Okaukeujo and that morning drives are no big deal. We enjoyed our extras we threw in...the petrified forest, the dinosaur tracks,and the water fall we saw on the way to Epupa falls, Ongongo falls. IT was one of our favorite parts of the trip. Many of our suggestions were listed in the hotel section, so read them carefully.

THere was not a place to review N'aankuse. It had tighter fenced in animals but it allowed us to get some excellent head shots of leopard, lion, cheetah. We had never seen wild dog before so that was a treat. Sounds like they run a huge volunteer oriented facility. The drive in and out was longer than expected. I wish we could have gotten a room here. They seemed a little uppity to me ...but were flexible with us when we decided not to drive back in the dark and cancelled dinner and the bush men story time. Arno thinks having Bush men flown in to their camp is absurd. I am sorry we missed them though.

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This feedback form was aggravating. It doesn't save each page as you go along so 2x I had to start totally over. I am writing a lot so that was aggravating. If I had to return to it, I had to scroll thru all the pages to get to where I was going. A tab system or a drop down box would have been better. Each page needs to be saved when you continue to the next page." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"The trip started off with a big Bang with planing with Expert Africa. Saskia was incredible! She planned the trip exactly the way we hoped for, with many additions / suggest to add to a fantastic experience. We wouldn't hesitate to go on Expert African trips again, or recommend to our friends.

Namibia has such diversity in landscape and people, providing an ever changing and intense experience from day to day. We have travelled to 40 countries in the last 3 years, and total of 75 countries in life time, we both would rate our experience in Namibia as top 5% of countries we visited and Expert Africa / Saskia as the best travel agency we have dealt with." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"it is a small point, but it would have been better to have known the arrangements for our pick up from the cresta lodge ahead of our stay there. Otherwise info good.

Chris/ Sabina - there are some points I have not included on our stay to Nkasa which you might find helpful to know. Particularly re the awful track and bridge that you have to negotiate to get to the lodge!

Re Nhoma and Nkasa - we would be very happy to be contacted by other families/ couples contemplating staying at either of these camps, if that would be helpful." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Our first trip to Namibia (2010), covered central, north, northwest and coastal areas.

This trip (2013) was about 98% new locations covering central, north, northeast, Caprivi, Okavango and Vic Falls, Zimbabwe side.
The most noticeable differences in that span of time were the money exchange, electricity adaptor difference, more people riding bicycles, shopping modernization of cities, availability of 3G services (more mobile phones in daily use)

General travel tips
1. Before leaving Namibia, change your Namibian dollars to another currency: South African Rand, Botswana Pula, Euros, Dollars. They are no longer exchangeable at the Jo'berg airport nor in Paris.
2. The children in Namibia were usually asking for pens, whether or not we took photos. The supplement money for educational supplies in 2013 was used for election campaign spending.
3. Clothing is a great donation to leave with the lodges in the northeastern sector of Namibia and in Botswana. They distribute it to the villages or the lodge workers or in one case to the local churches.
4. Adaptors - Throughout Namibia and Botswana, the large 3-rounded prong South African adaptor is used. We purchased a smaller 3-rounded prong which only works in Zimbabwe. Bring your own charging strip/surge protector if you have multiple devices. Zimbabwe uses the small 3-rounded prong and British adaptors.
5. In your checked luggage through Jo'berg, pack nothing of value, other than clothing, ! It will disappear, guaranteed.
6. Reading material:
The Wildlife of Southern Africa is a definite plus to keep track of sightings (birds, mammals, insects, flowers, trees, etc.) (Vincent Carruthers) at the Windhoeker Buchhandlung across from the Hilton Hotel
"Namibian" daily newspaper - fantastic way to learn about modern Namibian culture and opinions of all ages.
"Zambezi Traveller" free newspaper in the Caprivi/Okavango (Lianshulu Lodge) - regional tips, ideas and covers a wide territory.
7. Pic n Pay grocery store (throughout Namibia) was our favorite, Super Spar is also good for finding lunch items (including an ice chest) when driving between destinations
8. Namibia has frequent, fairly well-maintained picnic spots (tree shade, concrete benches and table), which we used for lunches
9. Languages/Dialects: the smartphone "notes" application is a handy recording device to write down the courtesy words: hello, good morning, thank you, how are you, etc. We encountered 10 different languages/dialects or more over three and a half weeks. Asking a lodge staff member "how to say" is an ice breaker and opens a door to their culture.

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Fantastic voyage!

The planning, Expert Africa contact, accommodations, expectations suited our needs to a tee. We made our own flight reservations, which worked out smoothly.

The Namibia/Chris McIntyre guide book was our bible. Thank you for supplying it.

On the review feedback, what does "facilities" include/mean?

We would highly recommend Expert Africa for any future voyages.

Obtaining visas before departure between countries was not totally clear.
The basic information about visas in the travel preparations could be much shorter (e.g., Visas are handled at each border control for Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Show your international driver license and passport at customs. The rental car agency provides you with all of the car details, including chassis number and motor number to fill in the paperwork.)

We paid for a permit into Botswana, but wonder if we could have given them the permit on the windshield. This was unclear in the instructions from Budget/Expert Africa whether to turn it in or buy a new one. This was the Chobe border. This was a more difficult and time consuming border post (a real hassle).

The Mohembo Border Post at Mahango was a breeze with both Namibia and Botswana." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip