Reviews of safaris to Caprivi Strip

"Fantastic. Level of driving was just right. The places we stayed were all quite different to one another which added to the overall experience. They were also quite small which was really good too. All the arrangements worked perfectly.

Tracy Lederer was the person who I dealt with. She was fantastic. Really pleasant, helpful, knowledgeable and quick to respond. Was really impressed.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I was really surprised it was originally suggested that a 'normal car' would suffice. We upgraded to a 2 wheel drive SUV and were glad that we did. While you could have probably done the trip in a 'car' but the chances of damaging it would be quite high due to its low ground clearance. Also, driving along the tracks would have been far from comfortable. I recommend that a 2 wheel drive SUV should be the standard car you suggest." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Fantastic holiday" Read full review: 32 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"An excellent itinerary (with the exception of 3 nights at Mazambala being too long).

We loved Namibia and would highly recommend a self drive of this type in this country for a family with similar aged children ( 10 and 14)

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Everything went completely smoothly throughout. There are only a couple of minor constructive suggestions:

Charges at border into Botswana are higher than we were advised ( 140bwp rather than 70, comprised of 40 for road permit, 50 for MV Insurance, 50 Road Fund)

Make people aware of limitations of barbecue facilities at Okaukuejo and that meat cannot be taken into park

Some hesitation with Nkwazi lodge as detailed on our feedback- also note your website is incorrect - no air con, mini bar fridges and no electricity for us after 9.20pm.

Other friends who have done similar trips have had a little itinierary brochure with details of how long it takes to drive to the next lodge and some general infomation about the lodge. This is by no means an essential but would be an extra nicety perhaps.

Overall a really excellent trip. We would thoroughly recommend EA to others" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"Adventurous and exciting Zambian safari.

recommend to others !

We would not be unhappy if the price were less!!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"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

"One of our best holidays." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"This was one of the best holidays we have ever had. We do not spend a huge amount of money (at least compared to what you could spend in Botswana), but nonetheless had a great time, saw and experienced lots!.

We had highlights (Nxamaseri, Chobe, Vic Falls,) and lowlights (bald tyres, Camp Kalahari), but overall enjoyed the trip

The wildlife, birds and animals, is great. The landscape outside the delta a little dull (say compared to the desert in Namibia), but OK. The delta is really interesting as are the salt pans.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

a difficult one. we had several phone calls and lots of emails, and a few iterations of the itinerary before agreeing everything. my main concerns were about driving

on the driving, i think a 4wd is essential even if using camp drives in the parks. there are too many places where one can get stuck in sand. also, there are roadworks in Namibia and Botswana that caused some delay. i realise this is difficult to factor in when booking a year in advance - we did not think to check.

one other point - when discussing where we could drive and how to get into Zimbabwe I was told that Budget would not let us take the car across the border. instead we paid for a driver and van to take us to and from Vic Falls. however, when picking up the car Budget asked us if we wanted the paperwork to cater for crossing into Z. I don't know how much money we spent on the two taxis, but it would appear that this was an unnecessary expense" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"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.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

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

"The trip was spectacular and worked out very well, perfect mix of places, good amount of time spent everywhere. Desert and rivers provided a good mix of wildlife and scenery, we were never bored looking for animals, always discovering new ones. We also enjoyed seeing the villages and a living museum. A bit more contact with locals would have been nice.

We loved the self drive and the ability to explore things on our own. While expecting a bit more adventure, it was surprisingly comfortable and easy, which was fine.

Maruska was wonderful in putting this together for us, she knew the places well, was very helpful and patient.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Looking up locations on a google map was important to me (especially off the path campgrounds), would be nice to have a google map that showed all places of interest (with lat/longs that one can use to enter in one's own google map search)

As much as we wished to get away, Wifi is becoming important for many travelers, and it would be good to collect that info (uptime and speed) and pass it on to the lodges. Elegant guest house and Mushara had good wifi. Ngepi was slow, Muchenje pretty spotty with several outages. Victoria Safari camp had expensive one, Victoria Falls Hotel had good ones for guests.

For guest support on the road, calling is often hard, it might be useful to have email addresses to contact local agents." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent overall

Food is perhaps too westernised - would be good to introduce more diversity and more flavour" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari