Reviews of safaris to Caprivi Strip

"We spent 16 days in Namibia in June - July 2017. We had chosen Namibia because the £/ rand exchange rate was attractive whereas other countries quoted holidays in US $s which made them more expensive. Also the country was a good and safe one for self-driving. I found the good, straight, empty roads a pleasure to drive on compared with UK. We stayed in 10 different locations during our trip and three places stood out so far as bird and animal sighting was concerned: Okauhuejo, Nkasa Lupala and Ndhovu. Why?

The Okaukuejo water-hole provides a magnificent arena from which to view birds and animals. The floodlit night viewing of two male rhinos fighting was something I never thought to see and will treasure for the rest of my life. In comparison some years ago I took two trips to Tanzania and they produced one distant viewing of a rhino. Sadly two have been killed in Etosha recently and one day there will be none. Okaukuejo Lodge itself is rightly very popular, big and busy. Checking in was slow as there were a number of people queuing ahead of me who thought they had reserved accommodation,but who discovered too late that their internet reservations had been ineffective. I was grateful to Wilderness Safaris that I had no such problems. The key is to posses a reservation number!

Nkasa Lupala on the River Kwando was interesting for the variety of birds and animals. It was here that we finally saw some lions. The night drives are also well worth doing. One night drive produced amongst other animals two civets; one wild cat, a porcupine and some spring hares. I was glad I hired hired a 4x4 because I was able to drive straight to this Lodge & this saved time, money and hassle. The route there is fairly well signed from Sangwali to Nkasa Lupala and takes about 35 minutes to drive. The lodge itself needed some TLC - not everything was working in our tent. Ndhovu has in Michael someone with the sharpest eyes on the River Kavango. We had three boat trips with him and each one was an adventure in to wild Africa. In addition the lodge is very efficiently run by Horst, Peter and Bola. It is within a 10 minute drive of the Mahango Game Park - the best place in this area to see birds and animals.

We also stayed at River Dance Lodge where the admirable owners have put huge amounts of effort in to the design and building of the lodge and also in to staff training. The results show. However the boatman on the river trip we took knew less about birds than myself and and the Mahango Game Reserve is just under an hour's drive from here. Ndhovu therefore offered better in my view. We spent one night at Taranga Safari Lodge on the way out of the Caprivi Strip. We would not stay there again - the sole attraction was the small bird viewing. Roy's Camp would have probably offered a more evenly spaced stopping place on the way back to Windhoek.

The Frans Indongo Lodge and Okonjima Camp are both very comfortable and well managed places and we admired the design of Frans Indongo in particular. However both these places have had animals imported and one has the sense that these are 'safari parks' rather than the real Africa. This may appeal to many but the slightly canned effect was not quite what we wanted.

At the start of the trip we had stayed at the Hilltop Guest House in Windhoek. This took some finding and I was grateful I had bought a map map of Windhoek to help us do this. Once we were there we were very well cared for and the owner gave us the good advice to dine at the Social. We had an excellent meal there.Also we were grateful we did not have to drive far that first day since we had not slept much on the overnight flight from London. We stocked up on lunch type food and water at the Eros Centre below the Guest House before leaving Windhoek next morning.

We were supposed to be met by Wilderness Tours on our arrival at Windhoek Airport but found no one. However we spotted a Wilderness lounge in Arrivals and someone inside. He proved to be a great help. We were able to buy a mobile chip from the MTC rep at the airport for £3 for 150 minutes. Expert Africa had arranged for us to hire a 4x4 from Bidvest. However without the help of Wilderness tours we would have struggled to take over the vehicle as the Bidvest man did not appear to know much about the vehicle. It was a very basic Ford 4x4. Nevertheless it served us well although its gear-box was a bit like stirring porridge. Also I forgot to ask the size of the fuel tanks and the hand-book surprisingly did not not reveal this information!

Later I reckoned it was about 100 liters and the fuel gauge appeared to report the combined usage rather than just the second tank! The return of the car posed no problems and Bidvest were happy to sign Expert Africa's form at the back of their hand-book.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No comments - but many thanks for arranging an excellent trip with no problems! Quite an achievement." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"This was the trip of a lifetime. With our children, aged 20 & 19, we were looking for a holiday the whole family could enjoy and we certainly got it. Everything went off perfectly. The planning of the trip with Sabina and her advice was of the highest standard. Everything was exactly as described.

There were representatives to welcome us on arrival at Windhoek, there were no booking misunderstandings at any lodges, the transfer from Kasane in Botswana to Livingstone in Zambia went smoothly and lastly the transfer to Livingstone airport, all on time and according to plan. We dropped our car off in Kasane, were collected by safari vehicle and transferred to the river where we were taken across by boat into Zambia and collected on the other side with the driver helping us get through the 'interesting' Zambian border checkpoint (the Zambian officials were rude and unhelpful well below the standard in Botswana or Namibia).

The border official, despite having a water dispenser in her office, sent our driver back to the car to get her a bottle of water! Bearing in mind that we had driven about 4 hours from our last lodge in the Caprivi and arrived early, the logistics of this transfer was impressive. (Just for info there are trucks queuing at this crossing as they move between Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana for as far as the eye can see with it taking them on average 2 to 3 weeks to get across - per the local taxi driver - so I could imagine the transfer potentially going horribly wrong!).

Just a tip, when arriving in Botswana we needed to dip ALL our shoes (foot and mouth prevention) so make sure you have all shoes handy so you don't have to unpack suitcases at the border.

The design of the three week trip, balancing the length of drives, stop-overs and rest days while still trying to see as much as possible was brilliant and could not have been done without the expert advice of Sabina and her patience in the early days while she tried to understand what we wanted to get out of the holiday.

We travelled during June and July and the weather was fabulous. Warm sunny days and mostly cool nights. We certainly needed warm jackets for the evenings whereas during the day we needed shorts and t-shirts.

Tips that worked for us:
(1) in the U.K. we purchased a tracks4africa map of Namibia (£10) online and transferred it onto our Garmin SatNav which we took with us and this made navigating stress free.
(2) Covering our suitcases in bin bags to keep them dust free was essential as the canopy definitely was not dust proof.
(3) We purchased a cooler box locally and this allowed us to keep our picnic food fresh and drinks cool for the long drives. You can buy ice for the cooler box at any service station;
(4) an upgrade to a 4x4 gave us extra flexibility and comfort on long drives.

We were surprised at how expensive most of the lodges were so this was, for us, a particularly expensive holiday but in the end worth every penny.

I would not hesitate to recommend Expert Africa and would use them again." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Second time to Namibia, but managed to surpass previous visit with animals seen, and got some memorable images. Good to self drive providing so much flexibility as to how long you spend at a waterhole, we had well over 1 hour at one observing in the main bull elephants, only two other cars there.

First time in Botswana great time on the Chobe river viewing elephants crossing , and the birds. Spoilt with the number of lions with kills, and the first cubs I had seen albeit bit hidden in the trees.

Zambia provided a fitting finale something completely different, namely Victoria Falls, seen from the air and on foot, fantastic noise of the the water roaring.

The challenge is how to beat this trip?" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We had a fabulous holiday full of fun and adventures. The trip was made so perfect by the people looking after us.

When we lost documents Expert Africa and the staff at Lianshula showed amazingly professionalism.

A true test of a good business is how they deal with their clients in a crisis. From our experience any one travelling with Expert Africa can be assured of a great holiday and if any incident / accident occurs they have the knowledge and contacts to turn a crisis into a great story. The perfect company with which to have " safe adventures " 🤗" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"This was a memorable trip. We highly enjoyed the contrast between the dry areas of the Kalahari and the lush waterways of the Caprivi. We thought the trip was very well paced by Maruska.

All arrangements went smoothly and we appreciated the advice on how to deal with roadblocks and the crossing into Botswana and back,

One of our objectives was to hike as much as possible. As it turned out, only Waterberg Wilderness Lodge and Erongo Wilderness Lodge offered enough opportunities for a day or two of walking but we realize that was the maximum feasible within the parameters we set ourselves.." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Everything about the trip was amazing.

We were able to see many animals on Safari. All the lodges had excellent food and service.

We will definitely be booking our next Africa trip through Expert Africa. Sabina was quickly able to schedule our trip including everything we requested. She was a pleasure to deal with." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"Everything went smoothly and according to plan. The only glitch was having to leave Nduvo a day early in order to get to Maun on time." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful month and intend to return to Namibia with a longer trip into Botswana." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 26 on a Namibia trip

"Great trip with a great variety of lodges. Twenty one stops in total .

Very enjoyable and effortless driving between lodges. We covered 5,000 km in the rainy season with no problems. The twin cab Ford Ranger was perfect.

The following will be especially remembered
Dabis for the interest and the enthusiasm of the owner
Wolverdans for the situation and for the charm of Thelma
Vreugde for the friendliness of the family
Mundulea for everything about it
Nhoma for the humour of the bushmen
Ngoma for the lodge its situation and management" Read full review: 39 nights in Africa; 27 on a Namibia trip

"A memorable experience which fulfilled all of our expectations. Having visited Africa 25 years ago we were always keen to return and it did not disappoint!

We will return again! A great family holiday." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip