Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"We had an amazing trip. Thank you to Martha for putting it together for us. Book useful for finding lunch places and info on each area. A lot of driving but all manageable as stops well planned. Would recommend Expert Africa to anyone.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Be aware that Wilderness often have big tours at their sites. Also Erongo brochure says 2 hours to airport it is 3.

Namibia as a country is friendly and non threatening. Never felt unsafe." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"For me, what sets Namibia apart is the rapid change in the extraordinary desert and arid landscapes over remarkably short east-west distances. Plant and animal life has in turn adapted to the varying climatic conditions making a journey here continually fascinating. Driving through this scenery on Namibian roads is a joy and the hospitality and comfort encountered at camps and lodges is first-rate. Our holiday comprised only highlights. I should like to make a special mention of the private safari in Kunene which Expert Africa arranged for us with Conservancy Safaris which is operated for and by indigenous communities in the northwest. This was adventure and education; both provided at the highest of standards.

We were extremely pleased with Expert Africa's knowledgable and professional advice in putting together our trip. They conscientiously ensured they understood our aims prior to giving clearly-justified, thoughtful, well-expressed options for us to consider. It was always a pleasure to receive Martha's mails or calls and all discussions were promptly and usefully followed up. As a result, we had a superb holiday in which all arrangements were executed flawlessly.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We appreciated all of the elements of Expert Africa's service that we used.

The website is extensive, free of failing links or outdated information and is well-written.

I especially appreciated that all communications were in impeccable and well-formulated English; such unambiguous and literate writing sadly being a rarity in commercial enterprises!

I can not offer much in the way of help regarding suggestions for improvements. I guess your standards of expertise, professionalism and communication have been built on solid foundations and planning which will keep the business on track for many years to come.

It would have been nice if you had been able to help with travel insurance for non-UK residents (because I am not especially happy with what I find on the Belgian market) but that is the only point I can think to raise." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"It was a great trip.

It was very easy to do it with a pregnant lady and a small child, and he had a great time as well.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Expert Africa's service is great as always. There are a few small things you could improve regarding travelling with (small) children. For example: after arrival in Windhoek we might have (in hindsight) preferred a lodge where we could have dinner and with the option for an early checkin. Also, the vehicle we used was a bit on the small side (everything fit, but only just).

Also, on the feedback form it would be great if you could easily switch between lodges by clicking on the name in the left side menu. Now you can only go back and forth using the 'Previous' and 'Continue' buttons, which is not so efficient if you want to add an extra comment to the first lodge." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was wonderful, we probably would have liked to have stayed one night less at Nhoma (some of my family would not have agreed with this) and have missed out Huab Lodge. Highlights were Desert Rhino Camp and Mundulea.

Wouldn't have liked to do more driving though, so we missed out most of the country which we will have to visit again. Would have been useful to know rough driving times between camps. I didn't realise the gravel roads were yellow on map until it was too late!

I think would also have preferred to miss out Windhoek completely, Olive Grove was nice but it felt to me as if the holiday hadn't really started until we moved on.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Sabina was so helpful, we went through a few itineraries before I realised what sort of trip we were looking for and she made some great suggestions that I hadn't seen on the website. It was wonderful to correspond and talk to her, she was extremely knowledgeable and efficient and I really did appreciate her." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Truly amazing trip!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We had an amazing time in Africa and loved our trip. All the places to stay were nice and pretty much everything we did was enjoyable.

Most disappointing thing was cancelled balloon flight but that was out of anyone's control.

Thank you for arranging it and we would definitely recommend Namibia and Expert Africa to others. Didn't want to come home!" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We love travelling in Namibia. The landscapes, the emptiness, the never ending points of interest and the feeling of being a welcome guest in a happy and well adjusted stable African country makes it a special place. To be able to eat game was a delight after Zambia, but then the German style breakfasts fail to hit the heights of a Zambian breakfast so ... But it's not all about the food!

Thank you Tracy and Expert Africa. You put together a fantastic holiday rather late in the day. It was perfectly paced and suited us absolutely. Whilst the internet may work for some holidays, the local knowledge you combined with a genuine interest in, and understanding of, what we wanted to achieve was invaluable and so much appreciated." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We loved our trip, it was fantastic.

Namibia is a varied and unspoilt country and being there was a privilege. Etosha totally lived up to it's billing as one of the best wildlife locations in Africa, we saw rhino repeatedly as well as lion, leopard and black faced impala.

The desert landscapes are remarkable and walking barefoot across the salt at Dead Vlei was a unique experience, as was climbing Dune 45. The wildlife (birds and mammals), the welcoming people, stunning landscape and starry southern skies will all live in our memories, we love still finding desert sand in our trainers." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"This was an excellent holiday, and we really enjoyed exploring the diversity of places, activities and landscapes that Namibia has to offer. We really appreciated the informed advice from Tracy at Expert Africa when we were planning this trip - it made planning a lot simpler and easier.

However - and this is a big however - we object to the advice that a normal 2WD car is sufficient for the route that we took. We were assured that this would be fine, so we hired a Toyata Corolla. This was of course fine on tarmac, and meant we had good fuel efficiency. However, the gravel roads and access routes to lodges were very difficult and stressful to travel on in this car. We are not inexperienced, and we drove very carefully - and slowly - which meant that we took significantly longer than most to travel a route. Despite our care, we could not avoid damage to our car undercarriage on the access road to one lodge. We managed to avoid other damage that we needed to repair (though we incurred several dents and knocks from stones thrown up from the road) - had our car had a higher ground clearance and a more robust undercarriage we could have avoided this.

The car was extremelyuncomfortable to sit in on the gravel roads if they were not freshly regraded, including in the centre of Etosha near Halali - neither we nor the car were built for all the vibrations that ensued. Given that this is was an expensive holiday, paying a little extra for a more robust and comfortable car would have been money well-spent. This doesn't necessarily have to be a 4WD but it would be the easiest way to ensure the car is up to the job, When the roads are long and empty and you have no mobile reception, you want confidence that the car is built for the job." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"We really enjoyed this holiday, the fourth time for my wife and I in Namibia.

I drove 1,200 miles and took over I,000 photographs loved every minute." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip