Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"wow

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

find a better airline to get to Namibia ?" Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is not the country to go to for lashings of big game. If you want that, it's Botswana, then perhaps Tanzania and then Zambia. Namibia is a destination where the scenery plays as much a part of the experience as the game. Accordingly, if you're full-on animal spotters like us, the country can disappoint a little.

Having said that, there is plenty of fun to be had, the accommodations are delightful, the light aircraft trips are spectacular, the scenery is indeed amazing - and, of course, there are the unforgettable black rhino. We did not self-drive, and met many people who were finding that experience fairly challenging (but others we met were loving it). All in all, we enjoyed the visit, but probably would have wanted to speed it up here and there, and maybe cut down some of the 2 night stays where one had done everything within 24 hours.

Not sure either about Etosha - some marvellous moments, but not up there for us with the truly great African game parks.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

1. People can do Erongo fully in one night if they have a late afternoon flight home from Windhoek.
2. On private safaris, issue guests with a voucher making it very clear what is included and what is not (eg local beverages)
3. Seriously consider whether Kulala Desert Lodge is suitable
4. Wolwedans and Sossuvlei did not merit 4 nights - could this be done in for speedy types like us?
5. Clarify that Erongo and Damaraland scenery are actually really quite similar - we had expected Erongo to be a sort of green and pleasant land!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Again we had a wonderful time we met some extraordinary people and explored a really beautiful country at our own pace we could not ask for more Even our episode at weavers rock has given us some moments of laughter So again you will here no complaints from here" Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"Wonderful. SA was lovely but Namibia was just stunning. Scenery was amazing, wildlife abundant, roads empty and the people very friendly. Easy paced holiday allowing us to do as much or as little as we wanted. Drove over 2,500 miles but barely noticed it! Thank you so much for the excellent itinerary.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Warn travellers about the chaos at Joburg airport!! Do not book people onto internal connecting flights that leave within 2 hours of initial arrival." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Everything was excellent but some lodges were phenomenal. Everything went as planned and we saw all the wildlife one could wish to see.

This is our 2nd time with Expert Africa and their service is second to none. They really care about your holiday and try to ensure that your trip matches your needs and expectations. We would have no hesitation in recommending them to our friends. The individual service given by team members esp Maruska and Sabina was exemplary nothing was too much. All my emails and queries answered promptly. The map and info that arrived pre trip was so informative and helpful. Will definitely be using this company again.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No you are truly awesome." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"After spending months planning our trip and then refining it with Tracy, it more than lived up to all our expectations. Everywhere over our 3,500 trouble free kms driving ourselves around Namibia and 32 nights of luxury tents and lodges in the most wonderful parts of Namibia and Botswana we were met with warm welcomes, friendly smiles and staff and guides determined that we would enjoy what they had to offer. The arrangements Tracy had made worked smoothly, our flight transfers in Botswana all went to plan.

Everywhere we stayed, we wished we could have stayed longer.

We were particularly impressed by Wilderness Safaris wherever we met them - as agent, lodge operator or transfer operator.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We cannot think of anything that could have been done better!" Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 23 on a Namibia trip

"We were expecting great scenery and lots of wildlife and we weren't disappointed.

Private lodges perform far better than NWR lodges but this is no doubt reflected in the price. NWR lodges do have the best locations however in relation to National Parks (particularly Sossus / Deadvlei).

Late for dinner one day as we didn't know the clocks had changed!

The one disappointment was the kayaking trip. Booked with Jeanne Meintjies who was much recommended but was dumped at the last moment with another provider (still awaiting explanation from Expert Africa). I believe it was because I was the only person booked that day.

Bradt guide states that 200 rand notes are not accepted in Namibia. We only read this after we had obtained our currency (largely in 200 rand notes) and a couple of days before we travelled. Managed to exchange some notes at Heathrow thanks to Covent Garden FX but found in practice this was not necessary and out of date information.

Feedback response:
We have looked in to issue regarding the kayaking and can confirm that both of Jeanne's vehicles had to be taken in for repairs unexpectedly, hence this traveller was switched to another operator who offers the same excursion." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"It was a fantastic trip. We didn't have time to do much research while planning the trip. We described what we wanted and trusted the advice given on what we should do. It was good advice, the trip turned out great and very much what we wanted to do.

Fair distances to travel, which gave an experience of the country. The accomodation certainly met expectations, and in most cases far exceeded what we expected. A beautiful country with lovely friendly people. (Most people in the UK don't even know where it is!).

I am now curious about other places in Namibia and Africa to explore.

Thanks for organising a lovely journey." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Overall, we had a wonderful time in Namibia and we would like to thank Sabina for arranging such an interesting and varied trip for us at very short notice. Expert Africa's careful planning allowed us to take home some great memories from our first trip to Africa and we are grateful that the itinerary included such a variety of landscapes and attractions.

Below we outline a few little issues solely for the purpose of providing assistance to future travelers (We are thoroughly satisfied with the service by the Expert Africa team and would not hesitate to rely on them again in the future).

We felt that the last full day of gravel road travel between Swakopmund and Doro Nawas was the least enjoyable day of the holiday, partly due to the fact that by that stage we had done a lot of gravel road driving and partly due to the fact that the itinerary between Uis and Doro Nawas was over a really bumpy stretch of road (both C35 and D2612) and our main concern was that the rented car would be damaged. We could neither admire the fantastic scenery outside the car nor fully focus on the - atrocious at times - road. We also did not expect that people would stand by the roadside and wave empty water bottles trying to get water from tourists, which obviously posed a dilemma for us.

The area around Uis and Khorixas seemed to us very deprived and we felt somewhat voyeuristic merely driving through as tourists. The area also felt quite unsafe - at one point we stopped at a roadside picnic table just to be surprised by a small truck full of men, one of whom got out and started hassling us for money. Similarly, on the way to Etosha and after visiting the Petrified Forest, we were asked by the official guide there to give a lift to one of his colleagues to Khorixas. As we obliged, we were instantly asked by the guest passenger if we could take on board two others. Our refusal to do so was ill-received. It appears that it is a common practice at that attraction to pressure tourists into giving lifts to staff members.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We think it would be useful to highlight the following points to future travelers:

1) additional spare tyre (second one) takes up a lot of space in the boot and it may make it awkward to pack and transport the luggage;
2) certain stretches of gravel roads are very rough and it would be good to clarify, who would be responsible for damaged suspension, should it happen;
3) the last stop gave us little time to enjoy the location, therefore it may be useful to consider accommodation in closer proximity to the airport;
4) it would be useful to clarify, how clean the rented car should be on the return;
5) it would be useful to warn tourists (especially those who have spare space in their cars) that at certain locations they may be asked for a lift by the guides;
6) we found that at some locations the full range of activities presented on Expert Africa leaflets were not on offer (e.g. guided walks at Buellsport Farm, night walks at Sossus Dune Lodge);
7) we would advise not to attend night drive safaris at Okaukuejo - the price is high and one normally sees much more during the day while driving around the park;
8) on tarmac roads one usually is not able to drive safely beyond 100 km/h due to warthogs roaming by the roadside - we almost had an accident because of them;
9) Perhaps advise guests to bring a travel kettle and hair dryer with them as they are not provided as a matter of course." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We love Namibia. Etosha always gives amazing wildlife experiences. There is a lot of driving but the scenery is stunning. We particularly enjoyed the road from Etosha to Palwag over the Grootberg pass. Everyone should do the skeleton coastal route at least once. It is a long but unforgettable day.

We did think the last days drive from Swakopmund to the airport for a lunchtime flight rather a long way and on a very busy road it was a bit of a rush.

Thank you expert Africa for organising our trip once again. Your recommendations were excellent as always.
Gwyneth was our main contact and then Sabina. Both very helpful and knowledgable.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We used Chris's Bradt guide once again like a bible. Wherever you are or whatever you want to know, the answer will be in that book!" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip