Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"Our third trip with Expert Africa and the best yet. Gwynneth was very helpful and efficient and the arrangements were perfect. Locations and accommodation were just what we wanted and were all of a very high standard.

We hope to be travelling with you again soon.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None at all." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"we had a great time ,the trip was organised just as we wanted it,and ,having been before you were able anticipate and suggest what we would enjoy,and worked to my budget. Thank you all for giving us such a good time" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"A great trip, very varied & we feel that we've seen as much of Namibia as we could have done in the time available.

Advice re itinerary, locations & alternatives (after the fire) were innovative & faultless.

Only suggestion we'd make is to stress the importance of getting the correct electrical adaptors (our "alleged" international one didn't work) in your pre holiday paperwork.. Thank you." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"What a country! It felt like reading a really good book - each page was exciting.When we got to the end we wanted to re-read it and savour it more." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We had never travelled to sub-Saharan Africa before, and found Chris McIntyre's book on Namibia a really useful starting point. Our main aim was to see zebras in Etosha (believe it or not) and the book made planning when to go very easy.

We found Expert Africa through the book. We normally book our travel independently, but decided that we would benefit from others' knowledge about Africa when booking this trip. We were limited in time, and Expert Africa did a good job of tailoring a trip to suit our aims and time constraints.

The pre-travel notes were brilliant to prepare us for what to expect.

We found the landscape in Etendeka and Etosha particularly beautiful, and saw masses of wildlife - much more than we expected. It was an incredible experience, and a huge privilege, to get so close to the wildlife in both those places, and in Okonjima.

We were well looked after everywhere we stayed - but nowhere better than Etendeka, where we found gentle, straightforward hospitality.

The driving was a bit daunting to start with on the gravel roads, but we settled into it, and were rather surprised to see tarmac again when we left Etosha! It suited us really well to be able to drive ourselves around.

Despite the relative ease of driving around, and the very comfortable places to stay, we found a real sense of quiet and wilderness in Namibia which was wonderful.

And we saw plenty of zebras." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Superb" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"1. A few thoughts about the Nissan X-Trail

Almost all of the time this was an adequate and comfortable vehicle for touring Namibia. The ground clearance was quite good, the tyres were good, no punctures in 3710kms. The visibility for gameviewing and birdwatching was good. However we did take it to Terrace Bay and nearly lost traction in some of the stretches of soft sand in the final 50kms of the road up the Skeleton Coast on the way there; coming back we attacked the sand with a bit more speed and got through without a problem but we did bottom the vehicle fortunately without damage but the brakes did squeal until all the sand and gravel had worked their way out. Our advice would be not to attempt this final bit of road in anything less rugged than an X-Trail and even then care should be taken and the use of a 4x4 vehicle seriously considered.

Fuel economy was quite good and there was never a problem. We had had concerns about the lack of a fuel station at the Dolomite Camp in Western Etosha but this was not an issue. The tank capacity of an X-Trail is 65litres and we were using fuel at the rate of 1litre per 11kms, giving us a range of well over 600kms. After refuelling at Kamanjab the distnce to the Dolomite Camp was 110kms; during our two days of game viewing we travelled 259kms; the journey from Dolomite to Okaukuejo was 177kms. Thus we did 546kms before refuelling at Okaukuejo where we put 43.41litres into the tank meaning that we had at least 20litres left. We thought that this information may be of use to you if anyone else queries the range of an X-Trail and is worried about the lack of a fuel station in Western Etosha. Our opinion is that there should be no problems provided you have a good idea of the capacity and consumption of your vehicle and keep an eye on the distance you travel.

2. A few thoughts about our route.

We had a really good tour. As we had been before we had a good idea of what to expect with regard to road surfaces and the lack of other traffic, so that was fine. The distances we set ourselves to travel each day were not too far; our longest drives were from Swakopmund to Terrace Bay and from Onguma to Windhoek. Both of these were no problem after early morning starts, reaching our destinations well before 1600h. We deviated slightly from the route suggested by Sabina when we left the Damaraland Camp and went to Kamanjab on the C43 over the Grootberg Pass instead of on the C39 at the suggestion of the guides at Damaraland, they said it would be quicker, we're not sure about this but it certainly was an interesting drive. Some of the other drives we had were really spectacular.

3. The places we visited and the things we did.

Erongo was excellent, good walks, very interesting bird watching for us Europeans.
Swakopmundwe were not sure about; it has become a styllish resort which caters for a different type of holiday. We did the Welwitschia Drive and had a splendid day in the desert although it was a bit disturbing to see so much mining prospecting taking place and the transformation of Goanicontes into a camping resort is amazing. Swakopmund does now have some good shops to stock up for trips further north.
We have mentioned Terrace Bay, Damaraland and the camps in Etosha already. All gave us really memorable experiences. Overall our animal watching was very successful, We would have liked to have seen cheetahs in Etosha as we had done on our previous visits but the number of rhinos we saw and the splendid views of a leopard made up for it. We found some parts of Etosha a bit busy, particularly around Namutoni where there seemed to be quite a few large coaches making a lot of noise- not a good way to travel around Etosha and a bit disruptive for everyone else.
As well as the wildlife and rhe wonderful scenery our trip was made special by the warmth and friendliness of all the people we met. Even filling up the car becomes a social event!

And finally, of coursr, we have to thank Sabina and her colleagues for organising such a great trip. we are already our next one in our minds, maybe in 2014." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"Overall we enjoyed our trip.we had chosen to self drive for the first time and found no issues with safety, fuel stops, money etc.
The drives were long at times but the roads are really good, air con was welcome in the heat.

Namibia is a stunning destination, such spectacular scenery and amazing wildlife, this is what we came for.

Expert Africa selected some lovely lodges for us and the service provided in planning our trip with Sabina in particular was extremely helpful.
We are grateful for her help and advice and say a big thank you to those at Expert Africa for intoducing us to Namibia." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Well done expert Africa. You made life very easy.

So much to tell, not enough room." Read full review: 31 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"As a whole despite some issues it was a really fantastic adventure, visiting a completely different area of Namibia. And a special thank you to Sabina for organising it.

However, special thanks also to Bruno Nebe, Axel & Silke Bauer at Aigamas, Vincent and Simson and for everything they did in making it such a great trip. And to Arno and the Bushmen at Nhoma for sharing their knowledge and time with us. It was an unforgettable few weeks." Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip