Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"EA as ever had organised everything to perfection, bar the info on how to get to Sususwe, but I forgive them this as everything else was perfect." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Overall, we had a wonderful time and plan on returning to Namibia.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I would have liked to have received some of the travel information that you sent earlier. The materials on checking luggage, rental cars, etc would be useful, I would probably add some comments about paying people to watch your cars, street vendors, etc. But, I also recognize that our trip was put together at the last minute and that may be why we didn't get those materials until right before we left.

Maruska was very helpful and gave great advice. Thanks for a wonderful trip." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Apart from the route between Doro Nawas and Hobatere, and our last full day, the information and advice was thorough and very useful.

I think the instructions need to more consistent i.e. if comments are made about some bad roads, then ALL bad roads in the itinerary should be mentioned. Time or distance from the main road to the actual camps would be very useful.

We are not used to package holidays and it is easy to be complacent and think everything has been arranged in advance, all the maps perfect etc when using someone else.! I would have phoned ahead to all the places first to let them know when to expect us and check on directions. I am not sure what would have happened if we had a problem on route and not arrived which left me somewhat anxious especially as the phone did not always connect.

I bought a Namibian phone card which was good value - nb all internal text messages are free - you just pay for the calls.

The Bradt guide book was excellent - we almost left it behind and would have been stuck without it. We met other people using it.

The guide book had a few corrections to be made :

1) no walking tours included at Doro Nawas
2) Otavi - Rugger club was clearly not serving any meals
3) the Meteor Hotel in Otavi is called the Travel Inn on the main road so easy to miss it. A good recommendation and we had tasty pizzas.
4) In Etosha you talk about parking uder a tree in midday but we saw no trees where this can be done - suggest you delete this in next editions.
5) No garden centre restaurant in Okandja
6) Rhinos in Okandja was a simple restaurant run by a friendly family from Madeira and a good stop for a quick lunch.
7) In Okandja one lot of stalls has been burt down recently - only one lot of stalls now at the far end of the town.
8) Uis - beware of people selling crystals quite aggressively at the petrol station
9) If you want to go to the Tug Restaurant at Swakopmund you need to book it well in advance. In the end we got a late cancellation. Considered a touristy place by the locals but quite fun!
10) No ATMs in the Etosha Park - would have been useful to know this.
11) Petrol pump at Windhoek airport is not for the public. Only certain car hire companies can use it - Budget is one of them. Might be a good idea to fill up in Windhoek first to play safe.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We felt that driving times as described were not always realistic for a small car. As mentioned before, it would be useful to know in advance how long it takes to drive up the private roads or how long they are. 5 or 7 kms is a long way when you think you have arrived!

We are not convinced that Doro Nawas was the best stop for 2 nights and that we could have spent the time doing something else more interesting such as visiting the cheetah or lion conservancies.

Rating the accommodation is difficult as a tent cannot be called excellent and there fore I have given a consistent good throughout the form. ~They were all spacious and airy with comfortable beds." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Overall, we had a wonderful holiday, so thank you all very much. We will return and will recommend Namibia and you guys to others without hesitation.

One more note for your book, Chris: the R200 note is now in common use in Namibia!

One final thought: We do think things are getting rather expensive in Southern Africa. I spent about £2000 while in Namibia in addition to the base cost of the trip (more than I had anticipated) - and I could have spent much more. Apparently there are people willing to pay £600 for a bottle of wine (see the Mushara wine list.) If people are not careful, they will price themselves out of the market!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just do what you can to impress on the operators out there that they have a wonderful product, and it would be a real mistake to get greedy. Geese and golden eggs come to mind!!!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"For me this was a long held dream which exceeded my expectations. We had been impressed by the knowledge and experience of your staff - Tracy initially and then Angela - and their willingness truly to create what we wanted raher than (as with another company we approached) tinkering slightly with a standard package.

It was only once we got there that we realised the extent to which that knowledge and experience had been used to shape our trip into something that worked well for us and gave us a much better experience than we could have put together for ourselves. The advice and guidance, with some small exceptions, covered everything we needed to know to make life easy.

The exceptions - for me they were the lack of any obvious guidance on driving on sand roads (it's in the guidebook but I didn't see that until we were stuck), the detailed instructions for finding the wrong Erongo Lodge and something on the ubiquitous car guards would have been useful. My husband would have liked advice on going faster on the gravel roads when they're in poor condition - that was the local advice we were given and it certainly made the bumpier stretches less painful.

I can see however that there are inherent dangers in that and that it is important that less skillful drivers recognise that anything over 60-80kph could have unfortunate effects.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Any omissions were very minor. I'd be happy yo use you again and have certainly been recommending you to friends." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

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

"Unfortunately we had quite a lot of hassle unrelated to our holiday. Our mobile phones would not work due to incorrect information from UK. So had to sort that out at great expense from Namibia.

Also missed air conditioning when we did not have it as Irene found it very hot in the middle of day. If accommodation does not have a/c they should at least have mesh on all windows so that one can open them after dark when it does go much cooler.

We both found that Malarone did not suit us so had to stop taking it. Were disappointed in Caprivi would not make the effort to go again, particularly as we have already been to Botswana and the Delta.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have used you [Ed: Expert Africa] several times and have always found your staff helpful and knowledgeable and if they don't know an area they will find someone in the office who does." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was most enjoyable and because of the thorough programming of the trip by Sabina went without incident - apart from arriving in Walvis Bay and Swakopmund in the worst sand storm seen for five years - but we cannot blame Sabina for that!

We found the Namibians very friendly and wishing to please. We were surprised there were so many gravel roads and driving on these does need concentration and so it would be our recommendation that at least two drivers are necessary and going as a four is ideal. It is a great country and amazing for its different scenery and areas of desert, bush and wildlife.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We think you do a great job and are a very efficient organisation! Thank you for all your help and guidance." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"This was a fantastic trip - we really enjoyed ourselves. We saw and experienced so much - we loved the Namib desert, the desert elephants and Etosha Park. We really enjoyed driving ourselves around the country. Everyone was so friendly and the Namibians make tourists feel so welcome.

It is a fantastic country with so much to offer - we liked the emphasis on eco friendly and sustainable tourism.

We have returned home really relaxed and envigorated from all the experiences with nature.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We would like to thank you for organising such an excellent trip for us. The accomodation you chose was very good and mostly excellent. The maps and directions were very helpful and meant we never got lost! Any queries we had were handled promptly and efficiently. We would highly recommend Expert Africa to friends and family - the service you gave us was most professional and while we were travelling independently we always felt that your professional advice was only a phone call away if we needed it - which is a great back-up and support when you are holidaying in a country very remote from your own home.

The information you gave us on the 200 rand notes was extremely helpful as the bank here in Ireland tried to give us 200 rand notes and had not been aware of any problem with them - and we read in a newspaper in Namibia that they were not acceptable and even newly printed 200 rand notes were not being accepted by some buisnesses." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Everything on this trip was great. We've both travelled quite a lot and we rank this trip as one of the best. We saw everything we wanted to in the time we had and it really couldn't have been improved.

Our concern before we left was that we might have chosen too many places with too much driving inbetween. As it turned out, the journeys between places were some of our best experiences. We drove 2,300 miles in total and it was a pleasure. We would love to have stayed in places longer, but the itinerary really worked well.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just to try and ensure that the vegetarian information gets through to the chef! Easier said than done, I know.

I'm sure they must find it frustrating to find out they have to make something else when the guest is actually sitting at the table.
We did actually make sure we told each of the lodges when we checked in." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip