Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"A very good trip with first class lodges selected by Expert Africa spaced at "do-able" distances. Local knowledge in choosing the overnight stops was much appreciated. The vouchers worked well. All the staff at the lodges were very welcoming, "old fashioned service" perhaps resulting from a slower pace of life.

I prepared a set of detailed route instructions and took a basic handheld GPS that does not have maps. Before leaving UK I matched the paper map with Google Earth for latitude and longitude at road junctions. Preparation was time consuming but worth the effort for peace of mind to ensure we were at the correct junctions and going in the right direction to the next. This was important when road signs only show the road number.

We detoured off the route to Henties Bay for lunch from Uis Mine instead of going directly to Omaruru and Erongo Lodge, and to the dinosaur footprints near Kalkfeld. The road from the dinosaur footprints, D2414, goes through Erindi game reserve - sign in and out at gates, but no charge.

Total distance was planned at 2200 km but we drove a little over 2600 km. Definitely a "must do again" adventure.

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I can't think of anything at the moment" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"This was our first experience of Africa - and we would definitely like to return. All four of us (including a 15 & 17 yr old) really enjoyed it, and felt we had got a flavour of what Namibia was about - the animals - and the people.

Some handy hints - tips will be expected in various places - from a voluntary 'departiing' tip for the staff box at lodges, to a tip for 'guarding your car' every time you stop at the supermarket or to have a meal, to a tip for washing your car overnight when you didn't expect it! It would be helpful for Expert Africa to tell travellers what is the going rate for tipping - we worked out our own ratio in the end - more for staff at lodges, smaller amount for car guards etc.

It was initially a shock to come across 'car guards', as not used to this concept in UK. We also ended up giving juice and pencils as well as some money to some young boys who helped us unsolicited to change a tyre in the middle of nowhere. Some people in the country areas have very little.

Timings - Think in advance about when you are likely to arrive at lodges - some of the distances you will travel between them are pretty big - and you can't rush on gravel roads. If you are going to arrive just before dusk, you may not be able to do that walk in that lodgeyou had planned - unless you are there for 2 nights - which we found would have been preferable in most lodges.

Temperature - We noticed the drop in night-time/morning temperatures in Western Etosha - may just have been a fluke of the weather at that time - but it can be PRETTY chilly eating your breakfast at 6.00 a.m. in an outside restaurant - if you are planning to go looking for animals early which most people do whilst in Etosha, so you do need a jumper or fleece." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We have travelled with many holiday companies over the years and usually travel at least 3 times a year and we can honestly say that in all our experiences this ranks with the best of them, from our experience with Expert Afica who were always willing to help with any queries, and all of our destinatiions (except maybe a couple) it was a breathtaking experience for myself my wife and our 2 grandchildren, every single day was mind blowing.

Thank you so much Sabina for all your help in helping us arrange a lovely holiday.

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Please believe me, your trips and service do not need to be improved" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"With the exception of the glitches mentioned above our Namibia trip was wonderful. [Ed: this is a reference to the car and flight reservations, mentioned briefly below.]

The lodges we stayed at (especially Mountain Homestead) were beautiful; we felt welcome, comfortable, and well taken care of at each; the hosts and hostesses at Mountain Homestead and Andersson's were charming and very knowledgeable about the areas where their lodges were located and about Namibia in general; the staff members were warm, friendly, and always helpful (Ben at Mountain Homestead, Koolus (sp?) at Erongo Wilderness Lodge and Ramon at Anderssen's Camp deserve special commendation).

The activities planned for us each day gave us a chance to see just what we thought we should see, were neither too many nor too few in number, and allowed us to get some exercise without being overly strenuous or exhausting.

Sabina was a pleasure to work with in planning the trip; she is clearly very knowledgeable about Namibia, had creative ideas throughout, and was extremely responsive to all my queries and requests.

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The problems we had with the car rental and charter flight were not serious, all things considered, but Expert Africa may need to consider making further efforts to confirm and reconfirm arrangements on the ground." Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 1 on a Namibia trip

"Many thanks for another great trip, but please can you just confirm about the diving." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia was fantastic.

This was a well planned itinerary and everthing went according to plan. We stayed in many stunning locations, the quality of the food exceeded our expectaions, and everybody we met clearly wanted us to have a good experience of their country.

The only downside is that we can't afford a holiday like this every year!

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Just let customers know that places with pools all provide swimming towels- this would have saved us a little luggaage space!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Great trip with one lodge excepted!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Provide guidelines for the cost of activities so there are no surprises." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia lived up everything that Expert Africa promised. Getting around was much easier than expected and the quality of the accommodation, food and service were all excellent.

The 2WD car proved perfectly OK, although it did mean taking it slowly on some sections of corrugated roads around Solitaire and Palmwag.

We were so glad we booked up three nights stays at various places. In our opinion this makes a huge difference to making the most of what's on offer in the different regions. We could easily have stayed another three weeks." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip to Namibia was beyond all our expectations and the way you organized it, simply marvelous" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful holiday that reached all expectations. Our criticisms are picking on the points that were average amongst all the other good or excellent features of the holiday.

The Tok Tokkie Trail, the sand dunes and the game in Etosha were the highlights.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No
It all went well." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip