Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"This truly was the trip of a lifetime and as it had been booked for 3 years; was so eagerly anticipated. It exceeded all our hopes.

The driving was [mostly] easy and at every turn the sheer diversity of the scenery was breath-taking. The lodge staff and guides were fantastic and we spent much time learning more about their actual ethnicity and home lives; which they were happy to share with us. That was such a special element of our trip. We were somewhat uncomfortable to realise there still seems to be much of a 'hierarchical system' with the ethnic tribal Namibians; but accept that this is part of the Culture. The trips Expert Africa organised for us prioir to going were amazing - especially the balloon trip which was a quite 'surreal' event.

The only problem with the whole trip was that a month went by so quickly and never seemed long enough! Thank you so much to Tracy for putting up with our constant questions and changing the dates of travel without complaint. Thanks too, for Chris's book which became our 'bible' both before during and even now- after this amazing experience.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None at all - this was excellent down to every detail. You have thought of everything and there was nothing to disappoint us.
Thank you all." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 25 on a Namibia trip

"Fabulous and unforgetable

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It would be hard to design a better trip. The only suggestion I could make to do differently would be to select automatic transmission. We spent a fair bit of time driving getting places and after I ground the gears a few times David decided he'd better do all the driving. On the other hand, maybe this might be a strategy for some." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia was everything that we'd hoped for plus some. The landscape was a lot more varied than I'd expected , the quality especially of accommodation and the food was fantastic and everyone we met was extremely friendly and helpful.

Although there are considerable distances to travel (we did over 3200 km's) the roads were very good, even the gravel and sand roads were well maintained we never found travelling to be daunting or a problem. The one thing to remember was to keep the petrol tank topped up, we adopted the policy of filling the tank whenever we had the opportunity if we were two thirds full or less as recommended by Expert Africa.

I'd recommend Namibia unreservedly to anyone interested in Africa.

Overall a fantastic trip with not even the hint of any problems. Namibia lived up to and exceeded all of our expectations and I am seriously returning in a couple of years in the dry season to get a different view on the country especially Etosha.

One thing that we did was we had the hire car cleaned prior to return. It did not say on the hire documents if this was necessary but we paid Nam $60 in Windhoek for a full hand clean. When we returned the car handover took less than 5 minutes with no problems what so ever and I'm sure this was due to the cleanliness of the car. So it was £5 well spent

We found everything in Namibia to be either reasonably priced or cheaper than expected with one exception which was books and newspapers which were very expensive.

Overall Namibia over excellent value for money especially when the quality of food and service was taken into consideration

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only thing that we were uncertain on was , as previously mentioned, whether the hire car should be cleaned prior to return. Adopting the policy of cleaning it anyway certainly served us well." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Great fun. Thanks for organising our fourth trip." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"The arrangements all went according to plan.

We did however end the trip feeling a bit uncomfortable being affluent tourists in such an obviously poor country, especially as under our own arrangements we visited a San community, who are more underprivileged than most." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Because of our fairly late booking some of our first choices were unavailable and thus we had to compromise and shorten our trip this year. Prices in some cases seem to have risen significantly. Some parts of Namibia are now becoming overdeveloped particularly just outside ETOSHA. That said there is still plenty of space to go round!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have always been very happy with the service all the staff at Expert Africa have provided to us over many years now and long may it continue." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Wonderful trip - what a varied and beautiful country Namibia is. Just wish we could have gone for longer - could happily stay for several days at each of the lodges. Each was unique and of high quality. The hosts were friendly and helpful, everywhere clean, and the food excellent.

We were so glad that Gwynneth persuaded us to stay at Barchan Dune Retreat (rather than our own choice). Her local knowledge on this and the road journeys (eg how difficult the Spreegshoote Pass would be) was invaluable. She answered our queries quickly and efficiently and was always courteous and good-humoured.

We usually do our own booking when we travel but appreciated having Gwynneth doing this for us and fitting the jigsaw of the accommodation together. It was helpful to be able to read other people's comments on your website." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"No preparation could have prepared us for the sheer beauty of the desert, the dunes and the wide open African scenery. I had long wanted to go to Namibia and it far outshone our expectation and would return if i could.

We shared the wilderness cairport shuttle with another E.A. costomer and she said we'd find it addictive ----it sure is. Weve been far and wide over the years and this holiday is right up there amongst the top places.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Got the impression you are experts in Namibia and Tracy went out of her way to help us ----thank you" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful time, we loved the isolation, the landscapes, the peace and quiet, the wildlife and the great lodges. We found the driving easy and enjoyable and the people were very friendly and welcoming. Namibia was a perfect destination for us and one that we will return to.

Gwynneth was very helpful making suggestions for accommodation when my preferred, researched ones, were unavailable. I had not realized in my inital dealings with Gwynneth that she was from Namibia though her knowledge and personal experiences should maybe have gven me a clue!! What I was impressed with was Gwynneths 'connection' to my trip - I didn't need to remind her of were we wanted to go or wanted to stay and felt she got a good measure of us and our needs/wants in making the recommendations she did. She also dealt with any query, no matter how minor, with ease and enthusiasm (even though I'm sure I asked some pretty basic and cautionary questions). Gwynneth also dealt with the unfortunate cancellation of Air Namibia flights from London very efficiently and calmly - which helped me not get too worked up about it either.

We would recommend Expert Africa to our friends and hope to travel with you again. One of the great pluses of your service is that you confirm the whole trip prior to any comittment being made by the customer - don't change it!! Loved the travel document wallet too (the little things count)." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful trip despite a few blips, none of which were down to Expert Africa and we have recommended your services very highly to fellow travellers of all nationalities. In most of the camps visited it was lovely that they had taken note of your having informed all camps of the celebratory nature of our trip.

Bearing in mind the importance of transport to travellers in Namibia notice should be taken of our comments re Budget as one of the greatest worries on a trip of this nature is the comfort and reliability of your vehicle.

Namibia remains one of favourite destinations and we shall visit again. This is a wonderful country, totally different to all the others we have visited both in scale and emphasis and the people are wonderfully friendly and genuinely hospitable. We were met with true kindness and enthusiasm including when we travelled a scenic D route ( D2319 on our way to Uis), very much off the beaten track and were met by a steep bank and water filled river. On getting out of the vehicle to determine the water depth and whether we should proceed we were suddenly surrounded by a group of young boys herding cattle upstream who encouraged us to proceed, promising that they would push us out if needs be. It cost us all our biscuits, a little bit of money and lots of laughs. This was typical of our welcome everywhere we travelled.

This was our second trip, but was even more enjoyable as we had decided to take more time to enjoy this wonderful country. The scenery, the scale and the people make this an unparalled destination.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Thank you as always. You make planning the holidays a pleasure and think of absolutely everything even before we do. We know we can follow your recommendations with complete confidence and recommend you to others withour reservation." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip