Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"This was very much a 'trip of a lifetime' for us and we certainly weren't disappointed. With the benefit of hindsight it might have been better to visit fewer places and have more time at each, but, the downside is that we wouldn't have seen the range of landscapes etc that we did. Nevertheless, the high mileages we necessarily clocked up meant that what appears on the schedule as 2 or 3 nights, in reality, translates into only 1 or 2 days and we hadn't really factored that in.

With a trip such as this there were 'highlights' just about everyday (which itself tells it's own story) but, that said there was, of course, still a personal 'pecking order' which for us would be this: spending 3 nights/2 full days with Bruno Nebe at Mundulea was, quite simply, a dellight and a real priviledge and was, by a long way, the best highlight for us.

Next would be Zebra River Lodge which was so relaxing and where the welcome and hospitality from our (stand-in hosts) Merle and Thom oozed genuinenss and care (something we found rather llacking at most of the 'up-market' lodges where it felt like everything was done to a standard format of 'one size fits all' mentality rather than looking at the requirements of the individual guest.

Joint 3rd would be our day spent with Allie and the trackers at Desert Rhino Camp and with Wayne, Alexandra and Heidi on the Sandwich Harbour trip. Finally our very sincere thanks to Maruska who organised every part of our trip from start to finish with both professionalism and great proficiency and, at at all times a really friendly disposition - even in the face of my multiple e-mail enquiries and on the occasion when I answered her call on my mobille with a greeting of "Hi babes!" (mistakenly thinking it was my wife Joy calling!!). She was even kind enough to say that it made her day!

On that note thanks once again to Maruska, Chris and all the staff at Expert Africa for masterminding such a wonderful holiday. We are now saving our pennies so that hopefully we can undertake another big trip in the not too distant future" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful & memorable trip.

It's hard to say what's so great about Namibia, for me it was the sheer isolation and desertedness of the place (especially coming from London), driving for hours and maybe seeing 1 or 2 other cars. Lovely, friendly people. Guides who were all really passionate about what they do and their country, and proud of their country and their way of life.

An amazingly clean country, everyone really cared about keeping it clean and tidy, preserving their resources, looking after the wildlife, the environment etc.

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Your brochure is excellent compared to others I've used.

The only thing missing is an estimated price for the accommodation. This would be really helpful so we know whether we're choosing the most expensive or cheapest accommodation, and therefore, if for example, your quote is a bit high, we could've looked at choosing accommodation that might've brought the price down a little." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Marvellous (despite the problems with air Namibia)

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I honestly can't think of any suggestions. The service you offer has been excellent & we are also grateful for your ongoing help while we sort out our insurance claims" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"This was our third trip to Africa and certainly one of our best.

Our itinerary as prepared by Expert Africa perfectly and the recommendations of our agent, Gwynneth, for Xigera in Botswana, and Erongo Wilderness Lodge and Olive Grove Guest House in Namibia, lived up to our expectations.

We like the flexibility of being able to combine our own travel arrangements with those made for us by Expert Africa." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia was stunning and the perfect destination for a fly-drive. Due to the heavy rains that they have experienced this year we feel that a 2wd car is insufficent for some of the gravel roads and would recommend vehicles with more clearance or a 4x4.

We have no hesitation in recommending Namibia as wonderful destination

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Keep the good work up." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and all of the help and assistance that the team provided - especially Gywneth was more than appreciated!!!

Gwyneth was so helpful before and during our trip!!!! Thank you!! We found all of the information/maps/notes etc provided by the team to be invaluable for our trip and Chris's book was brilliant!!

The highlighted map was a must and we would have been lost (quite literally) without it!!!! We will definitely be recommending expert africa to our friends and family!!!!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"A fantastic experience. We had a great trip that we will remember forever.

The worst bit was the famous gravel roads of Namibia - I don't understand why they call them gravel - almost all of the non-tarred roads we drove on were more rock or sand or corrugated roads! However, despite my trepidation the Volkswagen Polo did us proud - not even one puncture!

Keep up the good work!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We really enjoyed it. There were some long drives which got a bit tiring particularly when coupled with border crossings (6 in total) but it was very interesting to see the way the scenery changed from arid to wetland. We were also interested to see how the culture changed significantly once we crossed the border into Rundu province.

When we reached Victoria Falls we felt very satisfied that we (or rather my husband) had driven all the way up from Cape Town over the course of 3 holidays (thanks for the idea Chris).

Some of the scenery was superb - we've never seen such beautiful and unspoilt wetland areas. We considered ourselves fortunate to have seen it at a time of exceptionally high water although the recent flooding has not been great for local residents" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"We had an absolutely fantastic visit to Namibia. We loved the accomodation, particularly Mushara Outpost and Erongo Wilderness Lodge - both recommended by Expert Africa. The Brandt Guide was very good and we appreciated the map supplied (now a little out of date re tar roads etc) when we booked our holiday.

Our main reason for visiting Namibia was to visit our daughter who is working in Opuwo setting up lodges and camping trails for local communities so this, along with the time we had available, determined where we went. We will definately return to Namibia (next year) and would use Expert Africa again as the advice was so helpful and the suggestions for accommodation excellent.

The only comment I would make (and it was never a problem) is that when we arrived at each lodge, they never seemed to have a note of our booking, although one did have something under "Anne". So at the beginning of our trip, we were wondering if our booking was confirmed as we arrived at each place but there was never a problem in the end.

Local water supply was great everywhere except Opuwo which was not drinkable but the lodge suppied 2 small bottles of water in the room.

For interest, we also used "Tracks for Africa" and a Garmin GPS system and this was great for finding petrol stations and ATMs etc. Supermarkets were fairly abundant and the supermarket in Opuwo was an amazing experience. It looks like a European supermarket but you find yourself in a checkout queue with a Himba woman in front out you and a Herero and Themba woman behind whilst being served by someone from Damaraland. It was stunning.

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None really - for us, the service and advice was perfect." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"I have run out of superlatives to to express how much we enjoyed this holiday. Our main reason for the trip was to see the wildlife and we weren't disappointed.

All the lodges surpassed our expectations

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For us you can't improve on perfection.." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip