Reviews of safaris to Damaraland

"We enjoyed our trip immensely. This was our first time in Namibia and we were so impressed by the country and its people. The variety of places to visit and things to do was great. The organisation from Expert Africa was second to none and ensured that everything went smoothly.

Overall the standard of accommodation far exceeded our expectations (with the exception of The Beach Hotel Swakopmund which was acceptable and Halali camp as outlined above). I know that because of the unexpectedly busy tourist season in Namibia we were a bit stuck for places to stay and this is understandable.

We took a kayaking trip with Jeanne in Walvis Bay as recommended in the guidebook and this was really excellent - she was a great guide.

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We were completely happy with the service provided and will have no hesitation in recommending Expert Africa to friends and family." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We debated long and hard about the difference between Very and Fairly satisfactory. We chose the latter for the following reasons:

1) Bullsport was a good stopover, but not in the style of the other lodges. We knew it was a working farm and perhaps we should have chosen differently.

2) We are not convinced that visiting at the end of the dry season was a good choice. We were aware of the lack of rain, but did not realise that it would be so unusually hot. This was not the fault of Expert Africa.

3) Although happy with the 2 x 4 car, a more powerful diesel model would have been more suitable.

On a positive note, we were delighted with Expert Africa's response to our delayed arrival after we had difficulty contacting Wilderness Safaris. We also feel that the whole process from the initial enquiry to the actual holiday was well managed, with excellent advice and information. We would (and already have) recommend Expert Africa.

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The guidebook does need updating. The wifi in most camps is better than described for example. Conny's restaurant (page 181) was very welcome, but there was only """"chicken"""" or a toasted sandwich. It was very clean and had some very interesting geological specimens.

Solitaire has a memorial to Moose who died in 2014, (page 265). The Kameldorn Garten restaurant in Otjiwarongo (page 405) closed some time ago.

We greatly appreciated camps with good wifi, bean to cup coffee machines and chilled water. Sounds trivial, especially when we have also greatly enjoyed the friendliness of staff and the beauty of the country that is Namibia.

Thank you." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We had an amazing trip, there's no two ways about it - the knowledge of the Expert Africa team (Liz) was invaluable as having never visited there before (and not knowing anyone that had), we'd probably have got stuck on the planning side.

The itinerary was fantastic and enabled us to fit in everything that we had said we wanted to - the map and route planning incredibly useful and accurate. Plus everywhere we stayed was nigh on perfect - the organisation was faultless and made the whole experience very simple for us!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We had been planning a comprehensive self drive tour of Namibia for a couple years and were completely frustrated by our own inability to make key reservations with the national parks. We reluctantly called in the help of Expert Africa and were pleasantly surprised at how competley helpful and indispenable Maruska was in making all our arrangements while keeping the costs lower then we had expected. Everything over the course of our month log visit, encompassing over 18 lodgings, worked out smoothly.

We had a very helpful assist from Wilderness Safaris staff who met us at the airport and helped us get a burner phone and deal with a slightly troublesome initial car rental interaction. We are ow sure that we could not have done the arrangements on our own with out significant hassles and problems and our very happy that we put our trust in Expert Africa.

We saw numerous independent travellers at the national park Lodgings who thought they had successfully made reservations to find that the parks had no record of them or places for them to stay. Not clear how these were ever resolved but it never impacted us! Maruska's printed material that she sent us had incredibly useful advice on everything form what to look for in car rentals to how to greet people in shops and restaurants. We saw many abrupt tourists getting a cold shoulder from staff that turned around and treated us very warmly because we had been told to do a full on relaxed greeting, asking about how they are and wording the questions in a more polite manner then most European and US travellers would normally use.

Namibia itself was a dream come true visit to Africa. We knew we would see all the major animals (rhinos, elephants, giraffes, ostrich, wildebeest,kudu, oryx,lions, eland, hartebeest, springbok) but we had no idea we would see as many as we did in such high concentrations. Unfortunately the drought is probably responsible for this, pushing all the animals to the waterholes just to survive. We saw 33 species of mammals and over 200 species of birds and most of them from the rental car.

Maruska's advice on several places was spot on. She had gently warned of some dropping standards at a couple places which turned out to be true, while encouraging us to do the kayaking with the seals trip and the 4X4 sand dunes drive to Sandwich Harbor. The latter was a true highlight, and it might not be as fabulous with a guide other then Bruno Nebar, but I am sure it still would be enjoyable. We were quite lucky to spend that day with two of Expert Africa's people, a complete coincidence, but they were both very interesting and helped in drawing out so much information form Bruno while having interesting stories of their own. We usually do not like travelling in guided tours but this was a fabulous day with great company.

Namibia is barely dealing with the tourist influx from Germany and the rest of Europe, and are not prepared to deal with the kind of influx Americans will contribute once Americans realize what a fabulous destination Namibia is. i am telling our friends and family to go now and to use Expert Africa to make their arrangements! We met only 2 Americans and had many more meaningful encounters with local Damara people including valiant efforts to teach us some click language words! But this will not last long." Read full review: 31 nights in Africa; 27 on a Namibia trip

"Expert Africa did a fantastic job.

Everything was flawless and I couldn't be more pleased." Read full review: 31 nights in Africa; 27 on a Namibia trip

"This was our first trip to Africa. We chose Namibia on the basis of its reputation for wildlife, fantastic terrain and 'emptiness' but also because it gave us the 'self drive experience' in a safe environment. It met or exceeded all our expectations, particularly the wildlife in Etosha.

Truly the trip of a lifetime that we will never forget - it has definitely made us want to visit Afica again in the future. We never felt uncomfortable in any way whist we were travelling and luckily did not experience any problems with the car - I wasn't looking forward to having to change a wheel by the side of the road in those temperatures!

Expert Africa arranged a great itinerary for us which we wouldn't have changed at all in retrospect, Also many thanks for the detailed replies to all our questions and queries before we left." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Expert Africa and their team made this a hugely successful adventure. Their response when we had a significant problem with our car was timely and effective and they certainly saved our bacon.

Expert Africa pride themselves on knowing their territory and so it would be without hesitation that we would recommend them to anyone as the company to advise you on a similar trip.

Wilderness Safaris were excellent partners in Namibia and the reception team in Windhoek air worthy of special praise. IN this respect Nandula Malango was a star.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Driving in Namibia is not straightforward as we discovered.

Although the metaled roads are excellent, and similarly many of the dirt roads, a high wheel-base, 2WD is adequate,

But where it is known that the dirt roads are very difficult, varying from smooth to lengthy distances where the surfaces are dangerously rugged , a 4WD should be recommended.

This is especially so in some of the central areas (Sesfontein, Dora Nawas to Palmwag, to Swakpmond) where the roads have been graded directly onto the underlying rock and not built up with gravel or limestone.

In these domains a four wheel drive vehicle is really essential and an extra spare necessary too. Punctures are normal experiences here and the thin tyres for urban use are pathetically inadequate." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip

"The self-drive trip was very successful.

From Expert Africa's staff to those in the various lodges ... and to those in petrol stations, cafes and restaurants, thanks for your friendly, helpful approach." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"This was our second trip to Namibia and Etosha, this time we included the Caprivi Strip. We arrived in Windhoek and awaiting in arrivals was a representative from Wilderness Safaris who took control of our luggage and escorted us to their private lounge. He then proceeded to help us purchase that all important SIM card and sort our car hire. Once done he collected our luggage and took us over to collect our car hire. Thank you Wilderness Safaris. We were soon on our way to our first overnight stop in Windhoek. Next morning our journey was to Swakopmund, then onto the skeleton coast and the Cape Cross seal colony where we spent a whole afternoon photographing these small creatures.

Early next day we set off for Damaraland, then into Etosha NP. Having left temperatures of the mid 50 degree we were soon enduring the 40 degree heat of Etosha, it was extremely dusty giving us pictures of what the UK is like having had a severe overnight frost, everything looked magical. Animal sightings did not disappoint us. When we sat at Heathrow we discussed what it would be good to see and we though a good sighting of a Rhino would be good. We ended up and had 20 good sightings in Etosha, we were even lucky enough to witness courtship and almost mating of two at Okaukuejo Camp waterhole. Lions however avoided us on this trip. Elephants were in abundance, with lots of babies and juveniles which gave us lots of amusement.

The Caprivi Strip was a little disappointing with a clear lack of wildlife but we were told that due to it being so dry the animals had gone deep into the bush. Although disappointing did it spoil the last days of our holiday? Not at all, we were in Africa and at anytime any animal could come into view, that's what it is all about and this will always bring us back.

Thank you Expert Africa for all your help in planning this trip and making it another memorable holiday. We will be back!

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Just keep on doing what you are doing. Always such a friendly, knowledgeable and helpful team of experts.

We will keep on recommending you." Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 26 on a Namibia trip

"We had a great holiday and are happy with how Expert Africa arranged things.

Desert Rhino Camp, Okonjima, Okaukuejo and the Olifantsrus viewing hide in Etosha were the highlights." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip