Reviews of safaris to Damaraland

"This trip was planned by Tracy Laderer and myself. I told her what I wanted to see and she figured out the details.

This trip would not have been possible without Expert Africa and even with my experience I still would want to plan my trip with them. My satisfaction is described by my description of my Namibia Adventure. My pictures are on my Facebook page for John White.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Could not be more satisfied. Website was a big help." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Despite problems arising so near to departure this holiday lived up to our expectations. Highlights were camp waterholes and we were able to watch numerous animals and birds. As we were only able to get out of car at toilets we spent much of the day in the car with a/c on as temperatures reached over 30C. Also white dust got into everything.

Pleased car gave no problems and was comfortable

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Clocks changed on Sep 7tth and would be helpful to tell clients
Petrol can now be paid for by credit cards at all pumps in Etosha but there are no ATMs
Problems with getting cash from ATMs at airport and elsewhere.
No diesel at Waterberg for those needing it
Would be useful to have list of toilets in Etosha" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"It was a fantastic trip. We didn't have time to do much research while planning the trip. We described what we wanted and trusted the advice given on what we should do. It was good advice, the trip turned out great and very much what we wanted to do.

Fair distances to travel, which gave an experience of the country. The accomodation certainly met expectations, and in most cases far exceeded what we expected. A beautiful country with lovely friendly people. (Most people in the UK don't even know where it is!).

I am now curious about other places in Namibia and Africa to explore.

Thanks for organising a lovely journey." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Overall, we had a wonderful time in Namibia and we would like to thank Sabina for arranging such an interesting and varied trip for us at very short notice. Expert Africa's careful planning allowed us to take home some great memories from our first trip to Africa and we are grateful that the itinerary included such a variety of landscapes and attractions.

Below we outline a few little issues solely for the purpose of providing assistance to future travelers (We are thoroughly satisfied with the service by the Expert Africa team and would not hesitate to rely on them again in the future).

We felt that the last full day of gravel road travel between Swakopmund and Doro Nawas was the least enjoyable day of the holiday, partly due to the fact that by that stage we had done a lot of gravel road driving and partly due to the fact that the itinerary between Uis and Doro Nawas was over a really bumpy stretch of road (both C35 and D2612) and our main concern was that the rented car would be damaged. We could neither admire the fantastic scenery outside the car nor fully focus on the - atrocious at times - road. We also did not expect that people would stand by the roadside and wave empty water bottles trying to get water from tourists, which obviously posed a dilemma for us.

The area around Uis and Khorixas seemed to us very deprived and we felt somewhat voyeuristic merely driving through as tourists. The area also felt quite unsafe - at one point we stopped at a roadside picnic table just to be surprised by a small truck full of men, one of whom got out and started hassling us for money. Similarly, on the way to Etosha and after visiting the Petrified Forest, we were asked by the official guide there to give a lift to one of his colleagues to Khorixas. As we obliged, we were instantly asked by the guest passenger if we could take on board two others. Our refusal to do so was ill-received. It appears that it is a common practice at that attraction to pressure tourists into giving lifts to staff members.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We think it would be useful to highlight the following points to future travelers:

1) additional spare tyre (second one) takes up a lot of space in the boot and it may make it awkward to pack and transport the luggage;
2) certain stretches of gravel roads are very rough and it would be good to clarify, who would be responsible for damaged suspension, should it happen;
3) the last stop gave us little time to enjoy the location, therefore it may be useful to consider accommodation in closer proximity to the airport;
4) it would be useful to clarify, how clean the rented car should be on the return;
5) it would be useful to warn tourists (especially those who have spare space in their cars) that at certain locations they may be asked for a lift by the guides;
6) we found that at some locations the full range of activities presented on Expert Africa leaflets were not on offer (e.g. guided walks at Buellsport Farm, night walks at Sossus Dune Lodge);
7) we would advise not to attend night drive safaris at Okaukuejo - the price is high and one normally sees much more during the day while driving around the park;
8) on tarmac roads one usually is not able to drive safely beyond 100 km/h due to warthogs roaming by the roadside - we almost had an accident because of them;
9) Perhaps advise guests to bring a travel kettle and hair dryer with them as they are not provided as a matter of course." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Better than the last trip to Namibia ( and that was spectacular). Much better that we didn't have to cover such vast distances, and that we had 2 nights in many places. Highlight was kayaking with the seals in Pelican Point, the Skeleton Coast at Terrace Bay and Etendeka. Really well organised and literature excellent." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Another great 3 weeks wandering around Namibia!. This was our 5th trip which, we think, pretty much says it all. Some new places and some old friends to see.

Can we go back please?" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"This was a wonderful trip and experience. From start to finish everything was very easy.

All the information and maps were excellent. We were very impressed with the accomodation selected, all the journey times were well planned and manageable and the whole holiday was well structured. We had great help and service by Sabina and everything worked flawlessly.

We have been very impressed with Expert Africa and Sabina and would recommend them to anyone visiting Namibia. Thank you for arranging such an outstanding and memorable trip." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We love Namibia. Etosha always gives amazing wildlife experiences. There is a lot of driving but the scenery is stunning. We particularly enjoyed the road from Etosha to Palwag over the Grootberg pass. Everyone should do the skeleton coastal route at least once. It is a long but unforgettable day.

We did think the last days drive from Swakopmund to the airport for a lunchtime flight rather a long way and on a very busy road it was a bit of a rush.

Thank you expert Africa for organising our trip once again. Your recommendations were excellent as always.
Gwyneth was our main contact and then Sabina. Both very helpful and knowledgable.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We used Chris's Bradt guide once again like a bible. Wherever you are or whatever you want to know, the answer will be in that book!" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"We had a fabulous time! Unfortunately, this once-in-a-lifetime trip makes us want to go again, and again, and again!

I do hope the concessionaire's are careful not to over build. They are able to charge top dollar because of their high concentration of animals to a low density of visitors. But when vehicles are stacking up, waiting for a 10 to 15-minute turn to see the animals, the concentration is already too high for my tastes. There is something to be said for having more eyes in the field, because you then have more opportunity to make a good sighting. But there needs to be a balance, and we saw many new camps being added, and many camps are increasing the number of guests they can accommodate. As someone going to visit, note not only the number of tents in your camp, but of all the camps within the concession.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
With your booking, Expert Africa has a general interest, basic requests, etc box; it would be nice to be able to customize that for each activity and/or camp to accommodate interests and expectations for different locations.

You guys and gals at Expert Africa are great! Everyone I've dealt with, though primarily Maruska and her sister Saskia when she was still with you, has been most helpful, honest, and pretty-darn-accurate, which I appreciate more than I can express!

Filling out this review has been a nightmare for me. Next time I will type things out elsewhere, and then cut and paste them in, which should work. When I tried to go back to previous page, whatever I'd typed was swallowed. If I hit save, it kicked me out, and I had to start again at the very beginning. I hated having to scroll forward through every page from the beginning, so I tried cheating and leaving the form open, but it would time out, again swallowing whatever I'd typed. It would be nice to be able to open on any page, so I could complete as time and mood allowed. Oh, well.

Sorry it's taken me so long to complete. I know I really appreciated other people's reviews and used the reviews heavily in making my choices--I would also like to see a scale of 1 - 10, because I would've liked to differentiate between good and excellent with a very good. The overall quality of all these camps is at least good, but some were far more excellent than others." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"We set to see a lot in a considerably short time.
For some places we wished to have more.
No regret as it was interesting and lots of memories of very special places and people we met along the way.
Accommodations were sometimes off as we couldn't imagine they fill up so quickly
The hardest part are the distances...but it is very rewarding.
We loved the sunrises and sunsets and all in between.
It was an adventure of a lifetime but hope to come again as there is more to see." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip