Reviews of safaris to Namib-Naukluft National Park

"This was our "trip of a lifetime." All of the arrangements and advice from Tracy Lederer were excellent. Tracy worked with me by email and phone to plan a unique arrangement to bring our five family members from the USA, Namibia and Mozambique together for this trip. She was extremely patient, and answered my questions even when asked several times.

The voucher system for the lodgings worked well, and I was happy not to have to rely on using a credit card at each location.

I wish I had known the time it would take to travel between each location ahead of time, and possibly have spent three nights at some locations such as Etosha. There were several long driving days.

There was the unfortunate DHL incident, where my vouchers and maps did not arrive before our trip. Tracy scanned and sent our vouchers and some maps by email. The partner organization in Windhoek met us and gave us the Namibian maps and were a great help. This was the only problem we had - which was easily overcome.

Thank you very much for everything. It was an amazing trip that we will be talking about for a long time." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Trip was very good - near enough all went to plan. Roads(!) in Namibia often meant time taken to reach destinations was longer then expected. Apart from the issue with Budget car hire we also had an issue with the Wilderness transfer from Galton House to Windhoek airport. They were supposed to let us know (or if we had not arrived when they called then inform Galton House staff) the pick-up time for our Monday morning transfer. By early evening here had been no call I decide to call them - as it was Sunday there was only an answerphone message and out of hours number - which I rang and the chap apologised for not letting us know but confirmed pick-up time. Just a lapse but would have expected them to have called or how else would we have known?

Overall thought the choice and quality of food was disappointing - in some cases it may have been the lack of guests which prevented a buffet style choice but was often on offer was often restricted and poor quality - naturally game was included on most menus and the only alternative was 'vegetarian' which was mainly the same vegetables which were being used for the main course. Rice seemed to be the main starch available. There was also a lack of detailed information given on how the food was presented eg. broccoli was a main veg but it often came with a blue cheese on it and meat often had a sauce poured on it. Fortunately we made up for this with some excellent meals in Cape Town and the High Tea at the Cape Grace Hotel is highly recommended!

This was our first trip to Namibia which has some spectacular scenery and good game viewing but don't think we will be keen to return except perhaps to Etosha. We like to regard ourselves as fairly seasoned travellers but perhaps our expectations were too high - accommodation was generally good but food disappointing." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip with Expert Africa was fantastic, it was the trip of a lifetime and we had so many unforgettable experiences along the way.

The agents we dealt with have all been very friendly and helpful, we received all the information we needed before our trip and every transfer/flight/pick-up along the way went seamlessly.

We would definitely book with Expert Africa again." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"Enjoyed a lot just one less day at Welterede and one more at Bullsport would have improved the trip." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"Fabulous holiday - highly recommended.

There was a breakdown in communication between Expert African booking and car hire company - but was resolved. Our Expert Africa team member left which caused lack of continuity.

Our first guesthouse incorrectly thought we were lost on arrival (they had not read earlier email to them) and flagged this with Expert Africa. We received a call from London to check we were ok. Proved we were being looked after. Would use Expert Africa another time.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is a beautiful country which deserves to be visited by more British tourists.

Our trip exceeded our high expectations and Expert Africa were extremely helpful when we were fine tuning our itinerary and were very professional in the way they dealt with a problem we had at Hoodia. We hope that you will take our comments about Sinclair Guest Farm on board.

Thank you for helping to make our trip so memorable." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"A great experience, most enjoyable.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Our only comment would be that in your brochure, trip examples and prices seem to be top end and expensive, which could easily stop potential clients actually contacting you. Some mid range price examples might be a good idea.

We almost did not contact you in the first instance as we thought you would be too expensive, when in fact you are very competitive.

We were very pleased with the help and knowledge we received from Tracy, and hope to travel with Expert Africa again in the future." Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"First class. Glad we went anti-clockwise. Would recommend the itinerary and Wilderness camps in particular." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We had a magical time in Namibia! Our trip was so well-organized and perfectly suited to our needs, wishes and budget that we wouldn't have changed a thing about it. This was our first time in southern Africa, and Namibia has indeed spoiled us! The big empty dirt roads, stunning scenery, incredible wildlife, warm hospitality, and eco-conscious mindset all combined to make this an unforgettable vacation. We cannot wait to go back.

Expert Africa's website was perhaps the main reason we chose to work with them over other self-drive tour planners we considered. Working with Sabina - a native Namibian - was also important. She was able to answer all of our questions and address all of our concerns, particularly relating to driving. We are so glad we went with her advice to NOT get a 4WD. Being city people that went against our instincts somewhat, but the price difference was significant and we were 100% satisfied with our Nissan X-Trail.

We did not make our plans early enough to get exactly every lodge we wanted, but the alternatives that Sabina suggested were excellent - especially Onguma Bush Camp. She also did a great job at pointing out details regarding a couple of the lodges that had concerned clients of hers in the past and wanted to make sure we were still okay staying there. We didn't have any major surprises (of the bad kind!) on this trip, and we believe it's because we were well-prepped by Sabina, the very informative Bradt guide, and Expert Africa's website.

The only thing that was consistently different from what we had been told was the driving times. It always took us much longer to get from lodge to lodge than we expected. We definitely made many stops along the way which delayed us - especially during the first half of our trip - but even when we didn't stop much we were inevitably somewhere between an hour and a half to two hours behind the estimate. Thankfully we always left early enough that we were never in danger of driving at dusk or night.

Another issue worth pointing out is that while we essentially did the Caracal Self-Drive as described on Expert Africa's website, our final invoice was a lot higher than what was quoted on the site. We did make several upgrades, such as going with a K-class 2WD instead of a sedan, getting an extra spare tire, spending a night at a premiere waterhole chalet at Okaukuejo, and staying at Okonjima. In the end we paid quite a bit more than what we thought we were going to pay based on the website quotes. We have absolutely no regrets about this in the end, but it's important to know that what is on the website is really the bare bare minimum and that one should probably budget several hundred dollars more per person if more than one or two changes to the itinerary are going to be made.

We had the time of our lives on this trip and didn't want it to end! Namibia is a place unlike any other we've been to. Sabina did a great job at making it all go smoothly and we will definitely be giving her a call as soon as we can get back there!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"A special treat to celebrate 25 years of marriage - an adventure in Namibia. Spectacular scenery, abundant wildlife, delicious food, & great company. We have brought home so many memories of a truely amazing place and thousands of photographs!

A special thank you to Maruska, for patiently explaining all the various options and helping us construct our special trip. Thank you!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip