Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"My trip to Namibia was, overall, amazing! Life changing even.

I drove through bush fires and was chased by a bull elephant! Man, it was exiting! And I was followed by a baboon for an hour during one of my walks. Probably thought I looked a bit lonely. :-D The only niggly thing was not getting vegetarian food on the flights as that had not been specified. Apart from that, I am definitely going back as soon as I can.

For a woman driving on her own, I had few problems except with the usual, i.e. men with far too much testosterone. I know how to handle that though so it wasn't a problem. I loved driving around on my own for three weeks. Best thing I ever did.

Next time, I won't bother with Swakopmund though. The only place I disliked despite the kind and friendly people. Just too weird for me (i.e. German town in Namibia) and in any case, I was in Namibia for the flora and fauna, not towns and buildings. I'm glad I went though as I wouldn't have known that had I not been.

Overall, a great holiday! Me = Happy! :-D" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was everything we had hoped it would be, with the itinerary being well thought out and manageable in terms of travel time.

Our only regret is that we didn't have more time - next time, we'll have to head south as well.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None - Gwynneth was extremely helpful and really knowledgeable, making sensible suggestions about proposed changes to our itinerary and speaking from personal experience." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"It was one of the most memorable holidays we have had. Everything was in line with or better than expectations. I think the key to Expert Africa's success is knowing about all the country's facilities firsthand, and then taking care to understand what the client really wants from the holiday. Because this happened, we had no unpleasant surprises, and may pleasant ones.

The balance of time we spent in each place was perfect, and therefore gave us a wide range of experiences in the time available.

The car hire was a success. I think for the gravel roads, the Nissan X-trail is a must, rather than a saloon, and people should be encouraged to take one. The Budget car we had was not provided with a second spare wheel, as had been booked. The manager was apologetic, but said the wheel he intended to supply was damaged. He then rightly said (as it turned out) that with it being the dry season, with no potholes, and with sensible driving, we should have no problem. In fact we had no tyre problems at all. I think in the dry season a second wheel is perhaps overcautious. Very comfortable car, with plenty of space for both people and luggage.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Hard to think of anything. Just keep visiting places, listen to feedback and ensure you understand what is important for the client (even if he doesn't know himself!)" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia exceeded our expectations. Wonderful scenery and wildlife.

Wilderness safaris were efficient in notifiying me of the change of itinerary after the fire at Camp Kipwe" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"Probably the best family (of 4) holiday we have ever had. Great organisation from Expert Africa. Welcomed wherever we went.

The local Namibians were so helpful, and really keen for us to enjoy their country.

Some of the places where we stayed were in the most stunning locations.

In retrospect, we might have been better staying 3 nights in some places (Doro Nawas and Erongo leap to mind). But then, what would we have missed out? Probably Swakopmund, which is really only worth 2 nights if you wish to undertake specific activities such as sand-boarding etc.

We appreciate your tolerance as we added more members of the family!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only bit of advice I would quibble with was the encouragement not to travel from Onguma to Windhoek in one day, but to take a break at Erongo. Onguma-Windhoek is only about 45 km further than Onguma-Erongo; and it is all on tarred road.

Having said that, we are so glad that we did visit Erongo (see that section) - we wouldn't have missed it for anything." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Our whole trip was lovely - no complaints!!" Read full review: 3 nights in Africa; 3 on a Namibia trip

"My husband and I spent 13 days in Namibia, and it was probably the best trip of our lives. We stayed at a mix of upmarket, full service lodges, to middle market guesthouses, to self-catering camps. The trip went far above and beyond our expectations. The people are very friendly and the country is beautifully desolate. I had been to Namibia for 4 months ten years ago, but working with Expert Africa really made our recent trip significantly better than it would have been with my limited knowledge. Saskia at Expert Africa prepared everything for us; our itinerary was very well-planned out, letting us hit a number of incredible spots, while also giving us plenty of time to enjoy the drive.

We can't thank Saskia at Expert Africa enough. She created the perfect trip for us, made sure we were able to do everything we wanted, and her expertise about the area was extremely helpful. She patiently and informatively answered all of our questions, and provided critical information and options that we didn't even know we needed. Well before our trip, Expert Africa sent us a travel pack including a folio of vouchers, information on all the places we stayed, guidelines for visitors, and a map with all our locations labeled. These items were our bible while we were in Namibia, and kept everything in order and easy on our trip.

We are VERY eager to go on another trip with Expert Africa, and have been recommending them whole-heartedly to all of our friends. Thanks so much for an amazing trip!!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It's truly hard to think of any real ways to improve upon our wonderful trip!

My only suggestion might be to reorganize some of the information in the guidelines for visitors and our specific information to follow the order of our trip. This was mostly the case, but for a couple of items, I had to flip back and forth to figure out what to do. In particular, it would be wonderful to have a list of all items we need to bring with us, since some of the items (i.e. the copies of passports, etc., we needed to rent a car, which it turned out we didn't need in advance, so it was fine) were located in separate areas. This is truly a minor point, however, since the information is mostly organized this way already, and careful reading should be sufficient for travelers." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Very happy with the itinerary as it allowed us a brief look at many different parts of the country in a relatively short period of time. We travelled 4200 kms in 3 weeks. We are used to driving on gravel and corrugated roads but other less experienced drivers may have found the length of trip tiring. It also meant that some very good camps became overnight stops instead of the destination they deserved to be. (eg. Mushara)

We purchased goods for which we could reclaim the VAT. Our claim was processed without problem other than a 70 minute queue after check-in and 15 minutes before check-in to complete the form and have Customs and Excise check that we had the goods in our possession. Some people in the queue did not get their claims processed before having to board their flight. At the time I was queuing most of the people were on a flight to Angola and had a very large number of receipts with their claims. These were being audited carefully and many rejected which added to the time being taken." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"We thoroughly enjoyed it. All aspects of the trip were very satisfactory and some aspects exceeded our expectations.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No real suggestions for improvement, but I would like to comment that I found your website to be excellent and it was this that encouraged me to book with you." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"So much of this trip was a bit of magic.

From climbing dunes to watching sunrise over the red dunes to watching a group of lions surround our vehicle and literally ROAR at us to watching Cheetahs stalk and kill, to sleeping under the stars, driving for hours on roads and being in this amazing wilderness and not seeing another car for hours and not to forget all the wonderful people we met. Some proprieters of lodges, guests and employees.

Not all of the trip was perfect, but all in all we had an amazing time." Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari