Namibia: reviews from our travellers
Unedited reviews written by our most recent Namibia travellers
Dr D & Dr U
UK
"Great Namibia holiday"
I visited Namibia between 28 Aug 2011 and 12 Sep 2011
"Great holiday, lovely relaxed start followed by a fantastic journey into the remote Kunene region.
Generally very helpful, attentive and informative staff and really appreciated being able to look "behind the scenes" a bit. Kunene conservancy safari's ethical concept will hopefully be successful in bringing money into this region. Would love to come back some day for one of their other tours and will certainly come back to Namibia as soon as it can be arranged.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Can't think of anything, places suggested were excellent and really took our requirements into account, communication was very good throughout." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip
Generally very helpful, attentive and informative staff and really appreciated being able to look "behind the scenes" a bit. Kunene conservancy safari's ethical concept will hopefully be successful in bringing money into this region. Would love to come back some day for one of their other tours and will certainly come back to Namibia as soon as it can be arranged.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Can't think of anything, places suggested were excellent and really took our requirements into account, communication was very good throughout." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr C & Mrs M
Cheshire
""
I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 28 Aug 2011 and 23 Sep 2011
"The trip as a whole was wonderful. Everything went smoothly despite being in Africa!!
Driving in Namibia is really straightforward and the distances were not a problem at all.
Everybody very friendly.
We went mainly for the scenery and landscapes and were not disappointed.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We stopped at Tsumeb by chance which was a lovely town. Maybe you could make suggestions to your clients for 1 or 2 hr stops in nice places along their route to wander around or for lunch.
I know we needed to stop at / near Swakopmund because of length of journey from Sossus to Kipwe but apart from the kayaking which we enjoyed the town did nothing for us. So easy to be wise after the event but 1 night here and an extra one at Wolwedans or Okonjima would have been a much better use of time for us." Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip
Driving in Namibia is really straightforward and the distances were not a problem at all.
Everybody very friendly.
We went mainly for the scenery and landscapes and were not disappointed.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We stopped at Tsumeb by chance which was a lovely town. Maybe you could make suggestions to your clients for 1 or 2 hr stops in nice places along their route to wander around or for lunch.
I know we needed to stop at / near Swakopmund because of length of journey from Sossus to Kipwe but apart from the kayaking which we enjoyed the town did nothing for us. So easy to be wise after the event but 1 night here and an extra one at Wolwedans or Okonjima would have been a much better use of time for us." Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Ms H & B &Mr B
Norway
""
I visited Namibia and 2 other countries between 25 Aug 2011 and 18 Sep 2011
"Having done the trip there is somethings I know I'll do different next time, but it was a great holiday."
Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs W-J
UK
"Kasane to Cape Town – 3000 miles in 3 weeks"
I visited Namibia and 2 other countries between 8 Aug 2011 and 28 Aug 2011
"Initially even we thought we were slightly bonkers with this ambitious itinerary but after extensive and detailed planning everything went smoothly (with the exception of Elegant Farmstead cancelling our booking at the very last minute in favour of a large group; if this is typical of their attitude maybe they're not suitable for EA's independent travellers).
We had a FANTASTIC time!!!! Whilst some drives were long they were perfectly manageable with two drivers, a flask of coffee and our trusty MP3 player to entertain us. The roadside picnic stations provided good places to stop and eat a bit of lunch – there are plenty of supermarkets in the towns to buy provisions, including a 5 litre bottle of water. Most lodges charge for water (about N$13 for a small bottle) so it makes sense to buy a big one in a supermarket (about N$20) and top up your little bottles from it. There seemed to be far fewer parking guards about than on our previous trips and, we were surprised to see, even petrol station attendants don't seem to expect tips any more.
Garden Lodge provided a gentle start to our marathon trip with good company, tasty food, an excellent boat trip and lots of cats and dogs to play with. Kasane is an interesting little frontier town, buzzing with activity though not the place to stock up for a long trip. Don't be surprised to see a warthog trotting across the road in the middle of town.
The brand new Ngoma lodge is excellent (see review) with loads of animals to see, excellent food and great staff. We highly recommend it. It is one of the few places that provides free water – we promised to take our Ngoma bottles all the way to Cape Town; after many refills they finally met their demise at security in Cape Town airport!
We returned to Garden Lodge to have our car delivered and set off for the border next morning. Crossing the border into Namibia is no problem at all and after stocking up at a supermarket in Katima Mulilo we set off across the Caprivi strip. Roads in the Caprivi are, as Chris's book says, long, straight and can be quite tedious though you need to keep an eye out for wandering cows, goats and dogs (and the occasional human).
Arriving at Ndhovu in the early afternoon, we spent a couple of hours on our deck on the river bird-spotting. Next day we took a trip across to Buffalo (suggest pre-booking if you want to do this) and then drove ourselves to Mahango in the afternoon.
It was a long drive to Ghaub the next day but switching from 'Caprivi time' meant we gained an hour; we had been debating whether the hour was going backwards or forwards and it was only when the guard at the vetinary gate greeted us with a cheery 'Good Morning' that we were certain! After two nights peaceful rest we set off to Okaukeujo. We arrived at Etosha in good time and managed to visit several good waterholes on the drive across the park.
We spent most of the next day in the park and then moved on to the big surprise of the trip; Taleni. We'd wanted to spend two nights at Okaukeujo but had been unable to get a room despite booking very early. Taleni is just outside Etosha and we loved it. It does attract some large groups but the staff use the different dining areas to give couples or family groups privacy and peace.
A comfortable morning's drive brought us to Gocheganas, just south of Windhoek, which proved an unexpected pleasure. We had been booked to stay at Elegant Farmstead but they had cancelled our booking at the very last minute (after we arrived in Namibia). As it turned out Gocheganas fitted in with our itinerary much better and we thought the place was excellent. Thanks to Sabina for organising the change for us; in the days before BlackBerrys and the internet this could have been a major problem but in this case was (almost) painless.
The drive to Bagatelle, for some reason, took longer than anticipated; the roads were good and we'd calculated the distance but it just took longer! However we arrived in comfortable time and enjoyed watching the waterhole, excellent food and company and, of course, the meerkats!
Next, off to Fish River Canyon. Until Keetmanshoop the B1 is a good tar road but you then have to venture onto gravel. The road is bumpy and undulates with the landscape, which is beautiful, and you may even meet a train! The canyon itself is fantastic and there are few people about; such a contrast to its rival in the USA!
We left Canon Lodge in the sunshine and headed for the border with South Africa. The crossing itself was painless though there was a notable diminishment in friendliness of immigration staff on the South African side. Heading down the N7 the weather turned and we found ourselves in rain and/or cloud. As we had plenty of time we went down to Skilpad to see the flowers with which we were disappointed. However, driving back over the mountains they were lovely.
It absolutely tipped it down overnight (not ideal in a room with an iron roof!) and we set off for the marathon drive to Cape Town with some trepidation. Driving over the mountain passes in heavy cloud was 'entertaining' to say the least (particularly when we were held up by major roadworks – waiting time at least 20 minutes). We stopped off in Clanwilliam which we thought a lovely town.
The sun came out as we arrived in Camps Bay. We'd arranged our own accommodation here; there are lots of good guest houses .
The place has clearly been spruced up since the World Cup and there are some excellent new restaurants. We ate at The Codfather – excellent but shellfish is very expensive, Ocean Blue – just as excellent but less pricey, and The Kove – best steak Martin had all trip and great staff. Tuscany Beach was also highly recommended by our guest house.
We did the tourist bit – open top bus tour (don't forget to use the vouchers printed on the back of the ticket!) boat trip and lunch at the V&A – recommend The Greek Fisherman and City Grill Steakhouse – then the bus back to Camps Bay. The following day we drove (yes we hadn't had quite enough!) down to Cape Point where there seemed to be bonteboks around every corner (even on the beach) and few other visitors about.
Finally off to Hermanus and the whales. You really can see them from the coastal path, though the boat trip out to sea is well worthwhile too. The town is lovely and there are some excellent wineries to visit nearby.
Overall, a wonderful trip which we'd wanted to do for years. What's next???????
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
If only travel to Africa was less expensiver!
The name says it all - you are the Africa Experts and although we do shop around we come back time and time again.
Perhaps a minor point is that you should consider regular travellers' previous trips before saying they can't do something" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip
We had a FANTASTIC time!!!! Whilst some drives were long they were perfectly manageable with two drivers, a flask of coffee and our trusty MP3 player to entertain us. The roadside picnic stations provided good places to stop and eat a bit of lunch – there are plenty of supermarkets in the towns to buy provisions, including a 5 litre bottle of water. Most lodges charge for water (about N$13 for a small bottle) so it makes sense to buy a big one in a supermarket (about N$20) and top up your little bottles from it. There seemed to be far fewer parking guards about than on our previous trips and, we were surprised to see, even petrol station attendants don't seem to expect tips any more.
Garden Lodge provided a gentle start to our marathon trip with good company, tasty food, an excellent boat trip and lots of cats and dogs to play with. Kasane is an interesting little frontier town, buzzing with activity though not the place to stock up for a long trip. Don't be surprised to see a warthog trotting across the road in the middle of town.
The brand new Ngoma lodge is excellent (see review) with loads of animals to see, excellent food and great staff. We highly recommend it. It is one of the few places that provides free water – we promised to take our Ngoma bottles all the way to Cape Town; after many refills they finally met their demise at security in Cape Town airport!
We returned to Garden Lodge to have our car delivered and set off for the border next morning. Crossing the border into Namibia is no problem at all and after stocking up at a supermarket in Katima Mulilo we set off across the Caprivi strip. Roads in the Caprivi are, as Chris's book says, long, straight and can be quite tedious though you need to keep an eye out for wandering cows, goats and dogs (and the occasional human).
Arriving at Ndhovu in the early afternoon, we spent a couple of hours on our deck on the river bird-spotting. Next day we took a trip across to Buffalo (suggest pre-booking if you want to do this) and then drove ourselves to Mahango in the afternoon.
It was a long drive to Ghaub the next day but switching from 'Caprivi time' meant we gained an hour; we had been debating whether the hour was going backwards or forwards and it was only when the guard at the vetinary gate greeted us with a cheery 'Good Morning' that we were certain! After two nights peaceful rest we set off to Okaukeujo. We arrived at Etosha in good time and managed to visit several good waterholes on the drive across the park.
We spent most of the next day in the park and then moved on to the big surprise of the trip; Taleni. We'd wanted to spend two nights at Okaukeujo but had been unable to get a room despite booking very early. Taleni is just outside Etosha and we loved it. It does attract some large groups but the staff use the different dining areas to give couples or family groups privacy and peace.
A comfortable morning's drive brought us to Gocheganas, just south of Windhoek, which proved an unexpected pleasure. We had been booked to stay at Elegant Farmstead but they had cancelled our booking at the very last minute (after we arrived in Namibia). As it turned out Gocheganas fitted in with our itinerary much better and we thought the place was excellent. Thanks to Sabina for organising the change for us; in the days before BlackBerrys and the internet this could have been a major problem but in this case was (almost) painless.
The drive to Bagatelle, for some reason, took longer than anticipated; the roads were good and we'd calculated the distance but it just took longer! However we arrived in comfortable time and enjoyed watching the waterhole, excellent food and company and, of course, the meerkats!
Next, off to Fish River Canyon. Until Keetmanshoop the B1 is a good tar road but you then have to venture onto gravel. The road is bumpy and undulates with the landscape, which is beautiful, and you may even meet a train! The canyon itself is fantastic and there are few people about; such a contrast to its rival in the USA!
We left Canon Lodge in the sunshine and headed for the border with South Africa. The crossing itself was painless though there was a notable diminishment in friendliness of immigration staff on the South African side. Heading down the N7 the weather turned and we found ourselves in rain and/or cloud. As we had plenty of time we went down to Skilpad to see the flowers with which we were disappointed. However, driving back over the mountains they were lovely.
It absolutely tipped it down overnight (not ideal in a room with an iron roof!) and we set off for the marathon drive to Cape Town with some trepidation. Driving over the mountain passes in heavy cloud was 'entertaining' to say the least (particularly when we were held up by major roadworks – waiting time at least 20 minutes). We stopped off in Clanwilliam which we thought a lovely town.
The sun came out as we arrived in Camps Bay. We'd arranged our own accommodation here; there are lots of good guest houses .
The place has clearly been spruced up since the World Cup and there are some excellent new restaurants. We ate at The Codfather – excellent but shellfish is very expensive, Ocean Blue – just as excellent but less pricey, and The Kove – best steak Martin had all trip and great staff. Tuscany Beach was also highly recommended by our guest house.
We did the tourist bit – open top bus tour (don't forget to use the vouchers printed on the back of the ticket!) boat trip and lunch at the V&A – recommend The Greek Fisherman and City Grill Steakhouse – then the bus back to Camps Bay. The following day we drove (yes we hadn't had quite enough!) down to Cape Point where there seemed to be bonteboks around every corner (even on the beach) and few other visitors about.
Finally off to Hermanus and the whales. You really can see them from the coastal path, though the boat trip out to sea is well worthwhile too. The town is lovely and there are some excellent wineries to visit nearby.
Overall, a wonderful trip which we'd wanted to do for years. What's next???????
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
If only travel to Africa was less expensiver!
The name says it all - you are the Africa Experts and although we do shop around we come back time and time again.
Perhaps a minor point is that you should consider regular travellers' previous trips before saying they can't do something" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
The C family
Sussex
"overall feedback"
I visited Namibia between 6 Aug 2011 and 29 Aug 2011
"Fantastic. Brilliantly well organised by Angela. All went like clockwork, and we had a wonderful time.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No" Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No" Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
V group
Italy
"Great Holiday"
I visited Namibia between 6 Aug 2011 and 21 Aug 2011
"The trip has been fantastic. Our expectations have been fully met, and we are especially thankful to Tracy who has been amazing at understanding what we wanted to do and see in Namibia.
The only two negative opinions on accommodation has been on the most expensive places, that were actually picked up as second-third choices: we understood that brochures/websites only tell so little of a place in Africa - quality of service does matter a lot, our only change to our trip would be focus more on that when choosing lodges." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
The only two negative opinions on accommodation has been on the most expensive places, that were actually picked up as second-third choices: we understood that brochures/websites only tell so little of a place in Africa - quality of service does matter a lot, our only change to our trip would be focus more on that when choosing lodges." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Dr O & Dr J
Hungary
""
I visited Namibia between 24 Jul 2011 and 5 Aug 2011
"We had a very good time in Namibia!"
Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs K
Nottingham
"Namibia 2011"
I visited Namibia between 23 Jul 2011 and 12 Aug 2011
"Absolutely amazing! Great country, great people, great food, great animals. Lived up to all of our expectations. Would recommend Namibia as the African country to visit - without any reservation at all.
Would love to go again but there might not be as much pampering next time! This year was a special holiday so we splashed out a bit but now we've been once we wouldn't mind a bit of camping another time. The campsites we came across all seemed very safe and well equipped. And the beer was good too!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Keep up the good work!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip
Would love to go again but there might not be as much pampering next time! This year was a special holiday so we splashed out a bit but now we've been once we wouldn't mind a bit of camping another time. The campsites we came across all seemed very safe and well equipped. And the beer was good too!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Keep up the good work!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr C & Mrs C
UK
"Everyone should visit Namibia!"
I visited Namibia between 23 Jul 2011 and 7 Aug 2011
"Our first trip to Africa and what an introduction.
Such a beautiful land, full of contrasts, friendly peole and a tourism industry that cannot do enough to please its guests. Wow!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Make sure everyone realises how absolutely invaluable Chris' guide is, became referred to as "The Bible" in our car!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip
Such a beautiful land, full of contrasts, friendly peole and a tourism industry that cannot do enough to please its guests. Wow!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Make sure everyone realises how absolutely invaluable Chris' guide is, became referred to as "The Bible" in our car!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs F
St Albans
"A really fantastic trip"
I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 21 Jul 2011 and 29 Jul 2011
"It surpassed our expectations in every way. We couldn't have asked for more.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No suggestions; it was all perfect." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 3 on a Namibia trip
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No suggestions; it was all perfect." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 3 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
1611
reviews of Namibia by travellers since August 2007
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