Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"The whole trip went like clockwork - thanks for your superb organisation. Combining the flights in the south with driving in the north was just the right combination for us (we would always recommend the flight over the Skeleton Coast to people in particular - since it gives such a good perspective of the vastness of the dunes).

This has been such a memorable trip.

Thank you!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None that come to mind." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful trip - we loved Namibia.

Some anxieties about the car hire - our delayed flight to Windhoek put us under pressure and the clerk on the Budget desk when we collected the car was not particularly helpful. The second spare tyre which we had ordered was not in the car and had to be sent for, delaying us further, and at that stage we were worried about getting to our first hotel before nightfall. The various instructions you had given us about car hire were slightly confusing.

However, when we had to purchase a new tyre after a puncture, Budget were helpful on the phone, the staff when we returned the car were excellent and our credit card has now been refunded with the cost of the tyre.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I would very much have preferred to have had a printed feedback form which we could have filled in during our flight home.

I know that this web version is helpful to you in that it is quicker for you to process, but you would have had more immediate (and possibly therefore more accurate) feedback had you enclosed a printed form with our tickets. On the flight we would have discussed our responses together under circumstances in which there was nothing else of particular importance for us to do." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Overall it far exceeded my expectations. The Namibian people were extremely friendly and we found consistently high standards of rooms, service and food.

If there was a downside it was that perhaps on a few days we ended up having to drive for longer than was comfortable. However, I knew it was an ambitious programme which was necesary in order to see and do everything that we could. If there is any blame attached to this, it rests solely with me.

I would not hesitate in suggesting Namibia as a self drive destination - although a high clearance vehicle is almost compulsory in some parts.

Many thanks to you all for making it happen." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Had we to do this trip over, there is very little we would change. Our biggest miscalculation was the amount of time spent in Etosha. We thought that Etosha would be similar to the National Parks in the USA, that is bumper to bumper traffic, some folks racing through the park, and sometimes no place to park to see the sights. This, of course, is not true in Etosha and we would have spent much more time there.

We realize that everyone as different tastes and desires. Some prefer "resort" lodges, which are fine in many instances providing there are activities there to justify the cost. However, there are times that a nice B & B like Termite Hills or a hotel like the Makalani in Tusemb are quite satisfactory (if available of course).

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We would not hesitate to have Expert Africa help us plan and arrange our next Africa adventure." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"The main purpose of our trip was to help PAWS with the cheetah and leopard rehabilitation project at Okonjima. We feel privileged to have been part of the team and would certainly consider repeating it at some stage in the future.

As for our 3rd week, I have mixed feelings. I would certainly not advise anyone to travel to Caprivi unless they had more time than we allowed.
I greatly underestimated the time needed to get there and we spent the best part of 5 days in the car for just 2 days in Caprivi. No night game drives were on offer at any of the lodges and we were not allowed out of the vehicle in the Bush. So after the excitement of the first 2 weeks, it was rather tame and somewhat of an anticlimax.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Although my comments relating to our 3rd week are clearly rather negative, they are brought about by our own bad planning and in no way do they reflect on Expert Africa. Tracy was very helpful from the outset and we cannot fault her organizational skills.....we would not hesitate to ask her to help with our next wildlife trip." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"With hindsight, we should have allowed more time for our trip to Caprivi as it was a lot of driving.

We stayed in some very good lodges - for one or two nights - we should have stayed two instead of one. However, this was our choice, taking into account our budget and the time available.

Overall our trip was very good and we enjoyed a bit of luxury after our two weeks in the bush at Okonjima.
I think we were spoiled on the first two weeks for the amount of game we saw and exciting activities as our final weeks journey to Caprivi did not match that. It was however an interesting contrast to see a different part of the country and game sightings are largely a matter of luck!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have travelled with Expert Africa before and were happy to do so again.
Tracy was always very helpful and did her best to fit in with our wishes." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and both feel that it is one of the best holidays that we have taken in years.

The trip was very well organised and Sabina and Gwynneth were both helpful in providing information and responding to my questions.

The written information that we received prior to departure seemed a little over the top. However, we read through it diligently and followed Expert Africa's advice on most things. We felt well prepared and our trip was trouble free.

We'd been planning to go to Namibia for many years, after a previous trip was cancelled at the last minute. We thought that this trip would cross Namibia off our "list". The trip was so fantastic that Namibia remains firmly on the "list" and we are keen to return to explore other parts of the country.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I feel that it would be useful if Expert Africa could give some more guidance as to the petrol costs (or number of litres) associated with each trip. We knew that we would have to pay for petrol in cash and may not have access to ATMs for much of the trip. I made my own estimate that our petrol costs should be somewhere betwen NAD 1,100-1,400. We came in at just under NAD 1,000, so I wasn't too far off.

I realise that this may difficult as it will depend upon the type of car hired and to what extend people extend their mileage by deviating from the primary route." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"EA as ever had organised everything to perfection, bar the info on how to get to Sususwe, but I forgive them this as everything else was perfect." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Overall, we had a wonderful time and plan on returning to Namibia.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I would have liked to have received some of the travel information that you sent earlier. The materials on checking luggage, rental cars, etc would be useful, I would probably add some comments about paying people to watch your cars, street vendors, etc. But, I also recognize that our trip was put together at the last minute and that may be why we didn't get those materials until right before we left.

Maruska was very helpful and gave great advice. Thanks for a wonderful trip." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Everything worked as planned and all the pre-trip advice was excellent (except Ongava). Very patient staff answering numerous questions. It helps that our adviser was a Namibian.

Thank you.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We missed out on comments about the Windhoek Country Club which was a great stopover.

Some lodges had poor entry roads (very badly rutted, far worse than the public roads).

The Skeleton coast no longer has any skeletons. We are glad we did it but there isn't much to see except the emptiness. We had difficult finding someone to open the gates to the NP as there were only 3/4 cars each way per day. We only had one shock with petrol in the whole trip. This was along the Skeleton coast where the petrol station at Mile 108 has closed. This meant, even with a full tank that we had to divert to Palmwag for petrol: a 50 km detour. This was exciting for us but not everyone's cup of tea.

We bought a cool box in Windhoek: this is probably a sensible move as ice is available everywhere." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip