Namibia: reviews from our travellers
Unedited reviews written by our most recent Namibia travellers
"Tips, Timings and Temperature!"
Some handy hints - tips will be expected in various places - from a voluntary 'departiing' tip for the staff box at lodges, to a tip for 'guarding your car' every time you stop at the supermarket or to have a meal, to a tip for washing your car overnight when you didn't expect it! It would be helpful for Expert Africa to tell travellers what is the going rate for tipping - we worked out our own ratio in the end - more for staff at lodges, smaller amount for car guards etc.
It was initially a shock to come across 'car guards', as not used to this concept in UK. We also ended up giving juice and pencils as well as some money to some young boys who helped us unsolicited to change a tyre in the middle of nowhere. Some people in the country areas have very little.
Timings - Think in advance about when you are likely to arrive at lodges - some of the distances you will travel between them are pretty big - and you can't rush on gravel roads. If you are going to arrive just before dusk, you may not be able to do that walk in that lodgeyou had planned - unless you are there for 2 nights - which we found would have been preferable in most lodges.
Temperature - We noticed the drop in night-time/morning temperatures in Western Etosha - may just have been a fluke of the weather at that time - but it can be PRETTY chilly eating your breakfast at 6.00 a.m. in an outside restaurant - if you are planning to go looking for animals early which most people do whilst in Etosha, so you do need a jumper or fleece." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
"a truely memorable experience"
"One of our best ever holiday experiences"
Thank you so much Sabina for all your help in helping us arrange a lovely holiday.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Please believe me, your trips and service do not need to be improved" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip
"Northern Namibia safari"
We are saving for our next trip already and we will come back to EA, what better compliment can we give? EA came recommended to us by a good friend and we will now recommend EA to others too.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Expand your offering while maintaining the high level of service. I will need you guys in the future to take me places again. Northern Mozambique for example." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip
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Maruska recommended Namibia and we agree.it is a great place! will come back." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip
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The lodges we stayed at (especially Mountain Homestead) were beautiful; we felt welcome, comfortable, and well taken care of at each; the hosts and hostesses at Mountain Homestead and Andersson's were charming and very knowledgeable about the areas where their lodges were located and about Namibia in general; the staff members were warm, friendly, and always helpful (Ben at Mountain Homestead, Koolus (sp?) at Erongo Wilderness Lodge and Ramon at Anderssen's Camp deserve special commendation).
The activities planned for us each day gave us a chance to see just what we thought we should see, were neither too many nor too few in number, and allowed us to get some exercise without being overly strenuous or exhausting.
Sabina was a pleasure to work with in planning the trip; she is clearly very knowledgeable about Namibia, had creative ideas throughout, and was extremely responsive to all my queries and requests.
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The problems we had with the car rental and charter flight were not serious, all things considered, but Expert Africa may need to consider making further efforts to confirm and reconfirm arrangements on the ground." Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 1 on a Namibia trip
"Expert Africa review"
Our trip on the whole couldn't have gone better, all our border crossings were easy and everywhere we thought could have had issues went very smoothly.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Just keep it going." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
"What a wonderful country"
The scenary is just vast, diverse, unspoilt and stunning. Wildlife abounds and offers exceptional viewing. We saw many animals that we hoped to see as well as an amazing variety of birds.
The accomodation was generally of an excellent standard which considering the remoteness of some lodges was a credit to all concerned.
The staff on the whole were friendly and helpful .
The locals were friendly and didn't hassle us - do wave at them as you go by! We did give some people lifts but there is conflicting advice about this. The Bradt guide suggests that it is normal and very much appreciated but written advice from the car hire company suggests that this is a dangerous practice and should not happen.
Don't underestimate distances nor the quality of some of the roads which both can make journeys very tiring.
Internet and mobile phone access was patchy to say the least so don't expect to be able to communicate home etc. We also posted letters etc most of which have yet to arrive home after well over a month!
Our actual itinerary seemed to work well with 2/3 nights at each place, as you need to have some "down" time from driving and to enjoy relaxing at the lodges etc. If we had to do the same again we would have three nights at Canyon Lodge, only two nights in Swakopmund and three nights at Okonjima. We may also have decided to drive from Okonjima to the airport for an afternoon flight - thus missing out Windhoek altogether.
We hope to return.....the Caprivi Strip beckons plus a return visit to Okonjima!
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We have found Expert Africa very professional and very helpful. The website is simply excellent and even this feedback form impressive.
We strongly recommend that Tracey or someone visits Camp Kipwe and Mushara Bush Camp (we don't believe you have been to these places) to see for yourselves how lovely these places are.
Keep up the excellent work and we will highly recommend you to anyone we know wishing to visit Africa. We know who to turn to for our next African trip!
Thanks." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 25 on a Namibia trip
"Namibia - my best holiday ever!"
The accommodation was so much more than I had expected. We stayed in some great places and seemed to have the best of the rooms everywhere we stayed!
The distances were manageable to drive and I was very glad we did a self-drive holiday as it gave us the opportunity to do things in our own time. It was great to also have the opportunity to go on guided walks and drives at Okinjima and Waterberg so that we could learn about the wildlife from people who lived there.
Everyone we met was very friendly.
The highlights of our holiday were Kayaking in Walvis Bay (except for Luke, who at 6'4" found the kayak a bit uncomfortable) our whole stay at Okinjima, seeing Lions and elephants at Etosha and the climb up to Waterburg plateau.
Thank you so much Angela and Tracy!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
no. it was all good!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip
"Loved it"
The driving is enjoyable, the people all very friendly and generally helpful and all the lodges did not disappoint. Can't wait to return to Botswana and who knows where else in a couple of years time." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip