Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"Namibia proved to have and be all we could hope for.
Absolutely nothing is small scale, from the dunes, desert, coast and salt-pan to the welcome of its people and animals.

Suggestions to help Expert Africa improve our trips and service

Maruska and Gwynneth were so impressive in every aspect of our arrangements, and Wilderness Safaris also proved to be very competent ground agents, so we're hard pressed to think of any tweaks.
If we're being really nit-picky then our view of Swakopmund means that two nights wasn't really ideal for us, but we do realise that it's a lot to do with personal choice and might be difficult to ask enough questions to deduce this. All we can say is that it is very 'small-town', so people with lots of travel experience might have issues with it (in the winter at least) in comparison to the rest of Namibia." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We had an amazing experience which went all too quickly (except Swakopmund) and we will definitely return and explore the north. All the people we met were so friendly and helpful. We went south for the photography which was fantastic and we couldn't top clicking the shutter - so we have hundreds of momentos.

The top experiences for us were the Kalahari desert Sundowner Drive from Anib and the desert horses near Klein Aus Vista. The walking for me was excellent, especially from Canon Roadhouse and Rostock Ritz and I felt perfectly safe on my own.

Well done Gwynneth for helping to chose the accommodation and making it as easy as possible for John to access." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"It was absolutely fabulous!! Thank you all so much!

We have travelled worldwide over a number of years and I have dealt with probably hundreds of travel agents. Maruska was definitely one of the best agents I have ever worked with anywhere.

Thanks you, Maruska, for a fantastic job!!!

Suggestions to help improve service:

Expand your service into other countries in Africa and we will definitely book with you again!!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"First of all, we would like to mention two issues:
1. the distances from one to another place does not seem very long if you see the distance in kilometer on paper, but in reality it can take you quite a long time, especially when a big part of your trip is on gravel roads. Some travel days were in that sense quite tough for us.
2. our bank card has been skimmed in Tsumeb. Looking back, we probably know that it happened when some 'very helpful' guy wanted us to help with our transaction at an ATM. Of course, we have not been careful enough, but please be aware, these guys seem to be experienced and it all goes very fast, without any violence whatsoever.

Okay, those are the only two (minor) complaints, but overall our two weeks in Namibia were great! We have seen a lot of different things and have done a lot of things. All the lodges we have stayed in were unforgettable in their own way, however Desert Homestead, Doro Nawas, Etosha Aoba Lodge and Erongo Wilderness Lodge stand out. We really like the lay-down sandboarding near Swakopmund and also enjoyed the surrealistic landscape of the Sossusvlei. The most unforgettable thing of our holiday was, however, the Etosha National Park or more in general the game watching in Namibia. It is at times breathtaking to see wild animals at very close distance. We would like to recommend a trip to this beautiful country in all its elements to everyone!

Suggestions for improvements:

We experienced your service as very helpful and useful. We cannot think of anything to improve it." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Overall a rewarding experience, we only saw one solitary male lion in etosha although we heard the roars each night (my wife was convinced
that these were actually recordings played for our benefit)!!

The directions for Frans Indongo on your map were not correct, the D2804 is really a 4wd road. the correct route would be to carry on the
B1 road to the D2433, the lodge manager confirmed this. Not a compaint just a point of interest." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful & memorable trip.

It's hard to say what's so great about Namibia, for me it was the sheer isolation and desertedness of the place (especially coming from London), driving for hours and maybe seeing 1 or 2 other cars. Lovely, friendly people. Guides who were all really passionate about what they do and their country, and proud of their country and their way of life.

An amazingly clean country, everyone really cared about keeping it clean and tidy, preserving their resources, looking after the wildlife, the environment etc.

Suggestions for improvements:

Your brochure is excellent compared to others I've used.

The only thing missing is an estimated price for the accommodation. This would be really helpful so we know whether we're choosing the most expensive or cheapest accommodation, and therefore, if for example, your quote is a bit high, we could've looked at choosing accommodation that might've brought the price down a little." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"This was very much a 'trip of a lifetime' for us and we certainly weren't disappointed. With the benefit of hindsight it might have been better to visit fewer places and have more time at each, but, the downside is that we wouldn't have seen the range of landscapes etc that we did. Nevertheless, the high mileages we necessarily clocked up meant that what appears on the schedule as 2 or 3 nights, in reality, translates into only 1 or 2 days and we hadn't really factored that in.

With a trip such as this there were 'highlights' just about everyday (which itself tells it's own story) but, that said there was, of course, still a personal 'pecking order' which for us would be this: spending 3 nights/2 full days with Bruno Nebe at Mundulea was, quite simply, a dellight and a real priviledge and was, by a long way, the best highlight for us.

Next would be Zebra River Lodge which was so relaxing and where the welcome and hospitality from our (stand-in hosts) Merle and Thom oozed genuinenss and care (something we found rather llacking at most of the 'up-market' lodges where it felt like everything was done to a standard format of 'one size fits all' mentality rather than looking at the requirements of the individual guest.

Joint 3rd would be our day spent with Allie and the trackers at Desert Rhino Camp and with Wayne, Alexandra and Heidi on the Sandwich Harbour trip. Finally our very sincere thanks to Maruska who organised every part of our trip from start to finish with both professionalism and great proficiency and, at at all times a really friendly disposition - even in the face of my multiple e-mail enquiries and on the occasion when I answered her call on my mobille with a greeting of "Hi babes!" (mistakenly thinking it was my wife Joy calling!!). She was even kind enough to say that it made her day!

On that note thanks once again to Maruska, Chris and all the staff at Expert Africa for masterminding such a wonderful holiday. We are now saving our pennies so that hopefully we can undertake another big trip in the not too distant future" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Brilliant, better than we had expected!

Suggestions for improvement:

No, we felt we were in very good hands and thanks to Tracy." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"This was our first trip to Africa and we had only a vague idea of what to expect. The whole trip was fabulous. All the arrangements worked. All the staff were friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. All the accomodation was lovely. Even the basic camp on Mboma island was a hoot.

Although we are not birdwatchers, the array of birds pointed out by the guides and spotted by us has made us keen twitchers. Binocculrs are a must. Enjoyed all the food, even the more exotic. The night skies were a treat.

We were a bit surprised to find how cool it was in the early mornings and after sunset and found the ponchos and hot water bottles very useful. Loved the daily sundowner routine. Our highlight was coming upon a cheetah in the early morning and following it for 45mts. There was nobdy else around.

The ballon flight was great fun. skillfully managed by pilot and support staff.

Suggestions for improvements:

I think the way we did ie(Livingstone-Chobe-Linyanti-Khwai) was good. Took too many evening clothes and not enough warm clothes. Picking up the luggage at Jo'burg everytime was a bore and it would be nice to be able trust the security enough to not have to do it. The singing and dancing from the staff at the lodges was hugely enjoyable.

We did spend a lot of time travelling after we left Maun and the drive to and from Kulala was tedious and stressful in parts. Would have preferred a day each in Maun and Windhoek and possibly flown to Kulala as other guests did. The river was ok but could have given it a miss. Overall, it was a fantastic experience which we will recommend to friends" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"An excellent experience, well planned.

The distances were OK but with not much to see from the road took up an undue proportion of the holiday time - maybe travelling between locations by light aircraft would be better. The lodges etc. were all very different, which was good, but on a lot of the game drives we tended to see the same animals. We were pleased not to have stayed at any of the camps inside Etosha as they lacked atmosphere but they did look very clean and Okaukuejo's water hole, not to be missed and with good viewing facilities, had an amazing number of wildlife visitors.

There had been a lot of rain this year so the grass was tall and hid e.g. cheetahs which might have been there. The reserves did not have the 'wildness' of e.g. the Masai Mara. We had no problems at all with our bookings and ExpertAfrica are to be congratluated on this and all other aspects." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip