Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"Our 3 week trip took in Zimbabwe, Botswana & Namibia. Maruska and the rest of the EA team were invaluable in the planning phase.

We completed 3850km (mostly on good tar roads at 120kph) in my brother's 8 year/150,000km-old Toyota Corrolla, without a hitch. Only disappointment: we didn't get a chance to sample the rescue & recovery services. Reports from fellow travellers were however encouraging and there was enough traffic on all roads to give us confidence. Border crossings were troulble free and relatively quick. We used Tom-Tom SatNav with the Southern Africa maps from UK, it was a good supplement to the paper maps and Brandt guidebooks, giving us accurate road mileages and ETAs.

In Bulawayo we stayed at the Banff Lodge: highly recommended. Travel in Zimbabwe was a pleasent surprise: recent changes to make USD & ZAR official have made it much easier for foreigners. There is an air of quiet optimism about, but filling stations, electricity and phone connections are not constantly available, and the neglect of infrastucture & public facility maintenance is quite evident. No problems with immigration/emigration (we did both twice), and people generally very friendly, welcomong and helpful.

The lodges we chose were most satisfactory and exceeded our expectations in many cases, particularly Chitabe Lebida, Etosha Aoba & Camp Kwando. Due to the distances travelled, we did not spend long enough at some ot the locations, but I don't see any way around this as we wanted to drive to get a good feel of the countries visited, maybe next time we'll stay an extra week or two! We would spend more time in the Delta: Chitabe is largely dry and we would liked to have sampled a wetter location too. Similarly, Etosha merits more than just 3 days in the Eastern sector." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"We really enjoyed it. There were some long drives which got a bit tiring particularly when coupled with border crossings (6 in total) but it was very interesting to see the way the scenery changed from arid to wetland. We were also interested to see how the culture changed significantly once we crossed the border into Rundu province.

When we reached Victoria Falls we felt very satisfied that we (or rather my husband) had driven all the way up from Cape Town over the course of 3 holidays (thanks for the idea Chris).

Some of the scenery was superb - we've never seen such beautiful and unspoilt wetland areas. We considered ourselves fortunate to have seen it at a time of exceptionally high water although the recent flooding has not been great for local residents" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"We had an absolutely fantastic visit to Namibia. We loved the accomodation, particularly Mushara Outpost and Erongo Wilderness Lodge - both recommended by Expert Africa. The Brandt Guide was very good and we appreciated the map supplied (now a little out of date re tar roads etc) when we booked our holiday.

Our main reason for visiting Namibia was to visit our daughter who is working in Opuwo setting up lodges and camping trails for local communities so this, along with the time we had available, determined where we went. We will definately return to Namibia (next year) and would use Expert Africa again as the advice was so helpful and the suggestions for accommodation excellent.

The only comment I would make (and it was never a problem) is that when we arrived at each lodge, they never seemed to have a note of our booking, although one did have something under "Anne". So at the beginning of our trip, we were wondering if our booking was confirmed as we arrived at each place but there was never a problem in the end.

Local water supply was great everywhere except Opuwo which was not drinkable but the lodge suppied 2 small bottles of water in the room.

For interest, we also used "Tracks for Africa" and a Garmin GPS system and this was great for finding petrol stations and ATMs etc. Supermarkets were fairly abundant and the supermarket in Opuwo was an amazing experience. It looks like a European supermarket but you find yourself in a checkout queue with a Himba woman in front out you and a Herero and Themba woman behind whilst being served by someone from Damaraland. It was stunning.

Suggestions for improvement:

None really - for us, the service and advice was perfect." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"I have run out of superlatives to to express how much we enjoyed this holiday. Our main reason for the trip was to see the wildlife and we weren't disappointed.

All the lodges surpassed our expectations

Suggestions for improvement:

For us you can't improve on perfection.." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful country with an abundance of game - despite it not being peak viewing time.

Superb people with a wicked sense of humour.

Scenery some of the best we have experienced anywhere in the world with much of it surrounding the excellent lodges.

Suggestions for improvement:

None - I would certainly recommend Expert Africa." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Fantastic - can only urge others to both use Expert Africa and go to Namibia.

Suggestions for improvement:

no your service was excellent - though please see comments re car hire experience" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent apart from a big disappointment with the hire car" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"We had a fantastic time in Namibia and will definitely consider using Expert Africa again as we are already thinking about our next opportunity for Safari/trip to Africa!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was excellent. My only substantive comment would be that I think you over rate Doro Nawas and Namutoni and under rate Okaukuejo, though I appreciate that this is just a personal view based on one visit only.

I was also intrigued that during the booking process, we had difficulty getting in where we wanted to be when we wanted to be there. This resulted in a less than ideal sequence of lodges. In the event, none of the lodges were full and most were nearer to being empty. This was fine to the extent that we usually had guides pretty much to ourselves, but it meant extra driving and some back tracking. This was a pity." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was fabulous.

We loved the Wilderness Lodges.

I would highly recommend Turnstone Tours as well as Sefofane airways.

Suggestions for improvements:

If you were Expert World, we'd want to contact you for any future trips to other continents as well. Are you aware of companies of your caliber who cover Central America, South America or New Zealand?" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip