Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"We visited Namibia with our family of seven adults in December 2024/January 2025. We chose to self-drive in two 4WD cars, traveling from Windhoek to the Namib Desert, to Swakopmund, Damaraland, Etosha, and finally Okonjima, before returning to Windhoek, a distance of 2000 kilometers in two weeks. We believe our itinerary allowed us to experience different desert and savannah environments, with their different wildlife species, without feeling we were driving too much.

We had chosen Namibia as none of the family except one had ever been to Africa on safari, and we wanted a special experience as my husband and I were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. It is fair to say this holiday is the best holiday any of us have ever had. Namibia is such a beautiful and varied country, it blew us away. We stayed in extremely comfortable lodges, which were all without exception outstanding. The staff were helpful and kind. The food delicious. The guides knowledgable and entertaining. And we saw so many different animals! If it hadn't started to rain hard on our last day I think we may never have left.

Expert Africa, and specifically Sabina, did a brilliant job organising the logistics: everything worked as per plan - the route and accommodation descriptions were accurate, the lodges expected us, the cars were brand new and drove well, and the supporting information provided relevant and useful.

Thank you very much for our holiday of a lifetime!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"I was thoroughly impressed with ExpertAfrica!

We take a 2-3 week trip every year, and usually do it fully independently. For this trip, I had planned out the full trip, and then we decided for fun to see what ExpertAfrica would quote, thinking it would be higher. It turned out to be about 30% cheaper! And on top of that, Maruska provided a lot of benefits we would have otherwise missed out on.

For example, we booked rather far ahead (over a year), and Maruska was able to make the bookings even though they weren't available yet on some hotels websites.

She was also able to determine that a couple would be closed over the holidays and recommended alternatives.

Her step-by-step directions between lodges was also excellent, better than both Google Maps and our physical map.

I'd definitely recommend ExpertAfrica to my friends (or anyone!) and we will be using ExpertAfrica again if we're headed to a country tha ExpertAfrica offers trips to.

Thanks for helping make our trip so memorable!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We had an amazing trip - our first visit to Namibia and first time using Expert Africa.

It was difficult to know what to do/where to go but Tracy was really helpful from the start. She was extremely knowledgable about the places we wanted to visit and gave us some great information before we then went off and did some research. We then came back to Tracy to ask more questions and look at an itinerary and accommodation in more detail.

We knew were going for 'scenery' rather than wildlife and having done our research our trip met or exceeded our expectations on every level. It was also good to know that Expert Africa was there should we have experienced any problems.

I can't speak highly enough of Expert Africa and particular thanks to Tracy for all her help.

Comments on our Private Guide

We quickly built a good rapport with Usko. We were a little concerned about spending so much time with our guide as there was only my husband and I but needn't have worried. Usko was delightful and was happy to listen to how we wanted the trip to go in terms of leaving time from each lodge, how many stops we wanted to make en route etc.

He told us we didn't need to 'make conversation' but could just enjoy the views from the vehicle and ask questions if we wanted to know anything. He was very knowledgable and always pointed out places of interest/wildlife/flora and fauna, landscapes etc. It made the days easy and relaxing (for us!).

He also told us that some evenings he wouldn't join us for dinner so that we could have time together. Usko made the trip really stress free, our cases were loaded/unloaded and delivered and collected from our rooms. He was an excellent driver especially on the bumpy gravel roads and soft sand at Sossusvlei!

The picnics we enjoyed en route some days were amazing! A proper table, camping chairs, tablecloth and delicious food in 'the middle of nowhere'. Usko really made the trip for us, we felt in incredibly safe hands knowing that if there were any problems that he was fully equipped to deal with them." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"A very well organised trip (as always). Accommodation and travel times well thought out, unlike one British couple from another well known travel company (high end) who asked to be moved from where they were staying as they said that Lodge had been misrepresented!

I don't know what Tom said to Europcar but their treatment of us was exceptional.

We also appreciated Grace meeting us at the airport and seeing us through.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None - all excellent." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Very "diverse" trip from wine tastings, excellent food to hiking in the Namibian deserts and beachwalks in Paternoster.

Rather easy and comfortable to be done in three weeks." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 14 on a South Africa trip

"It was a spectacular trip and we cannot wait to return. Expect Africa did an incredible job.

We stayed in a variety of accommodations and Expert Africa prepared us for each one - we knew what to expect and how to get there.

It was a wonderful trip." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was amazing. Everything went as clockwork.

Would’ve been helpful to have a realistic time of each journey as we found Google underestimated each one by about an hour!

Great choice of lodges - enjoyed them all. Although Ongava Tented by far the favourite." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful adventure holiday although it felt very safe because we had confidence in the car hire and all the information we received.

The lodges were all fantastic. The scenery is a landscape photographer’s dream. People we came across were all very friendly, helpful and happy to see us.

The food was much better than we had anticipated. Animals were very plentiful - I even saw a honey badger!

The lodge game drives were all really excellent with good, very knowledgeable guides.

All in all, a terrific experience and we will recommend Expert Africa to all." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We had a great time.

Partly due to booking late in the day we sorted our own flights from Manchester. The route is to Addis Ababa and then change for Windhoek. There is also an hour downtime at Geneva on the longer leg as some passengers get on/off. Another time I might prefer to change at Frankfurt and then go direct to Windhoek.

The driving is a challenge, especially as it was all down to me. You need the height of a big 4WD to protect you against the worst of the roads and elevate you for spotting wildlife. Make sure you have a coolbox included. This came up almost by accident in discussion but is an essential. Unless you fancy drinking 'bathwater' as you bounce along then you'll need one.

Food, drink, incidentals, fuel and generous tips are not very costly for us. Our main expense was the cost of trips we hadn't pre-booked but it gave us some flexibility. We recommend doing the hot air balloon trip.

The wildlife survey is a little misleading. It omits bird and sea life entirely. Presumably, it lists the animals that people are most interested in but we saw lots of other animals, large and small, that are unlisted. For example, we saw a striped jackel between the road and dunes near Walvis Bay and much more." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"I went to spend time with the Desert Elephants and that exceeded my expectations.

Expert Africa and great with suggestions and organising. I had one hic up when I needed to back track and then come back again so I forfeited that route as the roads in Namibia have deteriorated over the years in my opinion. I think a great deal more lobbying is needed by lodges and tour operators to get those roads sorted out. Certainly back tracking makes no sense.

I love Namibia and this will not be the last time I visit." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip