Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"My daughter and I went on a girls' road trip round Namibia as a post exam/pre uni adventure for her. We wanted to experience the best Namibia has to offer, but with without worrying.

Our trip was arranged by Maruska who got this completely and could not have taken more care in understanding all aspects of what we wanted and masterminding a detailed itinerary to ensure that's exactly what we got. She never lost patience as she tried to find accommodation for us even though we were booking late and capacity was low..and then we changed out minds! We had one hiccup with a misunderstanding on a booking when we checked out...one call and it was all sorted!

I have recommended Expert Africa to everyone I meet who is planning a trip to Africa, and I wouldn't contemplate using anyone else when we visit again. I only wish we could use EA to book all our holidays.

We had a holiday of a lifetime and so much of that was down to Maruska's knowledge, contacts and above all understanding better than we did what we wanted, and delivering it all.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Our experience centred around Maruska and could not have been better. I feel confident that her fantastic levels of service would be replicated by other country specialists. As I said in an earlier comment, I just wish we could book all our holidays with you. Next time we head to Africa we will come straight to you. Well done!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"We have had many family holidays but this was one of the best.
Tom at Africa Expert was brilliant at helping me put together our itinerary - and making suggesting on things to do and see and at finding the best lodges for our budget - and they were all great.
There is such a variety of things to do and see in Namibia - and self driving gives you so much flexibility. (Tom had even given us a map which had the route highlighted in felt pen so we couldn't get lost!)
Our highlights were: the sand dunes at Sossusvlei, the rock engravings at Twyfelfontein, Ongava Lodge and Etosha National Park.
If you are going at peak season it is worth thinking of booking certain activities in advance. We wanted to go kayaking with seals in Swakopmund but we tried 5 different companies and all were fully booked.
We will definitely return to Namibia!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Except for the very bad experience with Bidvest Car Hire (hired through Expert Africa), once again, we had very good experiences using Expert Africa for assisting with planning and booking the trip. We got highly qualified, fast and efficient help from Tracy Lederer from Expert Africa putting together a good trip to this part of Africa, where we have traveled may times, although were were late out booking.

We look forward to use Expert Africa again (our travel agent for the Southern parts of Africa)." Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"Overall our trip was amazing. I had a good idea of the route that we wanted to follow and Sabina did a great job of juggling the lodge bookings, getting the car organised etc.

A couple of comments that hopefully help future guests:

- The distances are far and we felt that 2 nights max at any particular spot was not really enough. We wish we had stayed 3 nights at Hoodia and Onguma, both of which were fantastic.

- Bullsport was awful - see my review. We should have gone straight to Hoodia.

- Didn't like Etosha Safari Camp. I had really wanted to stay at Okakeujo but was told it was full. Was all accomodation really full there? Could more have been done to get a spot there?" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Exceeded our expectations on many levels. Just very different to anything else we had experienced. The country has done a fantastic job making tourism so easily accessible and safe to travel. Just wished we had longer as many more parts to explore. Have already recommended Namibia as a destination to anyone who asks about our holiday." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

".. - it was hectic - we had 3 weeks available and wanted to include the Caprivi Strip and Victoria Falls in our itinerary as well as Sossusvlei, Damaraland and Etosha, so we knew we would have to spend a lot of time driving. However it was absolutely worth it - all the arrangements put in place by Sabina and the Expert Africa team worked well and we found we had enough time to relax and enjoy the various places where we stayed - some of these places were very special but all of them had something different to offer.

Everywhere we went the people were really kind and helpful. We are particularly pleased that we made the time to visit the Caprivi Strip - it is so different to the rest of Namibia with people living a communal life in traditional African villages." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"A great overall introduction and experience in Namibia.

Hospitality was wonderful, many warm people, animals and landscapes amazing.

Roads may be tough to take for some people. We have travelled to over 50 countries and our glad we did not miss Namibia!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Incredibly accommodating in helping us schedule this last minute trip within our parameters. Would definitely recommend Maruska and the company in the future.

We have been traveling nearly full time the past four years and this process was one of our top experiences!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Utterly vast and alternately dotted with German cakes and rhino. That's Namibia. The people are lovely. The scenery staggering.

We went thinking we were going on holiday and returned realising we'd experienced the trip of a lifetime. A cliche I know but it's warranted in this case.

Make sure you've got a good set of wheels if you are travelling around (the investment in a Toyota Hilux/Ford Ranger or similar is worth it) and pray that the drought breaks soon. It's a tough and beautiful land." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"The trip as a whole was excellent. There were times when the roads were even worse than expected. Though thankfully in the context of a thousand mile trip these times were relatively short and were always softened by a landscape, wildlife or tarmac. The lodges were excellent, I think the reservations about Safarihoek are personal, but overall there was nothing that we would change." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"We loved our trip.

At times we found the impact of the drought challenging - particularly in Etosha. Namibia is a stunning place and a wonderful place to travel in. The standards of accommodation, food and service were far higher than we expected. At times we felt a little uncomfortable with the luxury ( in some places we had wonderful days with out with our guides but at dinner it was the white members of staff we had not really met who sat down and ate with us, for example ).

The driving was perhaps more time consuming that we had imagined and it would have helped to have an idea of the lengths of the drives at the outset with the itinerary. However, the roads were good and we had no problems. We would recommend people take lots of music and podcasts to pass the time." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip