Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"Thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Namibia; thanks Expert Africa, and Josh in particular, for helping out.

There wasn't a great connection between the map provided and the written description of the routes. For example, there were a couple of options shown for going between Aus and Swakapmund, but no description of the two routes in written material. As noted in the Bagetelle review, would strongly recommend the northern route (C21) rather than continuing south on the B1 and backtracking north.

We did see wildlife (including two separate sightings of zebras and one herd of about 50 oryx), but not usually at the lodges/camps; rather when we were driving between stays.

Though not included in our tour, we stayed at Tilla's guesthouse. It was 'no frills' as described in the guide book, but also noisy due to a caged parrot, and frankly the worst breakfast we had in our time in Africa. Staff very pleasant though." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was absolutely wonderful! We saw all the animals we'd hoped to, except for a cheetah. That gives us the excuse we need to return one day.

Our itinerary worked well - about the right number of nights in each place.

Generally, very good food and wonderful, enthusiastic service." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"This was a most enjoyable holiday and far exceeded our expectations.

Namibia is absolutely beautiful and unspoilt and you don't appreciate its beauty unless you drive between lodges. The holiday was short - 9 nights - very well planned as driving distances, although quite long, were not excessive and we had two night stays in most of the camps allowing early morning game drives on the full day. One does spend a lot of time in cars as the drive between camps is about 6 hours and on arrival you are then taken out on a 4 hour game drive. The camps do not have an abundance of game which is why game drives are long but are pleasantly interrupted with snacks or sundowners depending on the time of day.

The guides were, without exception, excellent, and the standard of the camps was universally very good. Travellers coming from England will find fuel and drinks prices cheap compared with England (diesel is about £0.60 per litre) but it is essential to pay for petrol with cash as fraudulent use of credit cards is reportedly rife, so buy plenty of S Africa rands before leaving England.

Expert Africa warned us of this and it was confirmed several times by locals. It is wise to have some cash in small denominations as everyone, including those at petrol stations, will expect a tip We found this a most enjoyable and well organised holiday and we were given much useful advice by Expert Africa before our departure but despite all warnings the only problem we experienced was a single puncture.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

This was a very well constructed holiday by people who clearly know what they are doing.

We were very well warned about all the potential problems almost to the point of wondering whether we should continue with our plans or not and while this is very important it is probably worth saying to clients that if they are sensible they are no more likely to experience anything untoward than they are on any other motoring holiday, apart from the poor quality of the roads. Unless we were just very lucky!

Many thanks to Claire and Expert Africa for organising a wonderful holiday in Namibia." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Overall we had a wonderful trip and Josh/Expert Africa were excellent.

Josh strongly suggested Desert Homestead Outpost and it was a real highlight for us - the position and relaxing nature of the lodge were wonderful.

Overall the only negative was Hobatere lodge which was recommended and which was definitely below the standards of any other private lodge we've stayed at on two trips to Namibia." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Fantastic trip that gave us something new to experience every day. The highlights were the amazing free-roaming wildlife, the stunning savanna and desert landscapes and welcoming people. We were also forced out of our comfort zone: we had 4 tyre punctures (!) and we both had very unpleasant food poisoning thankfully on different days.

We were in a hot air balloon 1000 meters above the desert at the crack of dawn and regularly sand-blasted on gravel and sandy roads. In hindsight we should have elected to stay outside of Etosha and we should have tried to arrange it so that we had smaller meals with less red meat. We worked out that we had 9 red meat meals during the period of 16 days! The food was mostly excellent, but was just too hearty a diet at 35-40 degrees.

Also thanks to Tracy's advice we managed to experience the hot air balloon ride over the desert and to discover such gems as Bullsport and Eningu lodge. Our favourite lodge was Doro Nawas for its stunning location and atmosphere, and lovely staff, closely followed by Hoodia, where we had the best food and a most relaxing stay. Okonjima was also a very special place where we saw leopards on our very first ride!

We will be revisiting our memories of this trip for a long time to come." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Thanks for all help, suggestions and fast follow up, even when we had some challenges the night before we left Amsterdam due to flight changes the next day from Johannesburg to Windhoek.

Great you were thinking along how to beat that challenge and giving alternatives for accommodation if we could not make it to our first stop. Thanks Tracy!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Inform your guests esp if they are used to safaris in other countries than Botswana, eg South Africa that the experience can be different. Im not talking about the game viewing which is obvious off course but the experience in the lodges. In South Africa you often for the same amount of money get more value (luxury, guest experience)" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"The trip was excellent, we covered 3000 + km's in 20+ days, driving was fun, less going from Windhoek to Walvis Bay via dirt roads.

Saw all the critter's we came to see multiple times. Next time less camping and more lodging." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"overall it was fantastic, thank you Maruska for designing the perfect trip. We loved every day!

All was fantastic. No significant problems or issues, loved the country, would love to return. Mostly met Germans & Dutch; only met two American couples, Americans are really missing out!

Roads were not too bad and very little traffic.
I was surprised and saddened (or probably just ignorant) to see the racism and poverty that still exists in our world." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was very good. Sabina's advice to spend the first night at the Olive Grove in Windhoek to avoid the risk of our incoming flight from Johannesburg being late and our missing the flight to Damaraland Camp was very good. The Olive Grove was delightful and relaxing and dinner on the terrace made a marvellous start to the holiday.

Etosha National Park was slightly disappointing for us as we had been on many safaris in South Africa and Botswana, and Etosha was very much like the Kruger National Park in South Africa, where again one had to stay on the roads through the park. However the reserve around the lodge was much better and the driver could drive over a much wider area, and the scenery there was stunning, with plenty of wild life, including a caracal which I gather isn't frequently seen. Seeing a vast herd of zebra patiently waiting for three lions to leave a water hole so that they could then have a drink was also fascinating. The guide also went to great lengths to find us white rhinos.

We liked Damaraland and the harsh, volcanic scenery. My wife really enjoyed Sossusvlei and the dunes. I had expected them to be the highlight of the trip, coming at the end, but I'm afraid the anticipated Wow Factor didn't materialise for me, but I still enjoyed the excursion and the Dead Vlei was most dramatic.

Providing landing cards for Namibia, with instructions how to complete them, was a great bonus. None were available on the plane and all the passengers had to scramble to get them and fill them in at Windhoek airport so we were almost the first people through passport control.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

On the landing card there is a question asking how much we anticipated spending in Namibia. I said I didn't know and that was not acceptable, although the passport officer wasn't bothered what figure I put in as long as I put in some figure. You might point this out with the information you provide about completing the landing card as a couple next to us were given quite a hard time about the way they had completed the form." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"We loved the trip (we knew we would because my sister and her husband enjoyed it so much two years ago) Good variety of experiences.

Wonderful country, lovely people, excellent guides" Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip