Namibia: reviews from our travellers
Unedited reviews written by our most recent Namibia travellers
"Fourth visit to Namibia"
"My Jul 2017 trip"
Breathtaking from beginning to end, especially in terms of nature and wildlife but also very nice places to stay (mostly). The only 'down' side I can think of is the cost, as this was indeed by far the most expensive holiday we've ever booked... but no regrets! Next time I would however do the trip in the opposite direction (as was the plan originally -I know-, but couldn't be achieved because of booking restraints) and leave the highlights (etosha and okonjima) 'til the end.
Thanks for the good planning and organization and the help throughout!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip
"Best Africa experience"
"My Jul 2017 trip"
The meet and greet Wilderness Safari team at Windhoek airport were very helpful, efficient and patient, and we appreciated their little lounge to use while waiting.
We did have a truly great memorable trip with too many highlights to single any out. Felt totally safe. The people are charming and the ethos about tourism is impressive.
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Cant comment on the brochure as dont think I ever saw one. Found the feedback form a bit tedious to fill in so hope it is helpful.
But we did have a really great trip and have been recommending Expert Africa to anyone interested in travel to Africa from New Zealand" Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
"My Jul 2017 trip"
"Superb family adventure"
Justin answered every question/concern we had and we felt very well prepared to make our trip even with two young kids in tow.
We will happily use Expert Africa if and when our family returns to Africa someday." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip
"Grown up family holiday Namibia - june 2017"
Namibia is a very special place - vast, deserted, so varied in landscape, full of beautiful options.
At the end of our 17 days, our family of 5 adults each ran through their own highlight. We had 5 different versions such was the richness of this holiday.
Best one ever / Tanzania had topped the list before but Namibia offers so much more!
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Very satisfied with expert Africa and have already recommended." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip
"My Namibia trip June 17"
"My Jun 2017 trip"
The Okaukuejo water-hole provides a magnificent arena from which to view birds and animals. The floodlit night viewing of two male rhinos fighting was something I never thought to see and will treasure for the rest of my life. In comparison some years ago I took two trips to Tanzania and they produced one distant viewing of a rhino. Sadly two have been killed in Etosha recently and one day there will be none. Okaukuejo Lodge itself is rightly very popular, big and busy. Checking in was slow as there were a number of people queuing ahead of me who thought they had reserved accommodation,but who discovered too late that their internet reservations had been ineffective. I was grateful to Wilderness Safaris that I had no such problems. The key is to posses a reservation number!
Nkasa Lupala on the River Kwando was interesting for the variety of birds and animals. It was here that we finally saw some lions. The night drives are also well worth doing. One night drive produced amongst other animals two civets; one wild cat, a porcupine and some spring hares. I was glad I hired hired a 4x4 because I was able to drive straight to this Lodge & this saved time, money and hassle. The route there is fairly well signed from Sangwali to Nkasa Lupala and takes about 35 minutes to drive. The lodge itself needed some TLC - not everything was working in our tent. Ndhovu has in Michael someone with the sharpest eyes on the River Kavango. We had three boat trips with him and each one was an adventure in to wild Africa. In addition the lodge is very efficiently run by Horst, Peter and Bola. It is within a 10 minute drive of the Mahango Game Park - the best place in this area to see birds and animals.
We also stayed at River Dance Lodge where the admirable owners have put huge amounts of effort in to the design and building of the lodge and also in to staff training. The results show. However the boatman on the river trip we took knew less about birds than myself and and the Mahango Game Reserve is just under an hour's drive from here. Ndhovu therefore offered better in my view. We spent one night at Taranga Safari Lodge on the way out of the Caprivi Strip. We would not stay there again - the sole attraction was the small bird viewing. Roy's Camp would have probably offered a more evenly spaced stopping place on the way back to Windhoek.
The Frans Indongo Lodge and Okonjima Camp are both very comfortable and well managed places and we admired the design of Frans Indongo in particular. However both these places have had animals imported and one has the sense that these are 'safari parks' rather than the real Africa. This may appeal to many but the slightly canned effect was not quite what we wanted.
At the start of the trip we had stayed at the Hilltop Guest House in Windhoek. This took some finding and I was grateful I had bought a map map of Windhoek to help us do this. Once we were there we were very well cared for and the owner gave us the good advice to dine at the Social. We had an excellent meal there.Also we were grateful we did not have to drive far that first day since we had not slept much on the overnight flight from London. We stocked up on lunch type food and water at the Eros Centre below the Guest House before leaving Windhoek next morning.
We were supposed to be met by Wilderness Tours on our arrival at Windhoek Airport but found no one. However we spotted a Wilderness lounge in Arrivals and someone inside. He proved to be a great help. We were able to buy a mobile chip from the MTC rep at the airport for £3 for 150 minutes. Expert Africa had arranged for us to hire a 4x4 from Bidvest. However without the help of Wilderness tours we would have struggled to take over the vehicle as the Bidvest man did not appear to know much about the vehicle. It was a very basic Ford 4x4. Nevertheless it served us well although its gear-box was a bit like stirring porridge. Also I forgot to ask the size of the fuel tanks and the hand-book surprisingly did not not reveal this information!
Later I reckoned it was about 100 liters and the fuel gauge appeared to report the combined usage rather than just the second tank! The return of the car posed no problems and Bidvest were happy to sign Expert Africa's form at the back of their hand-book.
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No comments - but many thanks for arranging an excellent trip with no problems! Quite an achievement." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip