Reviews of safaris to Southern Namibia

"Everything on this trip was great. We've both travelled quite a lot and we rank this trip as one of the best. We saw everything we wanted to in the time we had and it really couldn't have been improved.

Our concern before we left was that we might have chosen too many places with too much driving inbetween. As it turned out, the journeys between places were some of our best experiences. We drove 2,300 miles in total and it was a pleasure. We would love to have stayed in places longer, but the itinerary really worked well.

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Just to try and ensure that the vegetarian information gets through to the chef! Easier said than done, I know.

I'm sure they must find it frustrating to find out they have to make something else when the guest is actually sitting at the table.
We did actually make sure we told each of the lodges when we checked in." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"I was here 12 months ago, and despite that the whole trip never once became boring even though I had visited some of the places recently. If anything, the standards of service and of cooking have improved.

Every time I visit Namibia something or someone unexpected turns up such as the sign by the side of the dirt road in the 'middle of nowhere' that said 'Take a break - Teas available round the corner'. Thus it was that we met Philip who had converted an old farmhouse into a B&B and whose place was the only building around for many a mile.

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Just one: please get some of the lodges to buy an astronomical telescope - they only cost about £200 for a decent one and it would allow guests to benefit from another of Namibia's assets - its night sky.

Gwynneth was absolutely wonderful in arranging this holiday. Many thanks." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"We were very satisfied with the itinerary agreed with you and really couldn't have asked for more.

The accommodation was excellent and staff everywhere were friendly and helpful.

A few tips for others. Don't believe time estimates for journeys given by locals. Add about 25% to get an accurate driving time. Unless you're sticking to tarred roads, it's well worth getting at least a high clearance 2WD vehicle, such as the Nissan X-Trails. There are a lot of large and sharp stones on many of the gravel roads. These are particularly bad around Palmwag and on the approach (from the south) to Wolwedans." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"Our 2010 Africa trip was the latest in a succession of memorable trips arranged by Expert Africa. Each trip has brought a new experience relived again through our films, photos and my diary. This year's highlight just had to be the bushcamp experience at Dolomite Point. I have to praise the dedication and hard work which was shown by Abel, Jeraboam, Victor andJoseph. They made a superb team. I know it was only a temporary camp and will not be repeated but it was surreal.

This year was our 9th fly-drive visit to Namibia and 2nd to the Kgalagadi. We still believe there is no better place to see wildlife than Namibia closely followed by Botswana. If there is an increase in retirement pensions in April we'll be booking another trip!!

Thank you Expert Africa. You're the best tour operator we've found - scrupulously thorough and helpful.

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How can you improve on perfection?" Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Overall thr trip was excellent.

The game viewing was excellent and I would urge people to spend more than a day or two in Etosha if they really want to see the wildlife.

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I have used you many times and am very happy with the service provided." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Wonderful "once in a lifetime" trip. Sabina was spectacularly helpful and knowledgeable. I will wholeheartedly recommend Namibia and EA to friends and family! Some comments and constructive criticism:

Positives:

1. Self drive is easy, totally doable and a great experience. We did not have any punctures or mechanical problems but were glad to have the high clearance of the four wheel drive. That being said never engaged anything but two wheel drive the entire time but appreciated the security.

2. Very safe - people were friendly and approachable and we never felt concerned about security or safety in any way. What a relief and pleasure.

3. No health hazards - since Namibia is a very dry country most water comes from bores and hence, while flavor can vary it is very clean. We had no GI issues despite carrying an extensive armory of treatments. Also regarding malaria - prophylaxis is adviced by US health authorities but noone we met in Namibia considered the country to have any Malaria, at least below the caprivi strip and particularly in the winter months (June-August).

4. Great roads - seriously, for a country with only 1.5mm people it is remarkable how good the roads, signage etc are. We had no problems and found it easier to drive around Namibia than to drive from New York to Boston (although need to be comfortable driving on gravel surfaces).

5. Variety of activities - unlike some of the other destinations we considered, Namibia offers much more than "just wildlife". While we saw plenty of animals, birds and reptiles, we also saw many different landscapes, experienced the ocean and had some exposure to the local culture - much more enriching than just a traditional safari experience

6. Variety of travel and accomodation approaches - Namibia is approachable in many ways, from small tour buses, to camping, to self drive to fly in/fly out. This is different to other locations that require, for example, fly in.


Some suggestions, requests and comments:

1. Cash - EA should alert clients that gas/service stations don't take credit cards or atm cards in many parts of Namibia. Self drive clients should take at least N$2000 in cash with them at all times. It takes over N$1000 to fill the tank of one of the double tank self drive vehicles. Contrary to suggestions some ATM machines would also not recognize my ATM card from the US (provoking panic!) although in large cities (WH and SW) things were fine.

2. Tips - clearly guides on safaris make most of their money on tips. I had no idea how much to tip a guide for example for taking us on a two hour trip into the desert or driving us to an activity? EA could helpfully give more guidance on this matter.

2. Beef up offerings of "active" activities - Namibia seems well set up for the older couples tourist but seems light on offerings for actively minded travellers (Swapokmund and Mundulea notwithstanding). I would suggest adding to the offerings of such activities in some locations; even where "nature walks" are offered they are not very well described or promoted, perhaps because the lodges/camps don't make any money on those activities.

3. Do more at the coastline - Namibia has several thousand miles of coastline but the array of activities related to the coast seems thin. We enjoyed the kayaking from Walvis Bay very much and perhaps should have taken another day in Swakop to venture down to Sandwich Bay. The whole notion of the Benguela current, and the history of the coast and the islands in the south, seem underdeveloped to me and seems to offer more opportunities and activity. The surf around Swakop is better than anything i see except on the very best days in California and the water, despite all the hype, is warmer than california as well and wetsuits are easily rented in those places. Why not start a surfing school in Swakopmund? Or windsurfing or kiteboarding in the walvis bay lagoon? Maybe these things are already available but it would seem a missed opportunity. What Namibia offers most is "animals plus other things" rather than "just animals.." and the more of the "plus other things" there are the more people will come and the longer they will stay.

4. Connect with local populations - sometimes we felt as though we were just going from one Wilderness Camp to another and not having any interaction with the local population. We learned a lot from our guides and the staff at the camps but as noted below they mostly came from other parts of Namibia and had little to say about the history or culture of the area we were visiting. I would like to see EA and WA (see below) develop some program where visitors can interact with the locals in the vicinity of the camps, learn about their culture, history etc. I know this is possible in some locations but perhaps we missed them.

5. Balance Wilderness Adventures/Safaris experiences with other experiences - we stayed at three Wilderness Adventures properties (Ongava, Doro Nawas, Kulala) and enjoyed them very much. They offer consistently great locations, excellent design, high standard of service. Their guides are "good generalists" but sometimes don't have the attention to details and small things of other guides (one guide at Doro Nawas told us the Levine family arrived at Twyfelfontein in 1974 whereas they left in the 1960's). My standard on guides is whether they pick up poo - if so, they are really paying attention, otherwise they may be just driving and animal spotting.

Sometimes the W-A places have a bit of a corporate feel, and their activities are often limited to just game drives, with few individually directed or physically active activities and guides who just focus on finding specific "big five" animals. They have lots of European groups visiting which seems to be good business but can also constrain the options in terms of access to activities for individual travellers. I would have though EA could find other accomodations in the same areas as the WA properties that are more "idiosyncratic" and authentic and offer the same activities and aspect." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We loved it, with very few exceptions. It was a joy to discover that we could drive ourselves around this huge African Country and feel safe, and welcome everywhere.

The scenary is just vast, diverse, unspoilt and stunning. Wildlife abounds and offers exceptional viewing. We saw many animals that we hoped to see as well as an amazing variety of birds.

The accomodation was generally of an excellent standard which considering the remoteness of some lodges was a credit to all concerned.

The staff on the whole were friendly and helpful .

The locals were friendly and didn't hassle us - do wave at them as you go by! We did give some people lifts but there is conflicting advice about this. The Bradt guide suggests that it is normal and very much appreciated but written advice from the car hire company suggests that this is a dangerous practice and should not happen.

Don't underestimate distances nor the quality of some of the roads which both can make journeys very tiring.

Internet and mobile phone access was patchy to say the least so don't expect to be able to communicate home etc. We also posted letters etc most of which have yet to arrive home after well over a month!

Our actual itinerary seemed to work well with 2/3 nights at each place, as you need to have some "down" time from driving and to enjoy relaxing at the lodges etc. If we had to do the same again we would have three nights at Canyon Lodge, only two nights in Swakopmund and three nights at Okonjima. We may also have decided to drive from Okonjima to the airport for an afternoon flight - thus missing out Windhoek altogether.

We hope to return.....the Caprivi Strip beckons plus a return visit to Okonjima!

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We have found Expert Africa very professional and very helpful. The website is simply excellent and even this feedback form impressive.
We strongly recommend that Tracey or someone visits Camp Kipwe and Mushara Bush Camp (we don't believe you have been to these places) to see for yourselves how lovely these places are.

Keep up the excellent work and we will highly recommend you to anyone we know wishing to visit Africa. We know who to turn to for our next African trip!

Thanks." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 25 on a Namibia trip

"The three of us really enjoyed this trip and we would all like to go back.

The accommodation was so much more than I had expected. We stayed in some great places and seemed to have the best of the rooms everywhere we stayed!

The distances were manageable to drive and I was very glad we did a self-drive holiday as it gave us the opportunity to do things in our own time. It was great to also have the opportunity to go on guided walks and drives at Okinjima and Waterberg so that we could learn about the wildlife from people who lived there.

Everyone we met was very friendly.

The highlights of our holiday were Kayaking in Walvis Bay (except for Luke, who at 6'4" found the kayak a bit uncomfortable) our whole stay at Okinjima, seeing Lions and elephants at Etosha and the climb up to Waterburg plateau.

Thank you so much Angela and Tracy!

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no. it was all good!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Absolutely loved every minute of our holiday. Lived up to and exceeded our expectations in every way. We loved the country - the scenery is incredible, the people the friendliest we have met in any African country and the accommodation in general at a high standard (possibly because much is fairly new).

Every day was different, we saw lots of the country (leaving the Caprivi Strip for another holiday) and spent much of each day telling each other how much we were enjoying ourselves!

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Nothing I can think of" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful holiday that reached all expectations. Our criticisms are picking on the points that were average amongst all the other good or excellent features of the holiday.

The Tok Tokkie Trail, the sand dunes and the game in Etosha were the highlights.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No
It all went well." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip