Reviews of trips to Swakopmund & Walvis Bay
908 holiday reviews from our travellers of holidays which include Swakop' & Walvis Bay.
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The marked up map and advice book was helpful.
Not sure about the advice to collect our luggage and then check it in again at Jo'Burg Airport when changing planes, however. We didn't do this, and had no problems. It could take ages if you had to go through immigration and then back again.
One word of warning - we started on the Waterkloof Trail in the Namib- Naukluft Park and had to turn back afternoon as it was obvious we were not going to complete it safely before dark. We should have started earlier, but hadn't allowed for the fact that the trail is very poorly marked (and the mapthey give you is lousy) and we took wrong turns several times. I guess the rains have washed markers off. It also slowed us down crossing and recrossing the river - I reckon over 50 times there and back - slow, even when each individual crossing is easy. We met another pair of hikers who had had similar problems. Very frustrating - it's a beautiful hike.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip
"Namibia - June 2011"
The accommodation you booked for us was all good and the advice you gave was excellent. If we were doing it again, we might not visit Luderitz and probably would not visit Erongo. That apart it met or exceeded our expectations. We saw incredible scenery, lots of wildlife and interesting geology.
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We thought your service was pretty exceptional. We met one of your staff in Luderitz and again at Sinclair - she was seeing some of the hotels and lodges and had clearly seen quite a bit of Namibia. We thought it excellent that you were really keeping in touch with the locations you recommended." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip
"Namibia trip: Thoroughly reccommended"
If you enjoy astounding landscapes
If you enjoy peace and tranquillity
If you enjoy wildlife (and sometime sharing it)
Namibia is for you.
What you won't get is anything contrived, everything so natural and so sympathetic to the surrounings. Nor will get is a chance to see the full Luna eclipse in the magnificent African sky from the veranda at Frans Indongo Lodge as we were so lucky enough to experience. (not unless you live another hundred years)
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You recommended bags to put around the cases to help avoid the dust. (this is not a criticism) We duly did this. This pesented a problem of its own in that the dust was still there and we still got dusty reaching in the back of the car. The tip is, as were learnt from the manager at Desert Homestead, is to leave the back side windows of the pod open just a little. This creates a through draught taking a lot of the dust back out. This did not solve the problem but cut the dust down by say 70%.
We dispensed with the bags which were by now all split and inside out anyway and patted down the cases to rid the last of the dust at each accommodation stop. As the holiday went on the problem lessened as we encountered more and more tarred roads anyway. Just a thought." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
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This is not a suggestion, just a comment.
The luxury rooms at Olive Grove are not all of them bigger than the standard rooms. Some are, the ones at the second floor. There are two or three by the pool, and even though they are called "luxury rooms" they are small, very small for a couple with a baby sleeping in a cot. Nantie was absolutely kind and generous offering us the executive suite for our two first nights, as their other luxury rooms were occupied." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
"Namibia Trip"
A lovely country with great lodges and fabulous wildlife. I think we saw the best of everything thanks to the excellent advice from Sabina for whom nothing was too much trouble.
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It was really really cold, not just on game drives but also in tented camps. Windproof jackets need to be recommended at this time of year. Temperatures fell to at least -2 deg. C. We didn't feel prepared for it being quite so cold at nights. We were glad we had our thermal underwear with us! It even snowed at Solitaire two days after we left the area.
I was really glad that you recommended a 4x4 to us and think you should have pushed us in that direction earlier as it really enhanced the trip, e.g. we could fully explore Fish Canyon and the Luderitz Peninsula. Having no experience of 4x4 driving, a short course at the beginning of the holiday would have been useful and we met a woman (Rome, who is Willems neice) at the Barchan Dune Resort who was talking about doing just that in Windhoek where she lives." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 25 on a Namibia trip
"Namibia - after the rains!"
One reason for visiting in May was that after the wet season there would be a greener landscape and less dust in the air ... well that was certainly true! The rains had delivered 2-3 times the average amount and everywhere was very lush, making the scenery spectacular.
With so much water around there were no concentrations of game at the waterholes but we still saw plenty of wildlife in most places.
The rains meant that some smaller roads were washed away or in poor condition so some journeys took longer than expected.
A SUV class vehicle was absolutely vital - a normal saloon car would not have made it on some of the gravel roads. Anyone going at this time of year should book a SUV or 4x4. Having said that, the main tarred roads were actually in much better condition than expected.
Thanks to Angela for all the work and advice on our itinerary, everything went very smoothly. The only hint of regret is that after all the rain we didn't see the "real" Namibia ... ah well, maybe next time!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip
"Amazing experience"
Recommend you change the Mazambala though - unless there is a change of management!
You will undoubtedly be hearing from us again" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip
"Trip of a life time"
It was good to be with Vincent again and he was a very big part of making the trip such a sucess. We particularly enjoyed the camping, it was wonderful to be out away from everything and enjoy the peace and sounds of the bush. And it was wonderful to explore the more remote and wilder areas of Namibia. We would not have attempted this on our own, we also learnt so much more from Vincent and Simpson.
On the self drive part the distance between Lodges was not far so the driving was not tiring. So we always arrived in time to relax and go on an activity in the afternoon. We did a lot more walking on this trip which was great and it gave us more of an opportunity to talk to the guides and other lodge staff, and learn more about life in Namibia. We were very impressed with the high level of service from everyone, with the exception Of Budget car hire. It was also great to have been out with two of Namibia's top guides Vincent and Bruno.
The trip had been extremely well planned and a lot of effort went into it making it such a wonderful trip. However we discovered that there was no need to stay in Walvis Bay on the last night as Swakopmund is just as easy to get to the airport. We felt it would have been better to have spent the last night at Swakopmund and to have dropped the car off at the Budget Office there, with an airport transfer as we had on arrival.
We look forward to planning our next trip with Sabina's help and we are very grateful for everything she has done so far. Plus Vincent and Simpson should get a nomination for guide and camp assistant of the year.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We have nothing to add as we can not think of any possibe improvements that are within your control. Other than to put pressure on Budget to improve their service." Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip
"Namibia"
Everywhere we went we almost unfailingly experienced friendly, smiling people happy to help us (staff or others). The advice and assistance in planning the trip from Expert Africa was very good." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip
"Go to Namibia"
It's a beautiful country filled with friendly helpful people, great accomodation, good food, and incredible wildlife. Even better it's not rampacked with tourists so it feels like you have it to yourself.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Halili was a very good camp in Etosha - it might be worth highlighting this to people who want somewhere a bit quieter than Okaukeujo which was a bit Overland Tour-tastic (understandably)" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip
Where to stay in Swakop' & Walvis Bay
Our suggestions for places to stay in Swakopmund & Walvis Bay