Reviews of trips to Swakopmund & Walvis Bay

"Excellent.

From the planning and organisation (including the marking of the route on the map) and all of the information we were given to the experience of the holiday itself this was a perfect trip.

We would recommend Expert Africa to anybody contemplating going to this part of the world (and indeed have done)

We knew very little when we started looking at the possibility of this trip but Sabina's help has been superb. Whenever we told people in Namibia where were going we were told what an excellent itinerary we had been given. Thank you." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"The whole trip was excellent. From my initial query all the way through I dealt with Gwynneth, her suggestions were spot on, she was always more than happy to answer my questions. I would normally arrange a holiday myself, but not having travelled in Africa before it was a reassurance to have one company to book everything, and I couldn't have picked a better company than Expert Africa.

It was good to be able to read other people's experiences on the website, I found that one of the most useful tools for selecting lodges, along with Gwynneth's good advice. I wouldn't change a single part of our holiday.

Namibia itself is a wonderful and varied country, the scenery is vast and ever-changing. The people we met were welcoming & seemed genuinely happy that we'd chosen Namibia to visit, their sense of humour, and good nature added to the whole enjoyment of the trip, not to mention the singing, even when doing the most mundane jobs. The birds, animals and night sky were a bonus.

Two of our party were vegetarian & we had no problems whatsoever with food, with notice it didn't seem to be a problem. My father was most impressed that you can buy Marmite in the supermarkets, and two lodges we stayed at even had it on the breakfast table!

I shall return one day, hopefully in the not too distant future & will happily use Expert Africa's services again.

Suggestions for improvement:

Keep doing what you're doing, it works very well." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Expert Africa really live up to their name as the holiday was expertly organised by Gwynneth. We has a fantastic time, went to some beautiful places, stopped in luxurious lodges and met some friendly and interesting people. Considering that our itinary was quite complex it ran like a dream. We will definetly use Expert Africa again and we will definetly visit Namibia again, probably next year when we hope to explore the Caprivi strip and maybe Botswana." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is a wonderful country to visit and we had an excellent holiday. Heartily recommend it!" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Greatly appreciated the help of Sabina (and her colleagues if she was ever out of the office).

Our holiday was absolutely brilliant with many magical memories to treasure. We loved Namibia - the friendly people we met everywhere and the scenery which was stunningly beautiful. We felt safe and secure at all times.

Having never been to Namibia before we read what we could and planned an outline of a trip but needed "expert" help to pull the holiday together and get the most out of it whilst ensuring that we never had drives that were too long or demanding to be safe. Thanks to your help our holday was the success it was." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"There is a considerable upsurge in tourism in Namibia which appears to be be very good for the country . One comment we heard from a Namibian working in the industry was their concern about all the emphasis being put on conservation, which they supported , but less attention being paid to wages and conditions of staff. Hopefully welfatre of staff in this rapidly expanding industry is something of concern to Expert AFrica.

We thought the country was stunning and easy to to get around in . Clearly there is a 'tourist trail' as we met other guests on more than one occasion. Having 'hosts' avaliable gave us an opportuntiy to have a wider picture of the country through discussion with them. We found people helpful and friendly . Because of its size, small population and recent history it is a very unthreatening place.

I would like Lodges/ camps to offer visits to local projects in order to gain more information about the local conditions and give opportunties to to have more experience of local people . I appreciate this would very superficial because of the constraints of time , but interesting. I understand this is something Waterberg offer.but which we could not experience.

Suggestions for improvement:

I have mentioned one in overall comments. If some Lodges/camps could offer more activities it would be worth staying for a longer period . Two weeks we appreciate is very llittle time to see so much, and the organisation of our a trip proved very efficient." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"We had an excellent time and can't wait to go back - Caprivi strip next? The service we had was excellent and the advice was knowledgeable, I do not think we could have done better." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"We have to give ExpertAfrica full marks for helping us get the trip together. Initially Maruska, and this year Gwynneth and Sabina, were great organisers and first rate communicators who understood our wants and did a grand job. Thank you all very much.

All that went well was all down to you and the few things that left something to be desired were other peoples' responsibility entirely.

We had a superb time overall, the good things heavily outweighed the not-so-good and the total impression was really positive. Like Zambia and Botswana 2 years ago, we did things we had never done before - dune climbing, kayaking, tracking animals on foot, dining on a Tug - and would really like to do them another time.

We look forward to another visit to Namibia in the future, it would be fascinating to see how the tourism business develops and how the country makes the most of its tremendous resources to delight its visitors.

Thanks again to all the team.

We can hardly wait for our next adventure with you" Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip

"Fantastic, amazing.

Nearly all UK travellers we met had arranged their trips via Expert Africa - what more needs to be said? We've travelled with you 3 times now and we wouldn't even contemplate looking elsewhere." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Everywhere we went our expectations were surpassed. The people of all colours and backgrounds were so kind and gentle. We never felt unsafe. We enjoyed driving ourselves around - the landscape of Namibia is so unspoilt and pristine and so open. The space is amazing.

Our Expert Africa team _ Maruska and latterly Gwyneth - were wonderful. Maruska - you organised it all with such thought. It was wonderful to be back in Africa and in a part I didn't know at all. Our three sons, 11, 13 and 15, will never forget this holiday. They proved such keen bird and animal watchers that they put me to shame. Their enthusiasm never faded. They, like my husband and I, were enchanted by talking to the locals. I wanted the boys to meet local people where possible. We talked to waiters and guides and cleaners wherever we could as well as to owners. Each has his tale to tell. OUr guides were so well spoken in English and so keen to get tourism going in the right direction. I pray that it will not become a spoilt country - it has so much to offer. How meals of such delicacy were prepared in such remote locations I will never know - topclass food in back of beyond locatiions with views to die for.

Once back in Windhoek, I would strongly recommend a visit to the Craft Centre. We had our final lunch there and bought things there before driving to the airport. Safe parking there too. The art and crafts are just wonderful - better than anywhere else and all under one roof - you need at least two hours there.

Re Tipping - we found it hard to know how much to give at each lodge intot the Tip Box. Could be that we were overgenerous! Also, it is often hard as one doesn't have any small notes to hand to porters etc. Need to advise travellers to try and change big notes in towns prior to driving out to the back of beyond as we sometimes ended up giving far too much to people as we had nothing small to offer and we didn't want to leave them empty handed. Car guards - good to warn people of them and the need to hand them something each time. Extra advice on the phone would be helfpul prior to departure re this.

Good walking shoes essential!No need to take swimming towels as every lodge had them and just bulks up luggage. Would not take a child younger than our youngest as a lot of driving and he was fine but anyone younger no good. Binoculars essential for each member of the family - we had enough and it made such a difference as there is so much to see at the side of road eg ostriches, oryx, springbok, baboons all seen from normal driving.

It was the most wonderful trip and the selection of lodges were fantastic and we wish we could go back there. Thank-you so much. Expert Africa went beyond all our expectations. We have given our three sons an introduction to Africa, one part of it: Namibia, and we all succumbed to its beauty and we were lucky to travel with Expert Africa." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip