Reviews of trips to Windhoek

"This was a truly fabulous trip. We loved the country. In particular, the landscape was so varied but consistently breath-taking. This meant that the long drives in between destinations were as much of a treat as the excursions in between.

We were very pleasantly surprised by the standard of food and service throughout the country and the warmth and friendliness of the people everywhere we went - and more generally, by what an easy place Namibia is to travel around. The game viewing (not just at Etosha) also exceeded our expectations. Returning home has been even more difficult than usual, but I have come back determined to encourage my friends and family to visit Namibia. We certainly plan to return and see more of this beautiful country.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Only a couple of very minor points around car hire:

1. It is worth recommending to clients in the very helpful pre-pack you send out that if they need to buy a new tyre, it is worth phoning ahead to check the nearest town (which could be over a hundred kilometres away) has a spare in stock. We made the mistake of assuming we could get a replacement tyre for a Nissan X Trail which meant we wasted time travelling from Etosha to Tsumeb when in fact the nearest tyre available was in Otjiwarongo, another 200 km or so away.

2. Partly for the above reason, you should recommend/insist upon clients having two decent spare tyres.

We were very impressed with Expert Africa (as was everyone we met who had booked through you) and would certainly use you again." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is a beautiful country which deserves to be visited by more British tourists.

Our trip exceeded our high expectations and Expert Africa were extremely helpful when we were fine tuning our itinerary and were very professional in the way they dealt with a problem we had at Hoodia. We hope that you will take our comments about Sinclair Guest Farm on board.

Thank you for helping to make our trip so memorable." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Pretty sure I was very happy, but there does need to be a way to clear old trips without just clicking 'average' for everything, since this is rather unfair. (Trust me, people will remember and comment on the bad stuff!)." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"We had a magical time in Namibia! Our trip was so well-organized and perfectly suited to our needs, wishes and budget that we wouldn't have changed a thing about it. This was our first time in southern Africa, and Namibia has indeed spoiled us! The big empty dirt roads, stunning scenery, incredible wildlife, warm hospitality, and eco-conscious mindset all combined to make this an unforgettable vacation. We cannot wait to go back.

Expert Africa's website was perhaps the main reason we chose to work with them over other self-drive tour planners we considered. Working with Sabina - a native Namibian - was also important. She was able to answer all of our questions and address all of our concerns, particularly relating to driving. We are so glad we went with her advice to NOT get a 4WD. Being city people that went against our instincts somewhat, but the price difference was significant and we were 100% satisfied with our Nissan X-Trail.

We did not make our plans early enough to get exactly every lodge we wanted, but the alternatives that Sabina suggested were excellent - especially Onguma Bush Camp. She also did a great job at pointing out details regarding a couple of the lodges that had concerned clients of hers in the past and wanted to make sure we were still okay staying there. We didn't have any major surprises (of the bad kind!) on this trip, and we believe it's because we were well-prepped by Sabina, the very informative Bradt guide, and Expert Africa's website.

The only thing that was consistently different from what we had been told was the driving times. It always took us much longer to get from lodge to lodge than we expected. We definitely made many stops along the way which delayed us - especially during the first half of our trip - but even when we didn't stop much we were inevitably somewhere between an hour and a half to two hours behind the estimate. Thankfully we always left early enough that we were never in danger of driving at dusk or night.

Another issue worth pointing out is that while we essentially did the Caracal Self-Drive as described on Expert Africa's website, our final invoice was a lot higher than what was quoted on the site. We did make several upgrades, such as going with a K-class 2WD instead of a sedan, getting an extra spare tire, spending a night at a premiere waterhole chalet at Okaukuejo, and staying at Okonjima. In the end we paid quite a bit more than what we thought we were going to pay based on the website quotes. We have absolutely no regrets about this in the end, but it's important to know that what is on the website is really the bare bare minimum and that one should probably budget several hundred dollars more per person if more than one or two changes to the itinerary are going to be made.

We had the time of our lives on this trip and didn't want it to end! Namibia is a place unlike any other we've been to. Sabina did a great job at making it all go smoothly and we will definitely be giving her a call as soon as we can get back there!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"we loved Namibia and every single aspect of the trip went like clockwork. Its a very special country with amazing organisation coupled with a true sense of isolation" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent and understanding service from your experts. Tracy did a wonderful job of planning our itinerary at such short notice and with a limited budget. We thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and thanks to your detailed and very thorough guidance we had no major problems, felt safe at all times and generally had no problems with finding our way around. Well informed and up to date information from Tracy and her colleagues made everything very easy on our first trip to Namibia. You seem to be able to find some of the best places to stay too.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Get rid of the credit card surcharge." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"A special treat to celebrate 25 years of marriage - an adventure in Namibia. Spectacular scenery, abundant wildlife, delicious food, & great company. We have brought home so many memories of a truely amazing place and thousands of photographs!

A special thank you to Maruska, for patiently explaining all the various options and helping us construct our special trip. Thank you!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"I won't lie, I was dubious about going to Namibia, it was my husband's dream holiday destination which is why we chose it but we both absolutely loved it!

Neither of us had ever been to Africa before and the fact that we could drive round on our own and do our own thing was priceless. We would go back in a heartbeat. Thank you to Expert Africa for everything!

We do think that a 4WD would have been better than a 2WD just because of some of the D roads. We had to turn back round on 2 occasions but this added to the adventure. If we did it again (or when we do it again!) we will be asking for a 4WD." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Beautifully organised again by Expert Africa and Maruska in particular. Attention, guidance and care second to none. Thank yoi

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Keep on going." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Fantastic holiday, but not happy about attitude of wilderness safaris when our Namibia Airline flight was cancelled. We informed them be e-mail at 6.30 am on that morning and think that the initial demand of £950.00 to continue our holiday schedule was totally unreasonable. We think they could have rearranged transport for us to continue on that day, within the timescale they had, we would like to say we were very impressed with the guides and staff at the lodges.

They were all extremely friendly and helpful and we were able to learn a little of Namibian culture. Also, the wildlife was amazing.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip