Reviews of safaris to Caprivi Strip

"This was the BEST trip of our lives.

It was everything we had hoped for and more. So many memories and new experiences.

Maruska met and exceeded our brief, and we can't thank her enough for her time, suggestions and recommendations." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"We thoroughly enjoyed our trip which was 3 weeks in Namibia with a few days each in Botswana and Victoria Falls at the end.

Namibia was really surprising. We knew the landscapes would be impressive but needed to experience them to fully understand just how impressive they are plus we hadn't expected the wildlife to amount to much but saw a lot more wildlife than we could have imagined.

We started out a little worried about the idea of a self-drive but our concerns were largely unfounded. Europcar were very helpful, helping with buying a local SIM card then how to connect the phone to the car and so be able to use Googles SatNav. The 4WD vehicle was rugged and had plenty of space. There was no problem obtaining petrol, with plenty of petrol stations at important stages of the drive. Most petrol stations had good toilet facilities but charged a few Namibian dollars to use them. Diesel was invariably dispensed by one employee while another employee cleaned the windscreen and we found ourselves tipping little and often.

We had taken a lot of cash in SA Rand and some Namibian dollars as we had read that credit cards were not widely used. However, we found that very few shops, restaurants etc did not accept credit cards and in fact they were preferred to cash.

The roads during the first half our trip were a bit rougher than expected but we stuck to the speed limits recommended by the vehicle hire company for gravel roads and had no problems with the vehicle and not one puncture. This did mean allowing longer for the drives than the Sat Nav said but we built that into our time-lines on travel days. The second half of our trip, ie once past Etosha and up to the north, was mostly on long, straight, tarmac roads and there were regular, sign-posted stopping places with picnic benches and shade along all the main roads where we could stretch our legs and have a drink and a snack which we had brought with us.

Navigation also proved to be easier than expected thanks to a combination of the SatNav (Google maps using a phone connnected to the vehicle) and the directions supplied by Expert Africa.

Highlights for us were the general scenery around Sossusvlei and particularly the balloon trip over the dunes, the coastal area around Swakopmund, sleeping under the stars in Damaraland, the wildlife in the Etosha area and particularly the waterhole at Okaukeujo and the wetlands in Bwabwata National Park. However, the quality of the various lodges, their staff, guides and food in 12 out of the 13 places we stayed are what really made our holiday special.

We will remember this trip for a long time and took so many great photographs that making the photobook of this holiday is proving daunting - there won't be space for everything we want to include.

Thanks so much to Chris McIntyre who insisted we needed to visit Okaukeujo and to Sabina who suggested the balloon trip over the dunes, for all the other recommendations and for putting the whole trip together.

This was our second Expert Africa trip and we are already looking forward to contacting them about our next African adventure in a couple of years." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"We cannot praise the organisation of this trip highly enough. It was excellent from beginning to end.

It provided everything we wanted. The choice of accommodation for our budget was spot on, and some how we seemed on almost every occasion to be in one of the best rooms. Hard to believe that was by chance!

We experienced only two very minor 'hiccups' and both were resolved by the Namibian representative almost instantly - itself perhaps as good a recommendation as one can give.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Our experience of the availability of internet across Namibia was considerably better than the Notes to Travellers indicated we should expect.

We found every fuel station and lodge we visited expected us to pay by credit card, and in the end we were left with a large amount of SA currency which we were only able to use after a friendly SA lodge manager agreed to accept it in payment of our final account at the end of the trip." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We enjoyed our trip very much, mainly because we hadn't experienced this part of Botswana and Namibia before and that sense of anticipation of what to expect next was always something to look forward to.

The lodges/camps we chose were somewhat remote and transfers between them were actually quite long and a bit tiring. Botswana and Namibia border crossings and immigration were numerous and also tedious in some instances- long queues etc.

Wildlife sightings throughout the trip, apart from Elephants at Camp Kuzuma waterhole, were limited and hence a little disappointing. A visit to the Delta may be on the cards in the future but we would not return to this area." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"We were really pleased with the order of our itinerary ... for example, the animal sightings were much better at the second camp, so we might have been a bit disappointed the other way round (and then there were trillions of elephants on Chobe, so the camp sightings wouldn't have felt so special). The different parts of our trip also became more leisurely, so it all felt in the right order.

We had really comfy (and large) beds everywhere we went.

We felt really 'looked after' ... there was always someone expecting us, and greeting us, and we never felt at a loss as to where we should be. Tracy's detailed itinerary also gave us these reassurances.

We had a result at Zimbabwe immigration (around 11am) as there was no queue! Others we met had queued in the heat for 1-2 hours.

Dates on the dollar bills weren't an issue anywhere. We even paid for our Zimbabwe visa with our only $100 note, which was quite old.

At least three people we met lost their luggage in Jo'burg. We were thankfully fine, but it was a great tip to 'cross pack' so each person had clothes in each bag.

Overall, our biggest 'thank you' goes to Tracy Lederer - she was just brilliant throughout the planning and booking process ... knowledgeable, helpful, patient, thorough ... just perfect!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Thank you for putting this holiday together for us. You did a brilliant job and when things went a little wrong at the beginning with our missed flight connection you helped sort it out for us even on a Saturday.

I will and have already recommended you." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"What a wonderful trip! Claire was a pleasure to work with, especially since we planned everything so close to our departure. We only had 12 nights but once we agreed on where we going to spend the time, Claire was able to suggest 3 wonderful lodges to stay out and to arrange all the ground transport which all worked flawlessly. Everyone was careful to make sure that we were safely passed to the next transport van/driver and to assist us going through the many immigration offices that we went through.

Claire made all of this seem effortless and she was very responsive to the questions that I posed to her before we left.

This was our 5th sub-saharan trip and it was so full of great experiences, people, animals and culture! We really felt like we were gone much longer than the short time that we had available. We felt that we made the most of our time and got a good sense of the different places we were able to visit.

Bravo Expert Africa. We will recommend you to our family and friends!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 3 on a Botswana safari

"Start to finish, this was an amazing trip. The guidance, planning and details worked into the trip by Maruska helped to make it so.

I am an independent traveler with considerable experience in Africa (45 countries on the continent) and usually make my own arrangements--or make things up as I go--but on the recommendation of a friend--and on a short fuse for putting it all together--I reached out to Maruska for help and am glad that I did.

Lodging, safaris, meals, and movements along the way were all excellent because of her expert guidance. This is one of the best experiences I have had on the continent.

This was the first experience for my wife in southern Africa and her first safari trips. It was a perfect introduction for her and memorable for both of us.

No problems. No worries. No issues or complaints." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was utterly memorable - we had a wonderful time. Namibia provides such a diverse landscape - from desert to the lushness of the Caprivi Strip.

We are glad that we did the itinery we did - of course one learns things for next time! We would not have bothered with Swakopmund - we did not find it an attractive place at all. What we really wanted to do from there was a flight down over Soussevlei but were unable to get booked on anything. Had we known about this in advance we could have booked a flight earlier but of course recognise that no tour operator can tell the clients everything! With hindsight another day in Soussevlei would have been useful to have had more time to explore and climb the dunes.

The whole trip went very smoothly indeed apart from entering Zimbabwe - we did not know that you still need a Covid certificate to enter there and also $55 cash for the visa - it would have been useful to have been told this - thankfully we had a very helpful assistant on our transfer from Botswana who baled us out. But without exception all other transfers etc when super smoothly which was great.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Gosh - it's a hard enough job trying to get a handle on what the client wants I don't know how you could do it any better!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Super trip, extremely well organized.

A meet and greet at every critical transfer point and I was well looked after throughout, especially when upset stomach occurred" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari