Reviews of safaris to Caprivi Strip
Caprivi Strip verified traveller reviews of the camps and lodges we've hand picked in the Caprivi.
Drs M & R
UK
"excellent"
I visited Namibia between 12 Aug 2009 and 31 Aug 2009
"thoroughly enjoyed ourselves....would do very little different if starting again. it should be said that we had very fixed ideas long before contacting Expert Africa, and it was a bit of a debate whether to book through you or do it ourselves. Because of this my comments below are frugal and at times we might have been a handful for Sabina. I have to say I am very glad we booked with you and that we were assigned one person...Sabina.
Sabina's advice to stay a couple of nights in some places was probably correct and at Sossus Dunes Lodge and Erongo we could have certainly done with the extra night. We booked flights independently and then Air Namibia stopped flying from the UK. We weren't allowed onto the replacement BA flight at Heathrow and if Expert Africa hadn't sorted it at a moments notice we wouldn't have got there!
Sabina had to rebook everything because of the revised flights which would have been difficult for us alone. We had an accident and we were really grateful for the support from you that was always available on the end of the phone. I should also say that if you hadn't made extra insurance readily available, we would now be very out of pocket...naively we would have thought that the car hire would cover it.
Suggestions for improvement:
no since approaching perfection!
I would certainly recommend you...and my photos are already drumming up new business!" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip
Sabina's advice to stay a couple of nights in some places was probably correct and at Sossus Dunes Lodge and Erongo we could have certainly done with the extra night. We booked flights independently and then Air Namibia stopped flying from the UK. We weren't allowed onto the replacement BA flight at Heathrow and if Expert Africa hadn't sorted it at a moments notice we wouldn't have got there!
Sabina had to rebook everything because of the revised flights which would have been difficult for us alone. We had an accident and we were really grateful for the support from you that was always available on the end of the phone. I should also say that if you hadn't made extra insurance readily available, we would now be very out of pocket...naively we would have thought that the car hire would cover it.
Suggestions for improvement:
no since approaching perfection!
I would certainly recommend you...and my photos are already drumming up new business!" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Family P
Belgium
"Self-drive Namibia"
I visited Namibia between 6 Aug 2009 and 27 Aug 2009
"Namibia is certainly an interesting and beautiful country to visit. Highlights were driving through the dramatic desert scenery, climbing the dunes, seeing the seals at Cape Cross, watching a rhino family drink at Okaukuejo's waterhole, seeing crocodiles on the Angolan bank of the Okavango river, and the relaxed and friendly atmosphere at Ghaub guest farm. Having travelled fairly widely in Africa, the thing that perhaps surprised us most was how few people there are in Namibia (2.2/km2) - even the towns seemed empty!
It was interesting that none of the lodges (except Ghaub) offered child portions for their meals, even for very young children, which unfortunately resulted in food being wasted.
Cash was easier to find than expected with ATMs in even the smallest towns and at many petrol stations, which was good as food and supplies seemed generally quite expensive.
Expert Africa certainly organised the trip well - Tracy was always happy to answer queries, replied rapidly to my emails, and kept us posted with any changes. We had originally asked for self-catering as much as possible and I realise that in many places this is not possible, but where we were quoted only bed and breakfast we sort of assumed there would be facilities for catering for ourselves which was not always the case - this was perhaps our fault for not clarifying this before leaving. Otherwise, the voucher system worked well and everything was booked as expected (except for the family room at Haus Sonneneck). The route was clearly marked and lodges were easy to find." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip
It was interesting that none of the lodges (except Ghaub) offered child portions for their meals, even for very young children, which unfortunately resulted in food being wasted.
Cash was easier to find than expected with ATMs in even the smallest towns and at many petrol stations, which was good as food and supplies seemed generally quite expensive.
Expert Africa certainly organised the trip well - Tracy was always happy to answer queries, replied rapidly to my emails, and kept us posted with any changes. We had originally asked for self-catering as much as possible and I realise that in many places this is not possible, but where we were quoted only bed and breakfast we sort of assumed there would be facilities for catering for ourselves which was not always the case - this was perhaps our fault for not clarifying this before leaving. Otherwise, the voucher system worked well and everything was booked as expected (except for the family room at Haus Sonneneck). The route was clearly marked and lodges were easy to find." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
5 friends
Amsterdam
"Twenty-one lovely days in Namibia & Botswana!"
I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 25 Jul 2009 and 14 Aug 2009
"Very very good. Each lodge had some advantages and some disadvantages, but on the whole they were really good. We had no real problems on the trip and some very good experiences (and animal sightings). It was one long safari, but that was really what we had wanted.
The one contact we had with Wilderness Safaris was good too - through the delay at the airport with the car hire, and the fact that we took one wrong turning on the motorway, we were on course to arrive too late in Waterberg. Wilderness had an emergency phone no and she arranged for the Waterberg gate to stay open, so that problem was solved.
We were also very satisfied with the whole procedure between our first enquiry and the actual trip. Maruska was extremely helpful and efficient, patiently giving us detailed answers to any question we had." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
The one contact we had with Wilderness Safaris was good too - through the delay at the airport with the car hire, and the fact that we took one wrong turning on the motorway, we were on course to arrive too late in Waterberg. Wilderness had an emergency phone no and she arranged for the Waterberg gate to stay open, so that problem was solved.
We were also very satisfied with the whole procedure between our first enquiry and the actual trip. Maruska was extremely helpful and efficient, patiently giving us detailed answers to any question we had." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Ms DM & MR VO
Belgium
"Namibia honeymoon"
I visited Namibia and 2 other countries between 15 Jul 2009 and 10 Aug 2009
"The trip certainly was a grreat experience and we enjoyed the wildlife and the people very much.
What is always difficult is the estimation of a good itinerary - there were some days that we were more in the car than we planned or expected to be, but it's difficult to avoid unless you go again to a place you already know a little bit." Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip
What is always difficult is the estimation of a good itinerary - there were some days that we were more in the car than we planned or expected to be, but it's difficult to avoid unless you go again to a place you already know a little bit." Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr C & Ms S
Colorado
"We are recommending Expert Africa to all"
I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 1 Jul 2009 and 29 Jul 2009
"Several times on the trip staff at our various locations commented positively on how well organized this trip was, how every detail of our ongoing trip was confirmed and that people all along the way were expecting us. We were also impressed that several folks knew Chris McIntire and spoke so highly of him. Well done!
We have already recommended Expert Africa to several of our friends who are looking to travel to southern Africa and we will always use yoru services in future trips there. Thank you so much for all your work setting this up, knowing the best places to go, it was really the trip of a lifetime!
Two suggestions: we traveled by car from Gaboronne to Kasane (which we suggested and wanted to do) but wouldn't again because the road from Francistown to Kasane is the most horrendous road we have ever been on...I can't believe they even let cars attempt it...huge craters in the road big enough to swallow a VW mini-bus, we ended up driving way over on the shoulder to avoid wrecking the car. It doesn't look like this road is going to get fixed any time soon, either so please insist that people need to hire a 4x4 vehicle if they are going to drive on it.
Likewise with the road to the Rhino Camp (it wasn't as bad as the road in Botswana). It would have been wiser for us to hire a 4x4. While we managed to travel fine on these roads, the stress of not wanting to damage the undercarriage (which was not covered in the insurance) and the rush to get to the Rhino camp pick up location on time--made us with we had a vehicle with more clearance.
Overall it was a wonderful trip. Again thank you Maruska for all your hard work getting this together. We will look forward to using Expert Africa again on our next visit to southern Africa.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service
I think I've put these into the regular comments. Hard to say how it could have been improved at all. Expert Africa ROCKS!" Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip
We have already recommended Expert Africa to several of our friends who are looking to travel to southern Africa and we will always use yoru services in future trips there. Thank you so much for all your work setting this up, knowing the best places to go, it was really the trip of a lifetime!
Two suggestions: we traveled by car from Gaboronne to Kasane (which we suggested and wanted to do) but wouldn't again because the road from Francistown to Kasane is the most horrendous road we have ever been on...I can't believe they even let cars attempt it...huge craters in the road big enough to swallow a VW mini-bus, we ended up driving way over on the shoulder to avoid wrecking the car. It doesn't look like this road is going to get fixed any time soon, either so please insist that people need to hire a 4x4 vehicle if they are going to drive on it.
Likewise with the road to the Rhino Camp (it wasn't as bad as the road in Botswana). It would have been wiser for us to hire a 4x4. While we managed to travel fine on these roads, the stress of not wanting to damage the undercarriage (which was not covered in the insurance) and the rush to get to the Rhino camp pick up location on time--made us with we had a vehicle with more clearance.
Overall it was a wonderful trip. Again thank you Maruska for all your hard work getting this together. We will look forward to using Expert Africa again on our next visit to southern Africa.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service
I think I've put these into the regular comments. Hard to say how it could have been improved at all. Expert Africa ROCKS!" Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs J
Epsom
"Better than we'd hoped or expected."
I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 28 Apr 2009 and 19 May 2009
"Our 3 week trip took in Zimbabwe, Botswana & Namibia. Maruska and the rest of the EA team were invaluable in the planning phase.
We completed 3850km (mostly on good tar roads at 120kph) in my brother's 8 year/150,000km-old Toyota Corrolla, without a hitch. Only disappointment: we didn't get a chance to sample the rescue & recovery services. Reports from fellow travellers were however encouraging and there was enough traffic on all roads to give us confidence. Border crossings were troulble free and relatively quick. We used Tom-Tom SatNav with the Southern Africa maps from UK, it was a good supplement to the paper maps and Brandt guidebooks, giving us accurate road mileages and ETAs.
In Bulawayo we stayed at the Banff Lodge: highly recommended. Travel in Zimbabwe was a pleasent surprise: recent changes to make USD & ZAR official have made it much easier for foreigners. There is an air of quiet optimism about, but filling stations, electricity and phone connections are not constantly available, and the neglect of infrastucture & public facility maintenance is quite evident. No problems with immigration/emigration (we did both twice), and people generally very friendly, welcomong and helpful.
The lodges we chose were most satisfactory and exceeded our expectations in many cases, particularly Chitabe Lebida, Etosha Aoba & Camp Kwando. Due to the distances travelled, we did not spend long enough at some ot the locations, but I don't see any way around this as we wanted to drive to get a good feel of the countries visited, maybe next time we'll stay an extra week or two! We would spend more time in the Delta: Chitabe is largely dry and we would liked to have sampled a wetter location too. Similarly, Etosha merits more than just 3 days in the Eastern sector." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip
We completed 3850km (mostly on good tar roads at 120kph) in my brother's 8 year/150,000km-old Toyota Corrolla, without a hitch. Only disappointment: we didn't get a chance to sample the rescue & recovery services. Reports from fellow travellers were however encouraging and there was enough traffic on all roads to give us confidence. Border crossings were troulble free and relatively quick. We used Tom-Tom SatNav with the Southern Africa maps from UK, it was a good supplement to the paper maps and Brandt guidebooks, giving us accurate road mileages and ETAs.
In Bulawayo we stayed at the Banff Lodge: highly recommended. Travel in Zimbabwe was a pleasent surprise: recent changes to make USD & ZAR official have made it much easier for foreigners. There is an air of quiet optimism about, but filling stations, electricity and phone connections are not constantly available, and the neglect of infrastucture & public facility maintenance is quite evident. No problems with immigration/emigration (we did both twice), and people generally very friendly, welcomong and helpful.
The lodges we chose were most satisfactory and exceeded our expectations in many cases, particularly Chitabe Lebida, Etosha Aoba & Camp Kwando. Due to the distances travelled, we did not spend long enough at some ot the locations, but I don't see any way around this as we wanted to drive to get a good feel of the countries visited, maybe next time we'll stay an extra week or two! We would spend more time in the Delta: Chitabe is largely dry and we would liked to have sampled a wetter location too. Similarly, Etosha merits more than just 3 days in the Eastern sector." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs A
Maida Vale
"Windhoek to Victoria Falls"
I visited Namibia and 2 other countries between 26 Apr 2009 and 14 May 2009
"We really enjoyed it. There were some long drives which got a bit tiring particularly when coupled with border crossings (6 in total) but it was very interesting to see the way the scenery changed from arid to wetland. We were also interested to see how the culture changed significantly once we crossed the border into Rundu province.
When we reached Victoria Falls we felt very satisfied that we (or rather my husband) had driven all the way up from Cape Town over the course of 3 holidays (thanks for the idea Chris).
Some of the scenery was superb - we've never seen such beautiful and unspoilt wetland areas. We considered ourselves fortunate to have seen it at a time of exceptionally high water although the recent flooding has not been great for local residents" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip
When we reached Victoria Falls we felt very satisfied that we (or rather my husband) had driven all the way up from Cape Town over the course of 3 holidays (thanks for the idea Chris).
Some of the scenery was superb - we've never seen such beautiful and unspoilt wetland areas. We considered ourselves fortunate to have seen it at a time of exceptionally high water although the recent flooding has not been great for local residents" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs K
Bury
""
I visited Namibia between 22 Apr 2009 and 8 May 2009
"I have run out of superlatives to to express how much we enjoyed this holiday. Our main reason for the trip was to see the wildlife and we weren't disappointed.
All the lodges surpassed our expectations
Suggestions for improvement:
For us you can't improve on perfection.." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
All the lodges surpassed our expectations
Suggestions for improvement:
For us you can't improve on perfection.." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs B
Westerham
"The B's from Biggin"
I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 13 Feb 2009 and 2 Mar 2009
"Our expectations wre totally met and more.
Suggestions for improvement:
we would certainly like to thank Sabina for her help. Having done three trips previously we knew what we wanted and some of Sabina's suggestions turned out to be great." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
Suggestions for improvement:
we would certainly like to thank Sabina for her help. Having done three trips previously we knew what we wanted and some of Sabina's suggestions turned out to be great." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mrs B
Hampshire
"Namibia and Botswana in Novemer"
I visited Namibia and 2 other countries between 5 Nov 2008 and 25 Nov 2008
"We made the big mistake of putting the trip back from October to November, with the rains arriving very heavily and promptly. We did experience some pretty spectacular storms which sent the animals into the green bush, we must be among the few people who went to Chobe and didnt see an elephant.
It was a lesson to me to research the weather pattern better,and not to be put off by difficulty wih accomodation to push the dates on to a less favourable season
This is not to say that we had a great well organised trip, in which all your arrangemets were well thought out, lodges well selected, and went like clockwork.
We would certainly travel with expert africa again." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
It was a lesson to me to research the weather pattern better,and not to be put off by difficulty wih accomodation to push the dates on to a less favourable season
This is not to say that we had a great well organised trip, in which all your arrangemets were well thought out, lodges well selected, and went like clockwork.
We would certainly travel with expert africa again." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Good
283
reviews of Caprivi Strip by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
Filter by month
Where to stay in Caprivi Strip
Our suggestions for safari camps in Caprivi Strip
Ndhovu Safari Lodge
Ndhovu is a simple riverside lodge, with tents that are reminiscent of safaris a decade or two ago.
Hakusembe Lodge
Hakusembe River Lodge is a substantial lodge with a superb location on the Kavango River.
Chobe Princesses
The Chobe Princess houseboats offer a memorable way to explore the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers in Namibia's Caprivi. Perfect for a couple or for a group of family or friends.
Lianshulu Lodge
Beside the Kwando River, within Mudumu National Park, Lianshulu is a small safari lodge offering 4WD safaris and river trips – with particularly good birdlife.
Nkasa Lupala
Peaceful Nkasa Lupala is a comfortable lodge in a remote and little-explored area close to Nkasa Rupara National Park.
Nunda River Lodge
NNunda River Lodge overlooks a pretty part of the Kavango River near Popa Falls and the productive Mahango National Park.
Camp Kwando
Near to Mudumu National Park, Camp Kwando is a comfortable and unfussy option with opportunities for game drives, boat safaris and fishing.
Ichingo Chobe Lodge
Safari holiday in Namibia's Caprivi Strip, staying at Ichingo Chobe River Lodge on Impalila Island.
Nambwa Tented Lodge
A beautiful safari lodge In the remote Bwabwata National Park, Nambwa Tented Lodge brings serious comfort to a relaxing safari.
River Dance
Build on stilts on the banks of the Kavango River, River Dance Lodge has great views, a relaxed ambience and excellent birdlife.
Zambezi Queen
The Zambezi Queen offers luxurious two- and three-night cruises along the game-rich Chobe River, including game viewing by small boat and 4WD as well as catch-and-release fishing.
Taranga Lodge
Situated on the banks of the Kavango, Taranga Safari Lodge works as a convenient stopover before going onto explore the Caprivi.
Divava Lodge & Spa
The substantial Divava Okavango Lodge & Spa offers plenty of pampering opportunities in an unspoilt riverside setting
Cascade Island Lodge
Cascade Island Lodge, near Kasane in the Caprivi Strip is a very luxurious, high end option for those seeking peace and privacy on the Zambezi River.
Shametu Lodge
Shametu River Lodge has the best views of the Popa Rapids of any private lodge in the Divundu area.
Jackalberry Camp
Jackalberry Camp is uniquely situated in the Nkasa Rupara National Park affording unrivalled access to this little-visited corner of Namibia.
Namushasha Lodge
One of the larger lodges in the Bwabwata National Park, Namushasha is an economic option with an attractive river-side location.
Kazile Island Lodge
On an island in the Kwando River within Bwabwata National Park, the remote Kazile lsland Lodge offers games drives, bush walks and boat cruises.
Serondela
Accessible only by river, Serondela combines the remoteness of Namibia’s Caprivi Strip with access to Botswana’s flagship Chobe National Park.
Chobe Savanna Lodge
Chobe Savanna Lodge stands opposite Chobe National Park, Botswana. Click here to learn more about the area and your options for a safari there.
Chobe Water Villas
Chobe Water Villas is a beautiful and thoughtfully designed lodge, in a great location on the Namibian banks of the Chobe River.
