Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"We loved Namibia.

Tom from Expert Africa did a great job at tailor making our 4x4 self drive.

Overall, the distances between camps are huge, and the standard of accommodation was really good. We would do less and stay longer perhaps driving less and flying more. But Namibia is spectacular and driving gave us a real sense for how varied the landscape is.

We had a wonderful trip made all the more seamless by Tom's recommendations and organisation." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We both absolutely loved our trip, and have recommended Namibia to our friends, family and work colleagues.

Personally for us, once we had left Cape Town we were very eager to cross into Namibia. As such we would have been prepared to have driven longer distances to gain an extra day or two in Namibia (e.g. a one night stop half way between Cape Town and Canyon Lodge).

Overall, it was a brilliant itinerary. Tracy was in continuous contact and accommodated our request to be able to explore Kolmanskop. The Expert Africa team are clearly very knowledgeable and well connected, and went out of their way to ensure we could have an incredible honeymoon within the confines of our budget. The pack they sent to us was also very comprehensive (including a detailed road map), and we would recommend them to anyone wishing to explore Namibia (safe in the knowledge their team would be on hand if there were any issues).

Thank you to Tracy and all at Expert Africa - we had the trip of a lifetime and hope to return in the future!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"A memorable holiday, one of the best we have ever had!

Everything was well organised and we had no difficulties throughout our stay. We drove a long way - nearly 3000km - but it was worthwhile. The itinerary worked well, so generally we had a longish drive between camps but then two or three nights at each camp to relax and enjoy what was on offer.

We are feeling that we will need to return to Namibia to explore those parts which we missed on this visit!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Best advice received from Expert Africa:

1. Take a spare phone and buy a local sim-card at the airport. The local phone was a lifesaver when we had punctures and had to contact the car hire company and tyre repair shops. It was also useful and lot cheaper than using a UK phone to contact tour leaders and camps where we were booked.

2. Pack and divide clothes into two suitcases. One of our cases was mislaid by Air Namibia on our arrival at Windhoek but we had split our clothes as suggested and so we both had change of clothes on arrival at our guest house. Fortunately our second suitcase was delivered to us early the next morning.

Least useful advice received from Expert Africa:

1. Take talking book and music CDs to listen to in the car on long journeys. Firstly, it is impossible to hear anything from the car radio when driving on rough dirt roads - and these roads comprise a very large proportion of the road network in Namibia. Secondly, many cars these days (and our car in particular, a Renault Duster) do not have CD players and instead play from a memory stick. We carried a number of CDs around Namibia!

The vehicle we hired, a Renault Duster, was fine BUT on some of the rougher roads felt a bit like a boy trying to do a man's job." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"This was a wonderful trip.

We were lucky to be able to spend 4 weeks in Namibia, and whilst we covered almost 6000km, we were able to spend 2 or 3 nights in all the camps to get a real feel for the various locations.

We visited some areas in the South of the country, which we hadn't been to before, and these were generally quieter and more remote than the more popular areas such as Etosha. We loved it!" Read full review: 31 nights in Africa; 26 on a Namibia trip

"A great trip. All went smoothly (apart from a couple of punctures). Really well organised by Expert Africa with excellent accommodation throughout. We hope to return to Namibia and will use Expert Africa again.
Wilderness Africa at Airport, especially Grace, were great too. Very helpful." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Namibia; thanks Expert Africa, and Josh in particular, for helping out.

There wasn't a great connection between the map provided and the written description of the routes. For example, there were a couple of options shown for going between Aus and Swakapmund, but no description of the two routes in written material. As noted in the Bagetelle review, would strongly recommend the northern route (C21) rather than continuing south on the B1 and backtracking north.

We did see wildlife (including two separate sightings of zebras and one herd of about 50 oryx), but not usually at the lodges/camps; rather when we were driving between stays.

Though not included in our tour, we stayed at Tilla's guesthouse. It was 'no frills' as described in the guide book, but also noisy due to a caged parrot, and frankly the worst breakfast we had in our time in Africa. Staff very pleasant though." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was absolutely wonderful! We saw all the animals we'd hoped to, except for a cheetah. That gives us the excuse we need to return one day.

Our itinerary worked well - about the right number of nights in each place.

Generally, very good food and wonderful, enthusiastic service." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"This was a most enjoyable holiday and far exceeded our expectations.

Namibia is absolutely beautiful and unspoilt and you don't appreciate its beauty unless you drive between lodges. The holiday was short - 9 nights - very well planned as driving distances, although quite long, were not excessive and we had two night stays in most of the camps allowing early morning game drives on the full day. One does spend a lot of time in cars as the drive between camps is about 6 hours and on arrival you are then taken out on a 4 hour game drive. The camps do not have an abundance of game which is why game drives are long but are pleasantly interrupted with snacks or sundowners depending on the time of day.

The guides were, without exception, excellent, and the standard of the camps was universally very good. Travellers coming from England will find fuel and drinks prices cheap compared with England (diesel is about £0.60 per litre) but it is essential to pay for petrol with cash as fraudulent use of credit cards is reportedly rife, so buy plenty of S Africa rands before leaving England.

Expert Africa warned us of this and it was confirmed several times by locals. It is wise to have some cash in small denominations as everyone, including those at petrol stations, will expect a tip We found this a most enjoyable and well organised holiday and we were given much useful advice by Expert Africa before our departure but despite all warnings the only problem we experienced was a single puncture.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

This was a very well constructed holiday by people who clearly know what they are doing.

We were very well warned about all the potential problems almost to the point of wondering whether we should continue with our plans or not and while this is very important it is probably worth saying to clients that if they are sensible they are no more likely to experience anything untoward than they are on any other motoring holiday, apart from the poor quality of the roads. Unless we were just very lucky!

Many thanks to Claire and Expert Africa for organising a wonderful holiday in Namibia." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Overall we had a wonderful trip and Josh/Expert Africa were excellent.

Josh strongly suggested Desert Homestead Outpost and it was a real highlight for us - the position and relaxing nature of the lodge were wonderful.

Overall the only negative was Hobatere lodge which was recommended and which was definitely below the standards of any other private lodge we've stayed at on two trips to Namibia." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Thanks for all help, suggestions and fast follow up, even when we had some challenges the night before we left Amsterdam due to flight changes the next day from Johannesburg to Windhoek.

Great you were thinking along how to beat that challenge and giving alternatives for accommodation if we could not make it to our first stop. Thanks Tracy!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Inform your guests esp if they are used to safaris in other countries than Botswana, eg South Africa that the experience can be different. Im not talking about the game viewing which is obvious off course but the experience in the lodges. In South Africa you often for the same amount of money get more value (luxury, guest experience)" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari