Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"Justin Huff helped us plan two weeks in Namibia. We travelled with our six and seven year old daughters. We flew via Scenic Air up to Etosha from Windhoek and then self-drove back with stops at Huab and Ai Aiba. Everything went perfectly according to plan with no hiccups. When we had one question to clarify our itinerary we were very happy that Expert Africa had a responsive 24 hour team on call. The trip was every bit the wonderful adventure we hoped it would be. The wildlife surpassed our highest expectations and driving in Namibia is a very do-able experience.

Justin answered every question/concern we had and we felt very well prepared to make our trip even with two young kids in tow.

We will happily use Expert Africa if and when our family returns to Africa someday." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"We spent 16 days in Namibia in June - July 2017. We had chosen Namibia because the £/ rand exchange rate was attractive whereas other countries quoted holidays in US $s which made them more expensive. Also the country was a good and safe one for self-driving. I found the good, straight, empty roads a pleasure to drive on compared with UK. We stayed in 10 different locations during our trip and three places stood out so far as bird and animal sighting was concerned: Okauhuejo, Nkasa Lupala and Ndhovu. Why?

The Okaukuejo water-hole provides a magnificent arena from which to view birds and animals. The floodlit night viewing of two male rhinos fighting was something I never thought to see and will treasure for the rest of my life. In comparison some years ago I took two trips to Tanzania and they produced one distant viewing of a rhino. Sadly two have been killed in Etosha recently and one day there will be none. Okaukuejo Lodge itself is rightly very popular, big and busy. Checking in was slow as there were a number of people queuing ahead of me who thought they had reserved accommodation,but who discovered too late that their internet reservations had been ineffective. I was grateful to Wilderness Safaris that I had no such problems. The key is to posses a reservation number!

Nkasa Lupala on the River Kwando was interesting for the variety of birds and animals. It was here that we finally saw some lions. The night drives are also well worth doing. One night drive produced amongst other animals two civets; one wild cat, a porcupine and some spring hares. I was glad I hired hired a 4x4 because I was able to drive straight to this Lodge & this saved time, money and hassle. The route there is fairly well signed from Sangwali to Nkasa Lupala and takes about 35 minutes to drive. The lodge itself needed some TLC - not everything was working in our tent. Ndhovu has in Michael someone with the sharpest eyes on the River Kavango. We had three boat trips with him and each one was an adventure in to wild Africa. In addition the lodge is very efficiently run by Horst, Peter and Bola. It is within a 10 minute drive of the Mahango Game Park - the best place in this area to see birds and animals.

We also stayed at River Dance Lodge where the admirable owners have put huge amounts of effort in to the design and building of the lodge and also in to staff training. The results show. However the boatman on the river trip we took knew less about birds than myself and and the Mahango Game Reserve is just under an hour's drive from here. Ndhovu therefore offered better in my view. We spent one night at Taranga Safari Lodge on the way out of the Caprivi Strip. We would not stay there again - the sole attraction was the small bird viewing. Roy's Camp would have probably offered a more evenly spaced stopping place on the way back to Windhoek.

The Frans Indongo Lodge and Okonjima Camp are both very comfortable and well managed places and we admired the design of Frans Indongo in particular. However both these places have had animals imported and one has the sense that these are 'safari parks' rather than the real Africa. This may appeal to many but the slightly canned effect was not quite what we wanted.

At the start of the trip we had stayed at the Hilltop Guest House in Windhoek. This took some finding and I was grateful I had bought a map map of Windhoek to help us do this. Once we were there we were very well cared for and the owner gave us the good advice to dine at the Social. We had an excellent meal there.Also we were grateful we did not have to drive far that first day since we had not slept much on the overnight flight from London. We stocked up on lunch type food and water at the Eros Centre below the Guest House before leaving Windhoek next morning.

We were supposed to be met by Wilderness Tours on our arrival at Windhoek Airport but found no one. However we spotted a Wilderness lounge in Arrivals and someone inside. He proved to be a great help. We were able to buy a mobile chip from the MTC rep at the airport for £3 for 150 minutes. Expert Africa had arranged for us to hire a 4x4 from Bidvest. However without the help of Wilderness tours we would have struggled to take over the vehicle as the Bidvest man did not appear to know much about the vehicle. It was a very basic Ford 4x4. Nevertheless it served us well although its gear-box was a bit like stirring porridge. Also I forgot to ask the size of the fuel tanks and the hand-book surprisingly did not not reveal this information!

Later I reckoned it was about 100 liters and the fuel gauge appeared to report the combined usage rather than just the second tank! The return of the car posed no problems and Bidvest were happy to sign Expert Africa's form at the back of their hand-book.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No comments - but many thanks for arranging an excellent trip with no problems! Quite an achievement." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"The trip overall was fabulous. Where we've written negative reviews of accommodation (e.g. Twyfelfontein) we were warned in advance that this was more basic accommodation. Only one we weren't aware of was the building work and poor food at Okaukuejo. Josh did a great job of creating our trip for us at short notice. The welcome team in Namibia airport were lovely and the trip went very smoothly." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Second time to Namibia, but managed to surpass previous visit with animals seen, and got some memorable images. Good to self drive providing so much flexibility as to how long you spend at a waterhole, we had well over 1 hour at one observing in the main bull elephants, only two other cars there.

First time in Botswana great time on the Chobe river viewing elephants crossing , and the birds. Spoilt with the number of lions with kills, and the first cubs I had seen albeit bit hidden in the trees.

Zambia provided a fitting finale something completely different, namely Victoria Falls, seen from the air and on foot, fantastic noise of the the water roaring.

The challenge is how to beat this trip?" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We had a fabulous holiday full of fun and adventures. The trip was made so perfect by the people looking after us.

When we lost documents Expert Africa and the staff at Lianshula showed amazingly professionalism.

A true test of a good business is how they deal with their clients in a crisis. From our experience any one travelling with Expert Africa can be assured of a great holiday and if any incident / accident occurs they have the knowledge and contacts to turn a crisis into a great story. The perfect company with which to have " safe adventures " 🤗" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"We have done a fair bit of travelling and do not often return to the same place as there is still so much more to see. However, Namibia is an exception, this being our third trip.
It has everything, beautiful scenery, wildlife, friendly people. The roads are quiet and tourism is still relatively low key. It also feels so much safer than some other African countries.
With Expert Africa our trip was well organised and everything went seamlessly. We would use this company again." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Our Namibia holiday was perfect in every way.

Based upon the service we experienced from Expert Africa, the help and support from Tom, our representative, the exceptionally detailed website, chock full of very detailed feedback and information, and the arrangements which went without any hitch, made this holiday one of the very best we have ever experienced.

I don't think there is much more we can add - other than we look forward to our next holiday in Africa with Expert Africa and indeed our next return to Namibia." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Driving the first part to Sossusvlei and Damaraland over some very poor roads is not for the faint hearted. Getting a puncture in Damaraland, well out of phone contact, made us realise the risks involved. However the scenery, animals and birds were so spectacular that it made the risks worth taking and the accommodation & food provided was of an excellent standard." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"All was great - starting from the nice and competent assistance by Expert Africa.

We have wonderful memories from our first (and surely not last) trip to Namibia!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"This was a memorable trip. We highly enjoyed the contrast between the dry areas of the Kalahari and the lush waterways of the Caprivi. We thought the trip was very well paced by Maruska.

All arrangements went smoothly and we appreciated the advice on how to deal with roadblocks and the crossing into Botswana and back,

One of our objectives was to hike as much as possible. As it turned out, only Waterberg Wilderness Lodge and Erongo Wilderness Lodge offered enough opportunities for a day or two of walking but we realize that was the maximum feasible within the parameters we set ourselves.." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip