Reviews of safaris to Central Highlands

"We'd booked the trip before Covid so, what with the delays and continued postponements along with the delay on our flight which meant we arrived three days late so Maruska had one heck of a job re-organising and re-booking things on our behalf.

She must have spent hours on our trip alone. Not only will I be booking through Expert Africa again, I've already got friends organising their trip via Maruska.

I can't say enough about the service and ability to problem solve under pressure while ensuring that we could relax and know everything was in hand and was being taken care of.
Exemplary customer service and a fabulous trip.

Thank you so, so much.

You bill yourselves as 'Expert' Africa and absolutely live up to that title. Thank you so much for an unforgettable trip and will be booking with you again soon" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"As always a very good trip in Namibia it's an easy country to travel around in" Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"A memorable trip for all the right reasons. Sorry to miss the Skeleton Coast (and would have liked to have gone to the Okavambo Delta)." Read full review: 44 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Overall we had a really memorable holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Three things could have been improved on; the first two I have mentioned - the cold nights on the Endeka Walking trail, and the rather expensive misinformation at Okonjima. The third is the fact that nobody from Wilderness Travel met us at the airport in Windhoek. This need not have been a problem, had we known that they had an office at the airport. As it was we hung around hopefully , and finally found someone to ask, and they pointed us the way to the office. Nobody seemed to be expecting us!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"One of the best trips we have had worldwide, and especially in Southern Africa.

Delightfully quirky Roy's rest camp to simply luxurious Onguma, Nambwa and Chobe Chilwero.

There was only one camp, Shametu River Lodge, that was a real disappointment.

All the connections and pickups worked very well. The meet and greet at Windhoek by your agent was especially welcome after a couple of flights.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Marushka, your representative, couldn't have been more helpful as she listened to our ideas before curating and then amending her suggested itinerary. Constant follow-ups were reassuring.

We cannot see how either you, her or we could have improved our trip with Expert Africa .. sorry.." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was originally planned as a last big family holiday for 2020 - following Covid and various travel restrictions our trip took place in 2022.

It was definitely well worth the wait, we all had a wonderful time and wouldn't hesitate to recommend a similar trip to anyone considering such a holiday.

Namibia is a beautiful country and has so much to offer - the people are friendly and cannot do enough to help, the food was fantastic (we had 2 vegans in our group and they were very impressed), the accommodation and additional excursions were all very well planned.

The only slightly negative comment is that the prices quoted in the guidebooks for entrance fees etc are now outdated. Speaking to some of the local guides it seems that relatively large increases were introduced in April of this year and they have also expressed their concern?!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips
Thank you Tom for all of your help and advice over the last couple of years - we finally made it!!

We all had a memorable holiday and all of us intend to visit Africa again at some point in the future - we wouldn't hesitate to use yourself and Expert Africa again and have already recommended you to friends." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"This was a demanding trip, much delayed by Covid. We wasted not a minute and got a good sense of Namibia in a relatively short period. The journey times, even those on paved roads took 10-20% longer than we had initially planned, but we soon got into the rhythm of very early starts and arriving at our destination by nlt than mid afternoon. The occasional 3 night stops were invaluable in letting us recharge and properly enjoy our location and the lodge facilities.

None of our accommodation was disappointing and to produce such high quality food in some very remote locations was testament to the skill of the staff. The wildlife and geological features are the obvious draw to the country yet our most vivid memories are of the people who we met. Such open friendliness throughout the country vindicated the choice of Namibia as our first holiday in Africa.

Tom and Expert Africa did us proud - thank you." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"We have had a wonderful few weeks, discovering new places and enjoying the return to old favourites. Namibia has changed in some ways since we first visited in 2000, but the rugged beauty and the solitude remains.

I’ll get the major disappointment out first, not that you can do anything about it - Simba don’t make tomato sauce flavour crisps any more! Disaster!

In general, we learnt a lot about how we personally need to plan travel in the future, both having gained various back/hip/knee problems since we last travelled any distance and, at times, feeling more than a mere three years older.

I don’t think we will consider ‘one night stands’ again, especially if it means an hour or more down a gravel road basically just to eat and sleep. Namtib and Ai Aibas are both beautiful places and we had no time to do them justice. We’re not early risers and we are slow drivers, who like to stop and look, which all combined to have us on the road 9.30-4.30 for several days, which was exhausting.

We did look at the hotels in several of the towns and wonder whether we won't be better off to stay somewhere like that as a transit stop.

We also need to carefully look at the lodges, to consider whether we can actually cope there. If there is a steep walk to the reception or lots of steps, it's difficult. Also, there's no point in going somewhere and finding that the walks involve hiking up a mountain!

Being experienced travellers to Namibia, we think we won't try one of your set itineraries again. We would prefer to custom-build, knowing that we will have sound advice from you. We have booked all our previous visits through you (or Sunvil, originally) and we wouldn't consider going anywhere else.

There are certain areas which we won't choose to visit again, because of the poor quality of the gravel roads. For instance, the roads around the entrance to Sossussvlei were appalling. The drive to Swakop, once past Solitaire, had nowhere to stop and seems endless. The one picnic area was infested with wasps - what a disappointment! Also, much as we love Etosha, we spent very little time driving to other waterholes because the roads are awful.


We found most other visitors were German, with far fewer from Britain than on our previous trips. Not a problem; just a comment.

We'd like to mention Wilderness Safaris, whose staff were excellent whilst we used their airport lounge and then in guiding us through the airport. Whilst we were there, we had an interesting conversation with a gentleman whose was a senior commercial officer for the airports authority. He was interested in our descriptions of how a trip to Namibia is viewed my many of our friends in the UK; namely, if they actually know where Namibia is, as bonkers and dangerous, particularly as we drive ourselves. He was considering what commercial measures could be taken to dispel any fears and misunderstandings amongst UK people.
However, we're quite happy if tourist numbers don't increase!

Altogether, an outstandingly brilliant time, no less than we expected!

Thank you." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Definitely one of the top holidays of our lifetime (so far!!), expertly put together and managed by Sabina at Expert Africa. We were recommended by friends who have used Expert Africa and would unreservedly recommend them ourselves. Sabina listened to what we wanted from the start and built the itinerary, timings and accommodation around that perfectly.

Overall driving distance was about 4,250km so it was a tough schedule, but everything we expected (and a quite a bit more).

Managed to see and pass through stunning scenery, stop at interesting places and observe a variety of wildlife from Southern Right whales in South Africa to the big cats in Namibia, not to mention the magnificent seasonal flora on display in the Namaqualand.

Everything was in place for us so minimising hassle." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"It was an experience to say the least.

Sabina's recommendations of alternative accommodation when original choices were not available were excellent.

We did experience a puncture on our hire car, which fortunately happened not far from Otjiwarongo where we discovered a Dunlop tyre depot. The manager contacted the rental company on our behalf and sorted out the issue for us.

Overall the amount of wildlife seen was extremely numerous and observed throughout the country.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None.

The service we received from Sabina was excellent. Knowing she was at the end of a phone line or e-mail if we had any queries gave us us reassurance throughout our trip." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip