Reviews of trips to Fish River Canyon

"The trip had to be postponed three times due to personal circumstances and covid so it wasn't the easiest to arrange. However, when it finally happened it was superb. We were originally looking to organise it ourselves but so glad we used Expert Africa for a number of reasons:

1. Their recommendations on hotels and advice on an itinerary. All the hotels were fantastic and without the advice, we'd have ended up driving in the dark which is not recommended

2. The price they charged for the hotels was no more expensive than booking direct and occasionally cheaper

3. When one of the hotels on the trip closed for refurbishment, they recommended and booked a replacement for us immediately, in line with the itenary.

4. For the first two trips we booked the Fish River Canyon ourselves which was a real hassle, sometime there were spaces available on a certain date, sometime not. Once we realised Expert Africa could do it for us, it was so much easier. They booked and changed it in-line with the itinarey.

5. The small things - being met at Windhoek airport by a representative who took us to the office in the airport so we could get organised, help us with car pick-up. The map we were given with our route marked on it along with the location of the hotels and time to drive between them (not obvious) plus the Namibia book, nice wallet to store all our paper work made it all feel very professional

6. Flexibility in changing our trip each year, rebooking the hotels plus advice given when we asked" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"We had the trip of a lifetime and thoroughly enjoyed the whole itinerary and all the lodges….

I had a set itinerary including certainly lodges that were a “must do” Sabina of Expert Africa was the only person and company of the four I tried that was able to accommodate our wishes and make it all fit together seamlessly. Thank you Sabina it couldn’t have worked out better !!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Amazing trip. Fantastic scenery. Great locations and accommodations.

Be prepared for driving time as dirt roads limit speed able to drive. However minimal traffic.

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

"Already said how impressed and delighted we were that our flight cancellation was dealt with so well and all was rebooked “+2” overnight on the day of our intended departure. Way prior to that the guidance and advice in putting everything together took time and great patience which Maruska coped with admirably. This included rebooking from 2021 when Vicky broke her shoulder compromising our initial plans.

I do have two observations which are offered as a reasonably regular EA client. Using a specialist based in a very different time zone does add complexity at the planning stage. Small details requiring a quick answer can take 48 hours to turn around through no fault of anyones. My second comment is that the relative costs of different options are not visible at the planning stage. I did not ask Maruska to work to a budget nor indeed did I ask for these costs in order to make our choices of destinations and lodges and so it may be my responsibility here. I now understand (but may need to be corrected) that Shipwreck and HVC were more expensive than other choices we made and perhaps having price bands indicated when putting together a tailor made trip might be useful. Useful also to have this information when giving feed back to hold the more expensive options to a higher standard even if tou can not compare apples and oranges of course!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was great. I really enjoyed the logistic and how the trip like this is arranged with a sort of self drive but also guided excursions.
Thank you to Tom tips we enjoyed a lot exploring this Country.

The only remark I have it’s maybe preparing people a bit more because the streets are really bad" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Ultimately Expert Africa was helpful with two rebookings over the pandemic but they really made the first one troublesome, first telling me to pay balance and I would get a refund if I couldn't make it and then refusing to give me the refund!!!

Inevitably, when reviewing so many different things, one is bound to make some comparisons resulting in not everyone getting an “excellent” review. Plus, I completely lost track of any individual lodge’s pricing since I bought a package to start and then we had several years of adjustments. So, I wasn’t really rating based on “value”. For example, Otjimbondona really impressed us but it might have been crazy expensive!!

Overall, it was an excellent trip and I appreciated the variety of experience. The self drive portion was much easier than anticipated and it was great having that independence after the very prescribed Botswana portion. It was absolutely beautiful reaching the coast at Luderitz (and seafood!) after so much desert time." Read full review: 37 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was going really well until I discovered at Fish River that Namibia had been put on the red list and all flights had been cancelled.

My other abiding memory will be how unbelievably windy it was and how the wind did not drop overnight. Swakopmund was probably the only place where it was not blowing a gale the whole time.

It was so bad that one or two of the lodges provided ear plugs so that you were not kept awake by the sound of your tent trying to fly off to the Kalahari." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We totally enjoyed the trip overall. This was a terrific agenda, thank you to Tracy at Expert Africa for all her hard work and our many changes.

Johann, our private guide, was absolutely super. We could not have asked for a better person to manage our way and maximize our stay in Namibia. Highlights were numerous, and we would not have missed any. Outstanding for all of us was our stay at Huab under Canvas, Driving the Dunes at Sandwich Harbour, Sossusvlei & Deadvlei and Kolmannskuppe.

Elephant and Rhino tracking were once in a lifetime experiences, and we appreciate all the efforts involved to allow us those opportunities. We would highly recommend the trip, and both the care & service provided by Tracy before we got there, and by Johann once we were in country." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Very satisfactory is not even close to describing our satisfaction with our experience with Expert Africa. Maruska did a superb job in communicating with us whether over the phone or by email. She answered all our questions promptly, stuck to our budget, fulfilled our request for a self guided tour and the areas we wanted to visit and provided many more useful suggestions. We followed her itinerary to a T and was never disappointed. Still there was plenty of opportunity to use the Bradt guide and add extra excursions when we wanted. I think that was only possible because of her careful, knowledgeable planning. Our group of three visited from Oct 5 - Nov 1, 2019

If we know of anyone going to Africa we would not hesitate to point out the excellent service that Expert Africa provided us.

Thank You Expert Africa and especially Maruska! You made our vacation hassle free and memorable." Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"What a great trip. Superbly organised by Expert Africa (thank you Tracy). It was well worth organising a private and exceptionally nice driver (thank you Ronnie) as we were able to cover an enormous distance in great comfort (an 8 seater Land Cruiser with A/C and a fridge just for the 2 of us).

We saw and understood much more by having our own guide than we would have done if we had guided ourselves. We were spared the problems of driving on relatively poor roads and the anxiety of coping with possible punctures and breakdowns.

With hindsight we wonder whether it was worth the very long journey to Fish River Canyon. Yes it was amazing but unless you have arranged to walk the canyon, you see only a limited part of it from the rim.

We also wonder whether an entire day at a diamond mine that wasn't working was worth the bother.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We think that your organisation and service was fantastic. Well done and thank you." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip