Reviews of safaris to Namib-Naukluft National Park

"We had an absolutely amazing time in Namibia, and it was well worth the wait after two years of COVID cancellations.

Sabina was excellent in rearranging our accommodation three times and it was lovely to actually meet her in Windhoek.

We are already thinking about a return journey where we'd like to take in Caprivi & Victoria Falls..." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 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The only slightly negative comment is that the prices quoted in the guidebooks for entrance fees etc are now outdated.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

"We were drawn to this firm after reading the Namibia Travel book by Chris and felt they were the right agency. During our previous Safaris we had used two other high end agencies and tough satisfied felt the trip to Namibia with Expert Africa would be a better option.

Megan was extremely helpful right form the start and I did enact with Chris on several occasions as he was the expert and found this advice e valuable.

We did have a slight hitch but this was promptly resolved.

I will certainly book again with Expert Africa .

One word of caution for those taking a connecting flight via Frankfurt. DO NOT take the short connection time as sold by Lufthansa as you will to get any help at the airport . We along with twelve other passengers from various airports in UK just managed to catch the flight to Windhoek minus our luggage.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The trip to Tywfelfontein from the Damarland is worthwhile and it takes only half an hour each way. You are allowed only 45 mins at the site. This information needs to be widely circulated" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 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

"A great trip!!!!!!!! We waited two year for it, having cancelled it in 2020 and 2021. We are very happy with everything, including my wife who joined me again in a safari since 1989!

Namibia is a special country with so much to explore other than wildlife; if the latter is the focus other african countries may be better suited to my view.

And thus, belonging to this group, after my last two trips to Rwanda and Namibia, I am ready to go back to east Africa :)" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 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

"We initially booked this trip with Expert Africa in late February/early March, 2020. Then Covid hit and the world went into lockdown. Maruska was our contact person from the start, making the reservations and setting up the itinerary for us.

We went through many ups and downs over the course of these two years, never sure if indeed the trip would materialize. Initially we postponed the September, 2020 trip to 2021, but it still did not seem wise to go then, so we postponed it to August/September, 2022. If we could have gotten most of our deposit returned, we would have cancelled the entire trip, with all of the continued worries and anxiety that Covid was inflicting on the world.

As Expert Africa has a firm policy of not returning deposits, we postponed the trip again to 2022. We are so glad we did! It all turned out fabulous, and thankfully, we remained healthy.

Throughout this long postponement, with the changes involved, Maruska was always exceedingly polite, understanding, and respectful of our worries and concerns. She did an extraordinary job arranging our trip, which involved four different countries, multiple flights, and many different camps.

The organization was outstanding and everything was seamless.

Truly incredible attention to detail. Thank you.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Can’t think of any." Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"An excellent trip apart from the car issues we had.

The gravel roads aren’t for the faint hearted but the country as a whole makes up for it!

Stunning scenery, a great variety of experiences and many very happy memories.

The tok tokkie trail and Ongava were our highlights" Read full review: 33 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was excellent - great wildlife, great landscapes, and great places to stay.

May be worth Expert Africa warning people just how bad some of the roads can be (the Welwitschia Drive in places was a trial, and going the optimum speed on the endless ridged sections doesn't always help, especially if you want to stop the vehicle and look at something with the binoculars). However, that's all part of the fun.

Everything worked out as planned, and it was so good I didn't even mind changing a flat tyre on my birthday before we walked out to the other-worldly experience of Dead Vlei. Most of the people we dealt with at the various camps, restaurants etc were native Namibians, and almost to a woman (and some men) they were friendly and helpful and welcoming.

The navigation was also very easy and its nice to have roads with such little traffic. This will stand out as one of our favourite trips of all time. We hope to return.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Not really. This trip was the upper end of our affordability, but there's not much one can do about that unless we camped and cooked our own food, and then we would have had less time for the wildlife and would not have experienced some of the excellent chalets etc.

Namibia does seem to offer something special in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of the ease of a self-drive experience and quality of places to stay - and you undoubtedly know the country well enough to pick some of the most characterful places. Maybe make sure Europcar don't give out duff contact numbers to clients!

Other than that, thanks Tracy for all the ground organisation, and also thanks Mr McIntyre for the excellent Bradt guide, which was a constant companion." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"All well planned, helpful preparation discussions with Sabina.

Only minor detail that went wrong was advice to shop in Keetmanhoop before entering South Africa through the Mata Mata gate only to have nearly all our food and firewood confiscated by SA Customs." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 10 on a South Africa trip