Reviews of safaris to Namib-Naukluft National Park

"Overall our trip surpassed our expectations. We have both travelled extensively and this is the first time we have ever gone through an agent. All the accommodation and food was excellent. The two wilderness safari camps activities were overpriced and there was a lack of passion with the guides we had.

I did feel that the itinerary could have been planned a little better in the middle. Most people were surprised we had 6 nights in Damarland as were we when we realised how close the camps were to eachother. We could have missed out Damaraland Camp and had 3 nights at Etosha and 2 nights at Okonjima or even 4 nights at Etosha. Despite the guide books saying you don't see much wildlife at the time of year we were there for us it was still incredible.

We definitely needed another night further to the west and had to run around for a day and a half. Obviously I am not an expert and only went by what I read. I would recommend at least 3 nights at different camps across Etosha if you have the amount of time we had. We had a fantastic time in Damaraland but had to double back on ourselves from Grootberg to Etendeka.

Again I think people should be discouraged from visiting the Terrace Bay Camp for one night - if I had understood what it was like I would never have wanted to go. We had a very long drive to get there, arrived late and then had to leave early - it was exhausting and not worth the detour. Our only disappointment was we didn't have enough time in Etosha.

We had a fantastic holiday and I would recommend Expert Africa to my friends and family.

Thank you.

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We would have appreciated more information about the way certain camps were run in terms of activities and additional costs ie. Wilderness Safari's Camp. We felt pressured into doing all the activities and compared to every other camp the prices were very high and quality low.

I would have liked more information about certain places, especially the Skeleton Coast. I did say I wanted to go there but was going off what I'd read and I suppose lack of knowledge. Better guidance would have made me realise this side trip wasn't necessary. The same goes for Etosha - despite what the guide books say you really do need 3/4 nights to do it justice whatever time of year you are there. I was under the impression that we wouldn't see much so 2 nights was enough. This most definitely wasn't the case and most of the other travellers we met had seen elephants and rhino, lions and even cheetahs. Please make sure that people understand that they will see wildlife if they go at this time of year.

We were advised that there wasn't much to see in Luderitz. After visiting Klein Aus Vista I wouldn't agree with this. We would have preferred to stay one or even two nights in Luderitz. The Ghost mining town was fascinating and the drive around the peninsula fascinating. There was so much to see but we felt rushed as we had to get back up to Klein Aus Vista. Luderitz itself isn't the most beautiful place but everything to do is nearby where as Klein Aus Vista is perhaps good for hikers but for no other reason. It's only another 1hr 15mins to Luderitz and you seen the wild horses on the way there. It would have been nice to be able to choose a restaurant and go for a walk rather being limited to one choice.

Finally, we were on a half board basis at the Damaraland Camp and Kulala Lodge which we found very strange. There isn't anywhere else to go so this should really be included. Our final bill came to nearly 2,000 Namibian Dollars at Kulala Lodge and 3,000 at Damarland Camp when the activities and lunches plus drinks were added in which we thought was excessive having already paid for Half Board. At Grootberg lunch was included with the activities whereas at D Camp and Kulala we paid for the activity then had to come back and pay for lunch. We understood we had to pay for extras but with nowhere but the lodge to eat at lunch should be included." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia was everything that we'd hoped for plus some. The landscape was a lot more varied than I'd expected , the quality especially of accommodation and the food was fantastic and everyone we met was extremely friendly and helpful.

Although there are considerable distances to travel (we did over 3200 km's) the roads were very good, even the gravel and sand roads were well maintained we never found travelling to be daunting or a problem. The one thing to remember was to keep the petrol tank topped up, we adopted the policy of filling the tank whenever we had the opportunity if we were two thirds full or less as recommended by Expert Africa.

I'd recommend Namibia unreservedly to anyone interested in Africa.

Overall a fantastic trip with not even the hint of any problems. Namibia lived up to and exceeded all of our expectations and I am seriously returning in a couple of years in the dry season to get a different view on the country especially Etosha.

One thing that we did was we had the hire car cleaned prior to return. It did not say on the hire documents if this was necessary but we paid Nam $60 in Windhoek for a full hand clean. When we returned the car handover took less than 5 minutes with no problems what so ever and I'm sure this was due to the cleanliness of the car. So it was £5 well spent

We found everything in Namibia to be either reasonably priced or cheaper than expected with one exception which was books and newspapers which were very expensive.

Overall Namibia over excellent value for money especially when the quality of food and service was taken into consideration

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only thing that we were uncertain on was , as previously mentioned, whether the hire car should be cleaned prior to return. Adopting the policy of cleaning it anyway certainly served us well." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Wonderful experience from planning stage to returning home. The variety of lodges/accomadation suggested by Tracy were superb, possibly our best holiday ever !!.

Car hire; Tracy recommended a 4x4 when pushed, accepted it was possible in a 2 WD, as indeed all brouchers indicate, not just EX AF. I would happily tell anyone that I made a mistake, and a 4x4 is essential. The gravel roads are so variable in quality throughout Namibia some rutted so badly or loosely laid that grounding is unavoidable at 20Kph, the C14,C19, C27 for example, in Etosha water flooding the road -- how deep?, fortunatly we remained dry.
Thanks Tracy for a wonderful trip

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No --- keep up your high standard of good work." Read full review: 31 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Trip was excellent. Thank you.

Expert Africa did a splendid job of arranging the Dik Dik self-drive trip with some itinerary modification which worked out well (day trip to Sandwich Harbour instead of kayaking in Walvis Bay lagoon, extra time in Swakopmund). As it turned out, the extra time in Swakopmund was a good thing because I was attached by a dog in the street requiring a visit to the police, a doctor, a pharmacy, the bank, etc.

Had I not had an extra day there, I'd not have seen Swakopmund -- an interesting and unusual place. That is not say that extra time should be built in to all itineraries to permit post dog-attack activities. As it turns out, there is no rabies in Namibia -- or at least not in Swakopmund district -- and the dog's owner paid my N$900 expenses.

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I should note that Angela Griffin also helped arrange this trip and she did an excellent job of it. Thanks." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"This was a magical trip, well planned (for example spending New Years Eve at Swakopmund where the parties occur) and included some excellent sceneary and sites.

Thank you for yor experise and help" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"we thank expert africa and specialy Sabina for the professional assistance and organisation. Thanks to your suggestions we had a perfect and very well planned voyage. We will use expert africa for our next trip (we hope to go to zambia or tanzania....)

Thank you." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"The arrangements all went according to plan.

We did however end the trip feeling a bit uncomfortable being affluent tourists in such an obviously poor country, especially as under our own arrangements we visited a San community, who are more underprivileged than most." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"excellent. the best organised and thought through trip we can remember anywhere in the world and we trvel alot to the far east and australasia. see me original e mail to tracy.

Further comments sent by email

In addition to their feedback above, these travellers made further comments about their trip, by email:

"We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed ourselves enormously.I wanted to tell you how impressed we have been with quality of service we have had from Expert Africa and you in particular.We travel extensively and we can honestly say that you are the best organised and professional tour operator that we have dealt with. The information and response to our questions before we left proved to be entirely accurate on the trip. It also became evident as time progressed that there was a well thought out reason for each of the stages and accomodation that had been booked.

Namibia was stunning and we also enjoyed our time in S Africa although I would avoid Plettenberg for the first 2 weeks of December as it is student rage time and there are lots of drunken and extremely loud school and college leavers there. It is difficult to select the best hotels as they were all good to excellent. However I would mention the Vineyard in Cape Town which is beautiful place and faultlessly managed with great staff.We also liked Oulap and Klippie River which I understand is up for sale.

In Namibia the best were Bullsport which was great introduction, Little Kulala and Dora Nawas both of which were stunning settings and a great experience. Okanijima,Onguma and Okaukuejo wre all excellent and we loved Etosha.

We will certainly highly recommend Expert Africa and when next we are going to Africa which I trust we will be soon we will definately be in contact. Thanks once again. I know it requires alot of effert on your behalf to provide this level of professional service"

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no. I think you have got it right.keep it up" Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Because of our fairly late booking some of our first choices were unavailable and thus we had to compromise and shorten our trip this year. Prices in some cases seem to have risen significantly. Some parts of Namibia are now becoming overdeveloped particularly just outside ETOSHA. That said there is still plenty of space to go round!

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We have always been very happy with the service all the staff at Expert Africa have provided to us over many years now and long may it continue." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We had an absolutely amazing trip to Zambia and Namibia and a lot of this was thanks to the excellent advice and recommendations from the Expert Africa Staff and the reviews of previous customers on the website.

Everything worked like clockwork and we would definitely use Expert Africa again. Indeed we have already recommended you to a couple of our friends planning Africa holidays....

Suggestions for improvements:

We were very impressed with the service - cannot fault it. It was especially helpful getting notes on the trip, maps etc prior to departure." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip