Reviews of safaris to Okonjima Nature Reserve

"We visited Namibia with our family of seven adults in December 2024/January 2025. We chose to self-drive in two 4WD cars, traveling from Windhoek to the Namib Desert, to Swakopmund, Damaraland, Etosha, and finally Okonjima, before returning to Windhoek, a distance of 2000 kilometers in two weeks. We believe our itinerary allowed us to experience different desert and savannah environments, with their different wildlife species, without feeling we were driving too much.

We had chosen Namibia as none of the family except one had ever been to Africa on safari, and we wanted a special experience as my husband and I were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. It is fair to say this holiday is the best holiday any of us have ever had. Namibia is such a beautiful and varied country, it blew us away. We stayed in extremely comfortable lodges, which were all without exception outstanding. The staff were helpful and kind. The food delicious. The guides knowledgable and entertaining. And we saw so many different animals! If it hadn't started to rain hard on our last day I think we may never have left.

Expert Africa, and specifically Sabina, did a brilliant job organising the logistics: everything worked as per plan - the route and accommodation descriptions were accurate, the lodges expected us, the cars were brand new and drove well, and the supporting information provided relevant and useful.

Thank you very much for our holiday of a lifetime!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"I was thoroughly impressed with ExpertAfrica!

We take a 2-3 week trip every year, and usually do it fully independently. For this trip, I had planned out the full trip, and then we decided for fun to see what ExpertAfrica would quote, thinking it would be higher. It turned out to be about 30% cheaper! And on top of that, Maruska provided a lot of benefits we would have otherwise missed out on.

For example, we booked rather far ahead (over a year), and Maruska was able to make the bookings even though they weren't available yet on some hotels websites.

She was also able to determine that a couple would be closed over the holidays and recommended alternatives.

Her step-by-step directions between lodges was also excellent, better than both Google Maps and our physical map.

I'd definitely recommend ExpertAfrica to my friends (or anyone!) and we will be using ExpertAfrica again if we're headed to a country tha ExpertAfrica offers trips to.

Thanks for helping make our trip so memorable!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"It was a spectacular trip and we cannot wait to return. Expect Africa did an incredible job.

We stayed in a variety of accommodations and Expert Africa prepared us for each one - we knew what to expect and how to get there.

It was a wonderful trip." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful adventure holiday although it felt very safe because we had confidence in the car hire and all the information we received.

The lodges were all fantastic. The scenery is a landscape photographer’s dream. People we came across were all very friendly, helpful and happy to see us.

The food was much better than we had anticipated. Animals were very plentiful - I even saw a honey badger!

The lodge game drives were all really excellent with good, very knowledgeable guides.

All in all, a terrific experience and we will recommend Expert Africa to all." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We had a great time.

Partly due to booking late in the day we sorted our own flights from Manchester. The route is to Addis Ababa and then change for Windhoek. There is also an hour downtime at Geneva on the longer leg as some passengers get on/off. Another time I might prefer to change at Frankfurt and then go direct to Windhoek.

The driving is a challenge, especially as it was all down to me. You need the height of a big 4WD to protect you against the worst of the roads and elevate you for spotting wildlife. Make sure you have a coolbox included. This came up almost by accident in discussion but is an essential. Unless you fancy drinking 'bathwater' as you bounce along then you'll need one.

Food, drink, incidentals, fuel and generous tips are not very costly for us. Our main expense was the cost of trips we hadn't pre-booked but it gave us some flexibility. We recommend doing the hot air balloon trip.

The wildlife survey is a little misleading. It omits bird and sea life entirely. Presumably, it lists the animals that people are most interested in but we saw lots of other animals, large and small, that are unlisted. For example, we saw a striped jackel between the road and dunes near Walvis Bay and much more." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"I went to spend time with the Desert Elephants and that exceeded my expectations.

Expert Africa and great with suggestions and organising. I had one hic up when I needed to back track and then come back again so I forfeited that route as the roads in Namibia have deteriorated over the years in my opinion. I think a great deal more lobbying is needed by lodges and tour operators to get those roads sorted out. Certainly back tracking makes no sense.

I love Namibia and this will not be the last time I visit." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We have had a wonderful trip with Expert Africa.

Sabina was very helpful and enhanced our experience. It was fun to go and meet her in Windhoek." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Outstanding.

Sabina was remarkably good about tailoring this to our requests and interests.

She always had good suggestions, and arranged a last minute change to our itinerary at our request.

Sabina was clearly knowledgeable and most helpful in every way." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We really had a great trip. We saw much more wildlife than we had even dreamed might be possible.

We loved having the freedom of driving ourselves around and having our own vehicle. If we had had more time, we should have done a little more research and maybe could also have gone to see the dunes at Sossusvlei, but this trip came up fairly suddenly and it was great to have someone else, someone who knows the area, do the planning for us.

The places we stayed were much fancier than what we are accustomed to, but we sure appreciated that every place we stayed had a pool, and we made use of most of them. Always staying at such fancy places we felt like we didn't really get as much of a sense of what Namibia is like for the people who live there, but I guess that wasn't the purpose of this trip.

As a safari experience, it was top notch. Overall, no complaints, and we'd certainly use this service again in similar circumstances." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We had a very special time in Namibia.

The guidebook you kindly sent us was excellent and in the locations and lodges you recommended was well chosen and as per the advertised experience.

In hindsight, we could have chosen slightly lower key/cheaper lodges.

Saying that, we really enjoyed excellent food and beautiful rooms and facilities everywhere.

So we got our money's worth." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip