Reviews of safaris to Okonjima Nature Reserve

"Namibia is a fantastic country and one that is relatively easy to allow children to experience a range of what Africa has to offer. There is a difficult balance between time available, distance travelled, quality of roads, type of accommodation, variety of experience etc but we got it about right for our three, but what works best will vary for everyone. We met some who travelled far more than we did and survived!

Even in early spring, our kids found the temperaturte difficult in the middle of the day, but the mornings and evenings were fine - so think carefully about when to go and when to travel. Five is a difficult number to travel with - but everywhere we stayed, the accommodation worked well. We could have travelled less, avoided Damaraland, or stuck more to the tar - but that would have detracted from the overall experience.

Overall, excellent.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Couldn't really fault it.

Thank you." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip to Namibia exceeded our expectations. The only hardship was the bumpy roads which made up about 2/3 of the roads we travelled on. Apart from that all the accommodation was really really good, the food was always great and amazing considering how remote some of these places are and the service was always very good. We can definitely recommend an Expert Africa trip to Namibia. 2 weeks is a good length of time - you may want to consider staying somewhere for 3 nights so you have a little breather - maybe in Swakopmund." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"The trip met our very high expectations and did so, impressively, for every member of the family. EA provided excellent guidance on trip planning and the lodge recommendations were all terrific. Car selection was just right for the family, though we were lucky to get and would recommend the 4x4 version of the XTrail.

The highlights were Etosha and Okonjima, along with the desert scenery in the south. Our reactions to Twyfelfontein were mixed: The rock carvings were great, but the hotel was so-so, and we all would have preferred an additional night at Erongo (vice one there and two in Twyfelfontein). One of us would have skipped it altogether in favor of a day in Swakop. Windhoek was a real disappointment -- not at all quaint and not an inviting place to walk around in -- though we all loved dinner at Joe's Beer House.

EA also gave excellent advice on dividing our Etosha stay between the central and eastern ends. Two nights in each was just right. Driving and navigating went fine. A couple of recommendations: the Main Street Cafe in Omaruru is a great place to stop for lunch. And the Neurias Winery served us a superb lunch (and gave a great tour) on our way from Bullsport to Kulala.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The map EA provided was the best of the 3 we had in terms of accuracy. But the route someone at EA highlighted for our drive was not always the best route. We suggest that EA encourage travelers to check with each lodge about the best route for their onward travel to take advantage of local knowledge about road conditions. That said, we were advised by the Kulala lodge to skip the shortcut indicated on our map (on a D road) and drive all the way to Swakop to pick up a paved road on our long drive to Omaruru, but the drive was brutal because the road conditions most of the way to Walvis Bay were the worst we encountered, and we barely made it to Erongo by sunset (even though we ate lunch in the car). It may be useful to tell travelers that whether a road is designated a C or a D isn't really material -- its all about how recently it was graded.

We also appreciated the steps EA took to address a booking mishap. The upgrade at Mushara was lovely and Kulala was almost certainly a better option than the govt. lodge we had initially favored. Many thanks Tom and we look forward to traveling with EA again on a future trip." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Unbelievable! Great trip - and good to go way we did - ie start with Bagatelle heading south and then west. In this way we appreciated what each place had to offer - in terms of location, animals, etc. If we had started at Okonjima - well - all others would not compare well.

The animals at Etosha would also overshadow the animals at the other lodges - eg tracking desert elephants at Doro Nawas was great - but if we had already seen the herd of 20 at the waterhole each night in Etosha - it would have lost some of the attraction and adventure. Each place was unique - so thank you - it was not like we were comparing one 5* place to another one...
Animals were sort of unque at each to a point eg loads of deer types at Bagatelle, Ostriches at Hoodia & the desert, desert elephants and Doro, all various things at Etendeka, everything at Etosha, chill out - dik diks, warhogs and snakes( !!) at Mushara and the cats at Okonjima.

Suggestions:
*Car - ours was not happy on the gravel roads and did not cope with the D road - better to have a larger, more suitable car. warn all re the dust - you could not see what colour the car was when we returned it.......or our clothes!!!
*Laundry : good to have every 5 days included in package. So dusty there - we collected loads and ended up hand washing through some things by day 11. But we were also in Jo'berg for 4 days before Namibia and cape Town 4 days after Namibia.
*If in one place for the night - maybe let us know their activity list so we can get to the place in time and not miss activities?

But - cannot fault you - truly brilliant holiday which we all loved!!

Marusha - hope you have a healthy baby girl now and many thanks for pulling this together for us,

thanks,

Lynne, Rob, Sam & Matt" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"It was a great holiday and very well put together. The properties we stayed at were all great and any questions we had were dealt with in a timely manner." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"This is our fourth visit to Namibia and the best yet. All people we met throughout our visit were extremely friendly and welcoming." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful experience with wonderful memories.

Breathtaking from beginning to end, especially in terms of nature and wildlife but also very nice places to stay (mostly). The only 'down' side I can think of is the cost, as this was indeed by far the most expensive holiday we've ever booked... but no regrets! Next time I would however do the trip in the opposite direction (as was the plan originally -I know-, but couldn't be achieved because of booking restraints) and leave the highlights (etosha and okonjima) 'til the end.

Thanks for the good planning and organization and the help throughout!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"A dream holiday. Would like to do revisit most of the places." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia. 14 days was the absolute minimum time for the trip- would have really liked a couple of extra days to reduce a bit of driving. (Our choice I know). We found all the places in Namibia delightful/interesting to stay in- all different but great fun with their own charms. THe roads overall are not bad- many are sealed with long, straight stretches. Many of the unsealed ones were fine too but there were three really bad ones-luckily not too long.Certainly wouldn't put us off returning for another visit.

The meet and greet Wilderness Safari team at Windhoek airport were very helpful, efficient and patient, and we appreciated their little lounge to use while waiting.

We did have a truly great memorable trip with too many highlights to single any out. Felt totally safe. The people are charming and the ethos about tourism is impressive.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Cant comment on the brochure as dont think I ever saw one. Found the feedback form a bit tedious to fill in so hope it is helpful.

But we did have a really great trip and have been recommending Expert Africa to anyone interested in travel to Africa from New Zealand" Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We loved the people, landscapes and animal viewing, every Namibian we met were absolutely lovely, it is a wonderful country, although we wish it wasn't quite so cold at night!" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip