Reviews of safaris to Okonjima Nature Reserve

"We had a wonderful trip apart from the scorpion. Tracy is a great asset! Please thank her again for all her help.......does she cover Botswana ( our next African trip)?" Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 26 on a Namibia trip

"Fabulous and unforgetable

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It would be hard to design a better trip. The only suggestion I could make to do differently would be to select automatic transmission. We spent a fair bit of time driving getting places and after I ground the gears a few times David decided he'd better do all the driving. On the other hand, maybe this might be a strategy for some." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"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.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

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

"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

"Expert Africa were highly efficent with great advice prior to us booking out trip and were excellent when we left our documents in Windhoek and faxed a copy for us to continue our trip.Thank you we would recommend you to all our friends considering a trip to Africa.

The lodges we chose we fantastic with excellent and knowledgable staff and guides, as it was low season we often went out on our own and had personnal service which was a bonus.

We had a trip of a lifetime and look forward to another trip to Africa in 2011" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 8 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"

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

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!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

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

"An amazing trip, certainly unforgettable. We thought it would be the trip of a lifetime, but now we are not sure. We may need to go back!

Next time I'd like to see some options so I get to choose what I am payng for. (type of vehicle, accommodation options, activities etc.) On this occasion we booked quite late so the options would have been limited, but having visited we know there are different camps

We were impressed with the itinerary that Sabina sorted for us, particularly booking the accommodations she did at such short notice. It was a pleasure to meet Chris at Ongava.

Thank you Sabina" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We were recommended to visit Namibia by some people we met in Botswana last year. It was a good piece of advice. We chose Expert Africa because they seemed to have the expertise to organise bespoke travel arrangements. During the planning stages nothing was overlooked by our consultant Sabina, and this gave us great confidence.

We would certainly advise like minded travellers to visit Namibia, and to trust Expert Africa as we did." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Great holiday overall and we were awe struck by the landscape. There are a few things we would do differently such as:

Skip Windhoek
Stay closer to Etosha
Do Twyfelfontein from a different lodge
Do half day tour at Swakopmund

But these are details; it was a great great holiday and we hope to do Fish River Canyon and The Caprivi Strip on our next visit." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip