Namibia: reviews from our travellers

"An excellent trip, Namibia cannot fail to impress as a holiday destination.

One blot on the copy book was our NWR bookings had all been cancelled. Sossus Dune Lodge: the manager managed to sort things out for us without any hassle on our part. Okaukuejo: we spent over an hour checking in and had to ring the Wilderness Safaris out-of-hours contact no. to sort things out. Eventually we were given a standard double room instead of the Water-hole Chalet which we'd paid for. Namutoni: we had asked Wilderness Safaris to sort this out before we got there, and check-in was fine." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"A great trip, very well organised. The only minor grumbles were with the Doro Nawas lodge.

A fascinating country with so much of interest, coupled with good service and great places to stay." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Exceeded our expectations mostly because the scenery was truely breath taking and very varied.

We were unable to take any cultural tours as kids were not allowed on the options we were interested in and I did feel that our overall content lacked more indigenous cultural content and we were left with questions without a venue to ask them." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"We had a brilliant trip. We saw lots of amazing sights and animals, and stayed in some wonderful places. The Namibian people were very friendly and helpful.

Some of the long drives between places are a bit boring, in particular the one from Sossusvlei to Swakopmund.

If we ever went to Namibia again, the only things we would do differently are:
- stay in Windhoek on arrival, so that we don't have a long drive on the first day
- hire a 4-wheel drive vehicle, instead of a saloon car. The car was fine on most of the roads, but some roads are very rutted and bumpy, particularly the private roads to some of the lodges
- take a bird book." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent. A wonderful holiday. Brilliantly organised." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"Fantastic, we're already planning our next trip. A very memorable holiday, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Suggestions for improvement:

Just one - the travel notes say that an adaptor for South Africa and Namibia is hard to find, and it may be better to take a UK power lead and re-wire it to a local plug. This isn't very helpful, because most power leads for battery chargers and shavers have sealed plugs, so you can't disconnect them without damaging them. However, I think the adaptors are becoming more widely available - I found them at Nomad Travel shops, at Selfridges, on Amazon, at Heathrow and at Johannesburg Airport, and if I'd kept looking no doubt I would have found them in lots of other places." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"Best holiday we have ever been on. From beginning to end we were treated to spectacular sights and experiences. The contrast of all the lodges added to the exotic feel of our honeymoon.

Suggestions for improvement:

I would suggest that the drive from Zebra River to Swokopmund was one of the most boring parts of the holiday. The main road could have been avoided if we had a permit to drive fhrough the national park. In reterospect we should have picked one of these up in Windhoek so we could do this.

An excellent geological fieldguide about Namibia is "The Roadside Geology of Namibia, 2nd Revised Edition" by Gabi Schneider (2008, ISBN 978-3-443-15084-6). It is far superior than "A fascination of geology" recommended by the Brant guide.

Detour to the Hobra meteroite was well worth it.

If going again we would spend less time in Swokopmund, and more time in the bush.

Purchased goods are entitled to a VAT refund at Windhoek airport if you have the invoice handy, although you have to give them your bank details.

Camera tripod was the best thing we took with us, for timer photos of us and night shots of the game," Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"An excellent trip with some wonderful game viewing, All the group were able to capture excellent images.

Suggestions for improvement:

Not really. I have booked about 7 trips with you and I have generally been very pleased.

Sabina was particulary helpful this year." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"As Africa/Namibia virgins we were perhaps not quite as prepared for the long distances involved as we thought and got very tired at times whilst we acclimatised to the gravel roads and heat. You need to be prepared to get going early in the day, something we were not terribly good at in the beginning especially with all the wonderful wildlife and stunning scenery to photograph.

With hindsight it would perhaps be better not to try and cover such a large area but on the whole it was fantastic to do what we did, we felt we had had a real adventure and met some wonderful, charming people. All Sabina's arrangements for us went perfectly and we would like to thank her very much for her care and attention." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"As a complete trip it was brilliant with many wonderful highlights. Until we got to Kulala the arrangements worked flawlessly. Only then did things begin to go wrong and these all happened on Wilderness Safaris' "watch". From then on the trip had an element of stress it did not have before since we constantly had to keep on checking things like whether they had packed fruit on the game drives for my wife instead of cake (on 2 days they forgot!). I know you have already been in contact with them and I await the outcome.

Thank you Expert Africa!" Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip