Reviews of safaris to Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland

"Overall we thoroughly enjoyed the holiday.

Desert Rhino was our favourite place, followed by Ongava, Serra Cafema and then last would be Doro Nawas. We wouldn't stay at the Heinitzburg again.

The driving around was easy. You provided us with excellent information and all your arrangements were very well organised so we always knew where we were meant to be. If we did a trip again to Namibia, I think we would self-drive more or sort out a tented safari.

A negative we found with Namibia is that because of limited accommodation and because there are well-known sights, there is a sort of circuit that everyone appears to be doing, which made it feel a bit touristy.

On the positive side, the people are lovely and very helpful, and the country felt very safe to move around in.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really, we felt that Expert Africa did a very good job and were very helpful. however, having spent many holidays and lived in Africa, we did feel that Namibia is a very expensive destination." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We all had a wonderful holiday and one which we will never forget. I for one am already planning a return trip!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A little more information on the weather. Did not expect it to be so consistently cold every evening except for our first evening in Windhoek or to be so windy." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Overall a fabulous holiday.Very relaxing. A truly stunning country.

In the context of an excellent holiday - a few pieces of feedback

1. I think we should have been recommended a 4x4 car - hadn't realised what the roads were like, and would definitely have appreciated that! We were consistently the only guests at lodges who were in a small car

2. Swokupmund was not worth visiting. .The purpose of our trip was to see the country, not a seaside resort, so we had always seen this as simply a stopover. During the planning of the holiday, we'd pushed quite hard for just a one night stop over there, but Expert Africa had been quite insistent that we would need 2. This was a wasted day, which was disappointing. We should have either been allowed to take the one night, or instead, should have taken 2 separate nights out in the countryside.
Recommendation - try to understand what's important for people's holidays (for us towns were absolutely not important)

3. Palmwag was disappointing" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia lived up everything that Expert Africa promised. Getting around was much easier than expected and the quality of the accommodation, food and service were all excellent.

The 2WD car proved perfectly OK, although it did mean taking it slowly on some sections of corrugated roads around Solitaire and Palmwag.

We were so glad we booked up three nights stays at various places. In our opinion this makes a huge difference to making the most of what's on offer in the different regions. We could easily have stayed another three weeks." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip

"Absolutely loved every minute of our holiday. Lived up to and exceeded our expectations in every way. We loved the country - the scenery is incredible, the people the friendliest we have met in any African country and the accommodation in general at a high standard (possibly because much is fairly new).

Every day was different, we saw lots of the country (leaving the Caprivi Strip for another holiday) and spent much of each day telling each other how much we were enjoying ourselves!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nothing I can think of" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Incredibly well put together, good advice, everything worked like clockwork and we would definitely use you again and recommend you to friends." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We asked for something special to celebrate our Golden Wedding anniversary and we certainly got it. The highlights are too numerous to mention but we must comment on the people - they were all so friendly and helpful which really was one of the factors making this such a great holiday. We have returned full of wonderful memories.

Apart from specifics already covered, we must compliment Sefofane for very comfortable flight transfers. The game drive transfer between Ongava and Onguma was spoiled by it being unusually windy which meant we arrived at Onguma very, very dusty, but we did see lions on the way walking right up to our vehicle.

We should mention that South African 200 Rand noted are no longer accepted in Namibia due to problems with forgeries. They can only be exchanged at Bank of Namibia. There is no problem with smaller denominations.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have only praise for your service." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"It was the most wonderful holiday and a magical place. No place else like it on earth. As an Artist it has given me a lot to work from, our itinerary proved to be a good introduction to the various different aspects of Namibia and it's wildlife. Found people very friendly and always helpful, we were very sad to be leaving.

Apart from on arrival and our transfer from the airport to Olive Grove not being available as it had been booked in the wrong month. And the other issues already raised. Everything else went like clockwork and it was an excellent trip.

There is an Issue with the South African Rand which we had not been made aware of. It appears that older $200 Rand notes were no longer acceptable in Namibia after 31st May. However our cash reserve was in rands, there was some confusion over the whole issue. Some places did accept them with no quibble. Our main concern is we weren't made aware of the problem, otherwise we would have relied more on Namibian dollars.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Template letter with final documents needs more fine tuning. Might be helpful to include a checklist of documents needed,to save trawling through lengthy letters.

Otherwise will come back to Expert Africa for future trips and very many thanks to Sabina for all her help and patience, she was brilliant." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is an amazing country, spectacuar sights from beginning to end. All the bookings were good, no confusions anywhere.

The plan was ours rather than Expert Africa's, we just requested the accommodation to be booked for us. Where our first choice was not available they were very helpful in suggesting alternatives.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 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