Reviews of safaris to Southern Namibia

"This was a very well planned & well thought out trip, Sarah was so helpful in explaining what would work & what wouldn't, she explained she thought some of the drives would be too long in one day, which were the best places to spend more than one night etc. She certainly knew her stuff!

Our mistake perhaps was trying to do so much in 28 days, we could have done with a couple of 3 day breaks as we got very tired with so much chopping & changing.

Also when trying to stipulate & stick to our budget we ended up with a lot of the venues with only B&B & not half board which meant that overall we ended up spending a lot more than we had planned." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 27 on a Namibia trip

"Well organised self-drive tour. I would definitely recommend a 4WD as the roads on this trip were very rough in parts.

There is a lot of driving, sometime quite slow-going but the scenery is so amazing it's worth it." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"Timing: November is on the cusp of rain, pretty hot, but still just about dry. I believe it is a relatively quiet month. Some parts of Etosha had seen rain and game viewing was good. Southern Namibia remained bone dry. It is a lovely time to escape the European drear, if you can.

Itinerary: For the wildlife, we wanted Etosha (1 week) and we wanted the Transfrontier Kgalagadi Park (5 days). Previous experience has shown Sabina to be a star at knocking together a sensible itinerary, and she managed it again. There was some difficulty finding accommodation (even in a quiet month) which meant one or two compromises had to be made. It all worked out well. If you haven't been before, it is worth saying that distances are huge and the dirt roads make them feel huger ....but then that all helps to emphasise the emptiness of Africa. It made sense to link our two parks with a visit to Soussevlei. I'm a bit ambivalent about the place. It was worth seeing the endless dunes, but the whole idea of a desert is to have a wilderness, and with only one road, you are not alone. We actually preferred the getting there and away again, 100s of kilometres with vast landscapes, and little sign of humanity (except for fences). The Transfrontier is off the beaten track and just in South Africa. It was very worthwhile (although I'd choose Etosha ahead of it (for its variety)), but there's no obvious attraction to break up the journey returning to Windhoek. Sabina did well to find a couple of comfortable lodges that had game activities on offer.

Practicalities: The journey had no glitches at all. It was so well organised. Even the 'misplaced' car hire voucher was sorted in a few minutes by Expert Africa (via Wilderness Travel). Instructions had all been clearly expressed (for example, what needed to be done to take a hire car into South Africa). We had no issues with petrol, reported in some reviews" Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Thanks to Josh for all his advice and support - especially for persisting in persuading us to hire a vehicle with higher ground clearance. This decision made the travelling more enjoyable. We probably could have managed in a standard car, as on previous trips, but life was a lot easier not having to think about the underside of the car! This was particularly important on some of the tracks leading to the lodges. Thanks also for all the emails keeping us up to date and for all the paperwork.

In previous trips to Namibia we had booked everything ourselves: flights, car hire and accommodation. It was great to be relieved of these tasks and to know that Expert Africa staff had visited and reviewed all the accommodation. The voucher system worked well and there were no unpleasant surprises apart from Bagatelle.

Eningu and Erongo remain our favourite lodges. Bullsport is the best place for varied walking and the Cornerstone Guesthouse gets "the attention to detail" prize. The staff at Cape Cross Lodge deserve special commendation for being so helpful and friendly. Thanks again to Expert Africa for yet another great holiday in Africa.

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Keep up the good work!" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"We loved the trip as a whole and most lodges we stayed at were great - Ongava and Okonjima especially. Everything fitted together well.

The short welcome at Quivertree was a surprise as everyone elsewhere was so welcoming and friendly, but as it was just 1 night it didn't matter.

By the time lunch, drinks and game drives are added to the HB cost I suspect it's not much cheaper than Ongava which had a lot more to offer." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"A fantastic trip!

It took a while to organise everything but Tom was ever helpful in suggesting alternatives and doing his utmost to include everything we asked for.

Would we do it again - you bet!" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was everything and more we had hoped for, having spent many hours viewing the itinerary and guide books prior to our departure.

Many wonderful experiences, the highlights being the friendliness of the local people and the wildlife of Etosha, magical." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent trip, great lodges, scenery, no crowds.

An amazing experience," Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Overall we are very happy with our trip. This may well be our only trip to sub-Saharan Africa, but if we plan to go back we will certainly use Expert Africa. We saw all the animals we had hoped to and more, while enjoying the freedom of a self-drive trip. Namibia was a spectacular country." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"We had a great time. We had some really good experiences, had some great views and met some lovely people. Everyone was really helpful and pleased that we were visiting their country, both in South Africa and Namibia.

We had hoped to see the spring flowers in Namaqualand, but realised before we arrived that the drought would mean it unlikely. We saw a few, which was lovely but also did more walking than we might have done and found other things to do which we really enjoyed.

Highlights of the trip were Twee Rivieren at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Fish River Canyon, Kolmanskop (outside Luderitz), Augrabies Falls and the Eagle's Nest at Aus.

Thanks to Tracy for the original inspiration and Claire for making it happen." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip